What are the new Aadhaar enrolment rules for OCIs and NRIs?

NEW DELHI, 29/01/2018: Aadhaar
Photo: V.V. Krishnan
| Photo Credit: KRISHNAN VV

When Sunil M., a resident of Dallas, US, and an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI), went for Aadhaar enrolment in Bengaluru during his short stay here, he was told that the enrolment could not be done due to changed rules since last December.

“I needed Aadhaar to activate a SIM and a UPI account for local transactions when I came here. I have a bank account, too. When I went for enrolment, they asked me to go through a process that entails 182 days of stay. This is despite having IT PAN and a bank account here,” he said.

There are many like Mr. Sunil, who live abroad, and are facing the issue after the Centre changed the enrolment rules for those above 18 years, which has led to pendency and rejection of applications.

Under the new process, anyone above 18 years wishing to enrol for Aadhaar has to show that they have stayed in India for 182 days in the preceding 12 months, which will be verified by Revenue officials. The rules of Aadhaar enrolment for an OCI as well as for a foreign national with a foreign passport staying in India on a valid long-term VISA document have been made the same.

Similar to passport verification

An official of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said that the Revenue authorities have been given the task of verification and it is being done “like passport verification.”

Multiple sources said that the new rule was brought in last December to prevent illegal enrolment of Aadhaar by those entering the country without valid documents. A government order in October, 2023, by Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (E-governance) ahead of its implementation had said that since Aadhaar was being used as a primary identification document, any fraudulent documents used in enrolment could affect national security.

The order had also pointed out that nearly 93% of the total population and nearly 100% of those above 18 years had been enrolled in Aadhaar already.

The Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) needing Aadhaar enrolment also have to go through verification process, but the 182 day-stay rule does not apply as all the documents are still Indian. “When they come here, we seek their verification,” sources said.

Applications rejected

According to sources in the Bengaluru district administration, several thousands of applications have been rejected since the new rule came into play while about 10,000 applications are still pending for verification in Bengaluru alone. The reason for the increase in the number of applications pending for verification is the strict verification process, the source pointed out. Similarly, many applications by OCI for Aadhaar enrolment have been rejected, sources said.

Most of the rejected applications belong to people migrating from Nepal, and applying for Aadhaar almost immediately. “Though we are accepting Nepal passport and address proof for Aadhaar registration, many are applying with IT PAN and backdated rental agreement and uploading it in the system. The difference of time between the two documents will be a few days and it becomes difficult to ascertain whether they are genuine. Most of them are identified during physical verification and applications are getting rejected,” the source in know of enrolment process said.