India visa options for a minor : OCI / PIO/ Visitor visa?

@Amit Kaneria: Your math is wrong. You don't have to pay 300 everytime you renew your OCI card. The renewal fee is $25. So it's 375 vs 316. The advantage with OCI is you can stay as long as you want. For a tourist visa, you can't extend beyond 6 months. If you want to stay more than 6 months, you need to get a permission from some ministry of external affairs or someone and deemed illegal.

I have gone thru few websites to find the gist of above options:

1. Visitor visa

   • India issues 10 year visa for Indian origin people (Cost:$158)

2. PIO Card

   • deprecated --> out of scope/ Not an option any more
   • India honors existing PIOs, but does not issue new PIOs any more

3. OCI Card

   • OCI Card need to be renewed with every passport renewal until the age of 20
   • OCI Card need not be renewed from age 20 until 50, with U stamp on passport (Passport is stamped when applicant is 20+, so the applicant can use old passport with stamp, and new passport, and OCI card for India travel purpose)
   • US passport is given for 5 years of validity(expiry) until the age of 15, 16 years and onward US issues passport for 10 years
   • In a given scenario, my daughter is 4 years old now, until her age 20, I need to reapply OCI card every 5 years, in total 4 times until she turns 20 (total cost: 4*$300 = $1200)

In above scenarios, OCI is very expensive to maintain (renew every 5 years), costly ($1200) as compared to visitor visa of 10 years at a fraction of cost of $158.

Though OCI card provides much more benefits, my daughter may not need those extra benefits as now, and can consider it later when needed. I am going for VISITOR VISA to India for a minor.