The amount of unwanted stares and attention she gets is honestly frustrating. I am 6'4, a mixed martial artist, and physically capable of seriously hurting someone in a matter of seconds if I ever lose control. The genuine fear of doing something stupid in the heat of the moment, ruining my own life and ending up in jail, along with the impact it would have on the people I love, is what has kept my hands tied so far.

There have been a few instances recently where I came very close to getting into a physical confrontation with a bunch of as******. Thankfully, they either apologised, backed off or ran away before things escalated.

Anyway, we have mutually decided to limit her travels to India for the time being, but it still bothers me that this is something we even have to think about. Whenever she is there, she prefers not to go out unless it's the occasional outing with my mom and sisters. She ends up staying inside the house like a caged bird, and it genuinely pains me to see her like that.

Btw, she always dresses appropriately. In fact, she's very conservatively dressed, even by Indian standards. Full sleeves, traditional kurta-salwaar with a chunni, or something similar but I guess it doesn't make much of a difference. I understand that some people are genuinely curious when they see a white person, and I can look past that. But 20-30% are just pure ****heads, and you can tell from the way they stare that it's not innocent curiosity.

I always dreamt of moving back to my country when I'm around 50, something along the lines of semi-retirement, where I could work, teach or just do something for fun without the pressure of a full-time career. But experiences like these have genuinely made me question whether that's something I want anymore, which is honestly quite sad.

Just looking for some advice here. Has anyone else been in a similar situation? How do you deal with it, and what are my options? I haven't travelled much to other parts of the country, so is it the same in other regions of India?

Im a 17 yo currently in 12th studying pcm i wanna move abroad get a job and settle abroad how can i????? I’ll go cybersecurity or in some cs field.
Anyone will guide me i’ll be grateful.

Hello, so I submitted me and my sister’s OCI application last month and mine returned because I didn’t put my middle name. I redid my application and I’m sending it again. I’m not sure if I’ll get a refund but I hope I do because 300$ is crazy. They also ask that everything is uploaded clearly which it is. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong

As for my sister’s application they’re asking me about my father’s name change?? I’m so confused as to what they want. My father has never changed his name??

Any ways I need someone to help me look over my application before I send out another one. Do you have any recommendations? Also will I get a refund?

I think I have found a new way BLS is scamming us. Please correct me if I have misunderstood something here.

I went twice for two identical Indian citizenship renunciations. Both applicants have the exact same background (became Canadians this year). The official base passport fee should be identical. Look at how BLS completely faked the official government categories:

• Visit 1 (Aug 2026): Service is named as 'RENUNCIATION OF CITIZENSHIP AFTER JUNE 2010'. Passport Fee to $113.00. Did not take premium lounge (waited 4 hours with an appointment).
• Visit 2 (Sep, 2026): Service is named as 'SURRENDER OF INDIAN CITIZENSHIP'. They charged a $56.00 Passport Fee. Took premium lounge. Waited 3h with an appointment.

They are literally pasting whatever Service they want between identical applicants to make money. Note: Ignore the courier and lounge fees -- those were intentionally paid.

Has anyone else caught them changing the base Passport Fee on you? What did they say when you called them out on it?

I’m an NRI and I visit only once in a year to India. My father passed away years ago, so I’m the main financial support for my mother.

My sister lives with my mother along with her child. The reason given is that the astrologist advised it’s not good for her to stay in her husband’s old family house. So, she moved to my home, and her husband visits once in a week to see them.

Here’s the situation:

- My sister uses my card for almost all household expenses.

- Whenever she shops using my card, she also buys things for her child (nuts, snacks etc) as part of the same purchase.

- My brother-in-law rarely buys anything for the child when he visits. He does it only occasionally. Though he is earning well (about 60k/month)

- They both regularly use my car, but whenever there is maintenance or repair, I used to pay for them. They use it to travel to his relatives’ place as well. They have a car, but it is inherited from his father, and there is some disconnect between them for a while. So, they never use it.

I’m not against helping my mother or my sister. As, it also helps with providing a company for my mother and support. But I’m starting to feel the load is not well balanced, especially since I’m only in India for half the year and still covering almost everything. I feel like her husband not contributing the bare minimum for his own family.

I haven’t spoken to my sister about this yet because I don’t want to create tension, but I’m confused whether this is normal in our Indian culture? I am also worried, if I bring this to my sister, if she feels bad.

