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byGuest

Actually succeed in life first. People don't just get foreign citizenships by putting their hands in a hat and pulling out the first passport that they find. They get it by working their backsides off. That foreign passport is usually just one small representation of years of hard work, of self doubt, of wondering whether you are good enough, of sleepless nights, of not taking holidays when others do, of taking up five extra assignments at work when the average high performer at most takes up one or two, and increasingly, of having also studied in that country. Do that first, then give big big lectures. Also, have some basic empathy for people. Some people need it. One person I know needs it because of his family circumstances: he has a British passport but his mother and his adult sister, who is severely autistic, live in India and can't be brought to the UK in part because of medical problems the mother is facing, in part because family reunion in the UK is difficult, next to impossible, and in part because this person's son (living in the UK) has a medical condition that makes it very difficult for him to work at all.

There is a good deal of hypocrisy among OCI holders. I will grant you that. I have personally come across somebody with a British passport who is a partner at an Indian law firm (who made sure to change her own daughter's passport from Indian to British in the girl's middle school years) tell me, when my ambition to establish myself in legal practice in Britain was still at quite a baby stage, that having anything British on your profile makes the lives of Indians miserable in India and everywhere else in the world (happy to confirm that two British university degrees and a few other British qualifications have not had this unhappy consequence). If that's the case, then the visa free travel should not be worth it, correct?

Also, I don't know, but you seem really privileged and secure in life. Perhaps you are sure that nothing will ever happen to you in your life that will make you want to fundamentally change your circumstances. Or perhaps you are bitter because you have nothing to lose and want to throw up your bile on people who have done you no harm. I don't know what special knowledge or privileges you have, but despite being wealthy, I don't necessarily feel secure enough in any country not to want the possibility of an easy get-out card if I can get hold of it - who knows when I might need it. This stupid comment is a classic demonstration of why I say learn lessons from the Jewish people in the west who have western and Israeli passports. At least that gives them a get-out card from either country if they need it - and after what the world's Jews have suffered, they have every justification to want to have such an option. You never know what'll happen to you so don't have a go at people who are making careful life choices and keeping their eggs in multiple baskets. Also remember that even these life circumstances that give you options also can cause headaches in and of themselves - think of double taxation in regard to UK-US dual citizens. Take me as an example. When finally I do manage to become eligible to give up my Indian passport and take up a British one, one of the factors I will have to consider is the huge problems that having an OCI would cause were I to try joining the British diplomatic service (working in international relations has been one of the things I have wanted to do for a few years now). That is certainly one of the considerations I will take into account when deciding about whether or not to take up an OCI - and if it is of interest to you, it might very well lead to me deciding not to take up one, for now at least.

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byGuest

4 months ago

Do you mind my asking how you managed to take up a foreign citizenship? Via parental/ancestral heritage? Because the way you have worded this doesn't sound like you've worked extensively abroad or anything.