Who to trust

One thing my wife & I have found is that those who are day-laborers should be befriended, so you can get the inside scoop..

They are the ones, who know
- who is a carpenter/plumber
- where to get the cheap deals
- Issues that exist in your community
- how to do certain things we may have forgotten over our stay outside India

Don't get  too close to them and don't hire just about anyone.  Only those who come recommended by your acquaintances.

Make sure they have limited access to your personal life and funds. DO NOT lend them loans, but offer to take them to the Doctor and offer to pay the visit/medicine when they are genuinely sick.

Respect them, and share a cup-of Tea with them and they will RESPECT YOU.

Now in India, cellphones have become very common, even day workers have a pre-paid cellphone. So you will get a lot of Missed calls and you will have to return the calls.

(OH REMEMBER NEVER PICK UP A CALL WHICH STARTS WITH '+91140*', THESE ARE LEGAL MARKETING CALLS)

Once in India

With your new sense of loyalty to the American flag, you plan to return to India....

There are many factors you must consider before you take that giant leap:
1. If you have Children, what schools offer a second language that the kids know (French, Spanish, etc...) unless they have learnt Hindi.
2. Are you travelling with your job ? are you starting a new job in India ?
3. Modes of transport in your city of choice ?
4. Opening a local bank a/c? getting a phone line
5. Finding a place to stay, with/ without Furniture
6. Shipping to India..


Just to let you know some things I had to face
1. On finding a house of our choice, I was asked to shell out a deposit worth 11 months of our rent.
2. The schools normally ask for 1-time Admission fees & also donations
3. The school fees normally do not include Books, Uniforms, Transportation, Meals and Contingency monies.
4. Some places played hookey with us and tried to charge us double/five times the normal cost, once they found out that we are not carrying an Indian passport, hence always use an Aadhar card or PAN card for identification.
5. We needed some form of introduction to open a local bank a/c.
6. We asked relatives to apply for pre-paid SIM cards, so we can start using them in our UNLOCKED phones as soon as possible.
7. If you need Internet ASAP, I would recommend a neighborhood WAN provider, instead of BSNL/MTNL or Airtel.. By the time these folks get thru their paperwork, you may be reconsidering your return out of India.
8. If you have a family car, then you are good, but those who don't, you don't want to take an Auto... These folks charge exorbitantly. Try to  catch Autos that are plying on the road (and not parked in an Auto Stand), those are the ones who will normally go by Meter. ( I don't think it will be an issue to travel by Meter, as long as they quote us correctly).
9. If you move into an apt, that requires proof of your previous residence, ask your parents for a copy of the ration card with your name on it... they don't need to know about you.

Remember if NO ONE asks, DON'T TELL.

The OCI workflow

For those who are US Green Card holders and are waiting on getting your citizenship before returning to India, here is a sequence of things I did to make it happen.

Before you start anything, make sure you have a PAN card in India and/or Aadhar Card. It will smoothen your plans

1. 90 days before your 5th Green Card anniversary, you may apply for your US Citizenship (form N-400 downloadable at http://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-naturalization ) The form is simple as long you haven't done anything complicated and are leading a vanilla and decent life.You will need to fill one for everyone who is above 18 years of age. For those under 18 who are Green Card holders, you don't need to do anything now.
2. About a month after your receive your receipt, you will receive an appointment for your Bio-metrics. That same day you will receive a booklet &/or CD for the upcoming test.
3. And possibly a month after that you will be called in for an interview... It is really simple.. If you can read this article and follow CNN, it will be a piece of cake. The Immigration officers just want to know that you can read and write English and communicate well.
4. Now comes the big nail biter.. waiting for Swearing In ceremony. It will normally be a date after your official 5th year Green Card anniversary. It is on that day, you will be asked to bring in your Green Card for it to be clipped and be officially sworn in as  US citizen. (Don't worry if you forget your Green Card that day... I am told Immigration have a other paperwork to fill if you lose you Green Card) You will be awarded a Certificate of naturalization with your name, picture and signature. All the above steps are better explained at http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/files/M-1051.pdf 
5. With this new found sense of American Pride, the next thing you must do is apply for a US passport. Do not go for any of the passport offices in your city, you may get a non-practical appointment with a 3 month waiting period. Visit a Country Clerks office in a nearby town/county which accepts walk-in. Be sure to have all your paperwork before hand and extra pictures. Call ahead and find out if they will accept personal checks or bankers checks or money orders ?
6. Now you are no longer a citizen of your country but do have a valid US passport... What do you do ? Well India permits you to travel up to 3 months on your Indian passport (I am not sure if it is only to India). This is why I recommend you apply for a US passport on the day of becoming a US Citizen.
7. You should receive your new passport within 10 - 14 days max, even though you are told that it would take a month. 
8. Next, take a photocopy of the relevant pages from that passport and assemble your OCI package and application for Surrendering Indian Citizenship, along with money orders & exact photos. Apply for it thru Travisa . Remember to open a free Fedex A/C so that all you have  to do is send a self-addressed Fedex Domestic label and envelope along with your pkg.
9. Remember NOT TO SEND  your US passport at this time. Travisa will intimate you when to do so. The application from Travisa is send to the Indian Embassy or Consulate and is shipped to New Delhi for verification and allocation. This is then returned back to the respective Indian mission and they in turn notify Travisa. Travisa notifies you that you would need to send in  your US passport. They will get it stamped with the OCI and ship your Old Clipped Indian passport, OCI booklet, US Passport and also the same sheet that you filled in for surrendering your Indian citizenship with simple stamp on it.
10. For some who live in the city of the Indian Embassy or Consulate, you may walk-in to the Travisa office and submit your paperwork. The process after submission remains about the same period, but the process of submission of Passport and the final leg is quicker and more real-time. So if you live in DC, NYC, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta and anywhere there is an Indian mission, you may just walk up to Travisa and get your paper work done face to face, and not rely on the logistics industry.

I heard some folks who acquired their US passports and obtained an Indian Visitors visa and flew to New Delhi and stood in queue in at the Home office and got the OCI the same day. I am not sure about this.

I hope this helps you.

Why do I need an OCI ?

The Indian government has been liberal by letting folks with Indian roots to be able to be a part time Indian. 

One would normally apply for an OCI after attaining citizenship of the host country they are residing in.

Although you may not be a Dual-Citizen, you are treated no less than an ordinary citizen.

The good think about having an OCI is it lets you travel between your host country (please verify with the closest Indian mission, if they offer OCI for your host country) and India freely as long as you have a valid passport of your host country.

The process took me close to 4 months. It was a ton of paperwork, in triplicate (which could have very well been avoided in this digital age) for each member of my family of 4. What really bothered me the most in the whole process is that I had to attest on every photo copy that it is a legitimate copy (My photocopies amounted to 30 A4 sheets + the photocopies for my kids (60)). 

A good costly thing that the Indian government (Or is it just the Home Ministry?) have done is surrendering your Indian Citizenship along with this application (for those who naturalized into their host country). 

In the US, the Indian Embassy nor Consulates do not accept OCI applications directly. It has to come through an agent, who methodically acquire your paperwork and and pass it on to the Embassy or Consulate. They provide you with  tracking number to see the status of the application online. (Travisa)