No Obligation to Return to India (NORI) certificate Kolkata

Introduction

The 'No Obligation to return to India' (NORI) certificate Kolkata is needed for those Indian nationals who have gone to the United States of America carrying a J-1 VISA for this particular purpose. First, however, the applicant needs to apply in proper format through the concerned Embassy of India or the Consulate General of India in the USA or Canada. On receiving the application endorsed by the concerned Embassy of India or Consulate General of India in the USA, the Foreigners Branch forwards the case to the jurisdictional Superintendent of Police, District Intelligence Branch, in Kolkata for enquiry of the local address as referred by the applicant. When a satisfactory report is received from the concerned SP, DIB, the 'NORI' certificate gets issued favouring the applicant from the Home Department, Foreigners Branch, Government of West Bengal, Writers Building, Kolkata 700001.

J-1 VISA is subjected to a two year home country physical presence requirement which neds J-1 VISA holders to get back to their home country for at least two years at the end of their exchange visitor program. This is also known as the foreign residence requirement under U.S Law, Immigration and Nationality Act, Section 212(e). In case an individual is unable to return to one's home country to fulfil the two-year requirement. The individual must obtain a waiver from the Embassy or the Consulate General of India in the USA. to enable the Embassy to issue a 'waiver certificate' for immigration, the individual must get clearance directly from the authorities concerned in India like:

• Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education and The External Scholarship Division.

Note: A piece of instruction was issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The 'No obligation to return to India' (NORI) certificate Kolkata will not be issued if any of the qualifications possessed by the applicants is included in any of the three schedules of the Medical Council of India Act, 1956. A similar one is available in the public domain of MCI.

• The Home Department of State in India, which the individual belongs to and

• The Regional Passport Office in India, the place where the passport was initially issued.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development has developed a new portal for No obligation to return to India (NORI), http://nori.ac.in/ that has been functional since the 27th of February 2016. The physical mode of application has been suspended from the 27th of May 2016. However, one should note that the individual must apply to them for receiving NORI certificates from the other two departments mentioned above.

What is the procedure for applying on the No obligation to return to India (NORI) portal of the Ministry of Human Resource Development?

The individual is required to register themselves on the http://nori.ac.in/ portal. At the time of registration, the applicant must give the same current address as mentioned in the bio-data. The scanned coloured copies of the following documents are needed to be uploaded while making an online application for NORI, such as 

• Affidavit

• Bio-data

• Educational or academic certificate or diploma or degree conferred after 10+2

• VISA

• Passport

• Bio-data and affidavit should be in the prescribed format, which is available on the website of the Embassy of India or Consulate General of India (CGI) in the USA and duly notarized by a notary public and then authenticated by the concerned Embassy of India or CGI. Detailed information may be seen at their respective sites.

• An individual must provide their response against all the columns and statements mentioned in the affidavit and bio-data. The individual should produce categorical responses like yes or no and not leave them with dashes or blank or not applicable against the column and statements mentioned in the affidavit and bio-data form.

• The individual residing in India and applying for No obligation to return to India (NORI) needs to download the designated forms for bio-data and affidavit from the link provided below and are needed to notarize these forms after filling them.

• Individuals residing in other countries rather than India and the USA need to contact the Indian Mission in the residing country and are expected to get the affidavit and bio-data notarized from the notary public. Then the Indian mission in that country should authenticate these documents.

The following facilities have been provided in the No obligation to return to India (NORI) portal for applicants:

• To apply online

• The individual gets an email when any update is made in their application status. The details may be seen after re-login to the portal.

• If any fault is found in the application, the individual is informed on the portal. The applicant can submit their reply on the same portal.

• After the issuance of NORI, the individual can download a copy of the same from the portal.

Testimonials

FAQs