Does Wise allow after return to india for non-US citizens. should we open one for back up to bank account

Hi, I need to renew my passport (I'm also opting for Tatkal), and I've been trying to use VFS' discounted courier service for generating the shipping label but I keep running into this error. I emailed them about it yesterday but they have not replied yet and tomorrow is Sunday.

Has anyone encountered this error before and managed to get it resolved successfully? I have never had any issues getting packages delivered to my address, including FedEx packages, and I typed in my address exactly as it shows on USPS' address lookup database.

27-Aug-26: Shipped via Fedex
28-Aug-26: In Transit
31-Aug-26: Delivered to VFS
01-Sep-26: Confirmation email from VFS
03-Sep-26: Email from VFS stating in-transit to consulate
04-Sep-26: Status updated on ociservices website to in-process
14-Oct-26: Approved and e-oci card generated - email notification from consulate

6 weeks from the time consulate received the application.

no change in VFS status - still shows being processed at consulate

- I bought 2-way shipping label from VFS - $60 - wasn't required at all - nothing is returned from VFS for OCI application and wasted money. Could have just sent it myself for < $20

-

Hi everyone,

My daughter will be traveling to India in November 2026 to stay with her grandparents for four years. We have applied for her OCI card in the USA, but it has not been approved yet.

Can she travel to India on her approved e-Visa and, once her OCI is approved, download her e-OCI while she is in India? Will she be able to use her OCI documentation along with her valid U.S. passport when returning to the USA after four years?

Could anyone please clarify whether this process is allowed or if we need to take any additional steps to ensure that she can legally stay in India for four years and return to the USA without any issues?

Thank you in advance for your guidance!

Hi, I’m planning to travel to India with my baby born in July. We both are Canadian passport holders. I recently surrendered my Indian passport as well and I’ll be applying from the Toronto/Brampton area.

I want to ask if someone has recently applied for OCI and how long it took to receive it?

I was planning on just going on e-visa but I read online that a return ticket has to be booked for e-visa. I want to book my return while I stay there because I don’t know specifically the return time yet. So looking into applying for OCI as long as I receive it before January 2027.

Both me and baby will stay at my parents place for 3-4 months and not planning to stay more than 6 months by any chance.

Thank you in advance for any guidance.

Hey guys,

I recently got German citizenship. I filled the online form and submitted my application for surrender certificate. The status shows submitted.

Do I now have to wait or can I just book an appointment to surrender my passport in Frankfurt?

The website to book appointment and navigate the application is absolutely bonkers and making me go crazy! Please send help! Thank you!

Has anyone recently sent important documents from India to the USA?

I’m looking for a reliable and affordable courier service that can deliver documents within 2 weeks.

I’m considering DHL, FedEx, UPS, India Post, or any other reliable options.

For those who have used these services:
Which courier service would you recommend?
How much did it cost?
How many days did delivery take?
Is India Post reliable for sending important documents internationally?

My priority is safe delivery, reasonable pricing, and tracking. I don’t need express delivery as long as the documents arrive within 2 weeks.

Moving to Ireland soon and want to keep my Airtel postpaid number mainly for bank OTPs. I’ll use an Irish SIM for calls and data, so I don’t want to spend thousands on an international roaming pack just to keep my Indian number alive.

I’ve been reading a few Reddit posts, but I’m getting conflicting information.

This post — people saying you can just enable international roaming, move abroad, and receive OTPs without buying a pack.

This post — the person got a ₹698 pack activation message within a few hours of landing, even though they were using another eSIM for data.

Another discussion about using Airtel postpaid abroad without a roaming pack.

So what actually happens? Especially with Airtel postpaid?

Would be great to hear from people actually using Airtel postpaid abroad.

Hi everyone, I have an issue.

My Pan card and Aadhar in India are under my maiden name but Australian passport and citizenship are under married name.

I want to revert to my maiden name as I thought would be easier to do a name change here where i reside rather than for aadhar and pan. I have some small assets in my maiden name in India and am worried the name change will cause issues there hence the name change here. I want to take OCI but since I can link it back to my existing Aadhar I would prefer a name match.

Any thoughts or advise from those who may have faced a similar situation?

Thank you in advance.

Guys, i applied for both surrender certificate and OCI application at once and got everything back saying its the wrong form. I dont understand what this means cause it is the surrender certificate form i got from passport seva portal. Thr only thing is when i created my avcount to get my indian padsport renewed, it was done in berlin. So the address that it shows on the surrender certificate is berlin one. Is that the issue? Anyone experienced anything similar? Do i have to pay again?