Immigration for Minors
Watch Fragomen’s Sebin Jinny as he discusses the process in acquiring an OCI card for a minor in order to stay in India, in this case study video.
I’d be happy to share an interesting case where we assisted one of our clients with whom we have a long-standing relationship. An Indian origin, foreign national and minor son had moved back to India about 18 years ago. The mother is a stake holder, which allows her visa free entry into India and her son had a 5-year entry visa. The father had left a long time ago and was not involved with the alimony of the child. The mother had full custody however, the father withheld the child’s passport despite multiple requests for him to return it. He then declared that he had lost the passport. The son eventually overstayed for a period of 10 years, which of course is not compliant. Only once the son turned 16 years of age was he able to obtain a new passport.
As they were both to live in India a long term. The solution was to obtain an OCF card for the son, which would solve the problem of obtaining visa extensions every year. However, this was a really complicated case because of the overstay. The officers in India were requesting for a no objection certificate from the father before accepting the application. Now, after multiple attempts to justify the situation with the local immigration officers we assisted the client in putting together the required documents and outlining the child’s case. Post which the application was forwarded to the administrative home of affairs for further clearances. Now that the case was aforementioned we were able to engage with the government relations team and work closely with administry and have the OCF approved. Much to their relief the OCF was granted and the immigration bumps had been sorted for a long time to come.
I’d be happy to share an interesting case where we assisted one of our clients with whom we have a long-standing relationship. An Indian origin, foreign national and minor son had moved back to India about 18 years ago. The mother is a stake holder, which allows her visa free entry into India and her son had a 5-year entry visa. The father had left a long time ago and was not involved with the alimony of the child. The mother had full custody however, the father withheld the child’s passport despite multiple requests for him to return it. He then declared that he had lost the passport. The son eventually overstayed for a period of 10 years, which of course is not compliant. Only once the son turned 16 years of age was he able to obtain a new passport.
As they were both to live in India a long term. The solution was to obtain an OCF card for the son, which would solve the problem of obtaining visa extensions every year. However, this was a really complicated case because of the overstay. The officers in India were requesting for a no objection certificate from the father before accepting the application. Now, after multiple attempts to justify the situation with the local immigration officers we assisted the client in putting together the required documents and outlining the child’s case. Post which the application was forwarded to the administrative home of affairs for further clearances. Now that the case was aforementioned we were able to engage with the government relations team and work closely with administry and have the OCF approved. Much to their relief the OCF was granted and the immigration bumps had been sorted for a long time to come.
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Manager Dr Adela Schmidt and Senior Associate Isabel Schnitzler analyse the European Commission’s infringement proceedings against Germany concerning its Vander Elst visa requirements for third-country nationals providing short-term cross-border services and explain why current compliance obligations remain unchanged.
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Latin America & the Caribbean Managing Partner Leonor Echeverria, Senior Associates Sarah Blackmore and Sonya Cole and Senior Regional Knowledge Manager Laura Weingort examine renewed energy interest in Venezuela and outline key immigration pathways, procedural constraints and strategic considerations for compliant talent deployment.
Media mentions
Senior Manager Andreia Ghimis highlights how the EU’s new migration strategy could create opportunities for employers while increasing compliance requirements.
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Partner Julia Onslow-Cole is recognised in the Spears 500 guide to leading private client advisers, reflecting her experience advising high-net-worth individuals, families and global businesses on complex UK and European immigration and mobility strategies.
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Partner Abeer Al Husseini discusses increased scrutiny of Saudi business visas in AGBI, highlighting stricter review of short-term entry used for operational work and the implications for regional employers.
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Australia and New Zealand Managing Partner Teresa Liu, Partner Charles Johanes, Practice Leaders Hedvika and Leader Ben Lear and Senior Associate Hannah Scanlan are recognized in the 2026 edition of Doyle’s Guide as leading immigration practitioners in Australia.
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Fragomen is ranked Band 1 for Immigration: Business in the Chambers Global 2026 Guide, marking two decades of recognition since 2006. The firm is also the only firm ranked Band 1 in the Global: Multi-Jurisdictional Immigration category and receives additional individual recognitions in the USA: Business Immigration rankings.
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