Amit raised two US citizen children in India for 21 years as OCI holders. His daughter cracked supernumerary seats at every NLU. His son used Delhi University's foreign national quota. Here's how OCI college admissions actually work — and why it's not a shortcut for unqualified students.
Amit raised two US citizen children in India for 21 years. His daughter cracked supernumerary seats at every national law university in the country. His son used Delhi University's foreign national quota and now works at Bain Consulting. But the real story is about trade-offs, merit, and why a foreign passport is not a shortcut to premier Indian colleges.
This article reflects Amit's personal experience raising OCI children in India. College admission rules — including DASA, supernumerary quotas, and foreign national seats — change frequently. His tax and lifestyle observations are his own. For specific decisions about your children's education, OCI status, or cross-border financial planning, consult qualified education counselors and cross-border tax advisors.
What this story answers: Can you raise US citizen children in India and give them a genuine advantage for college admissions? Yes — but only if they have the grades to back it up. Amit's two children took different paths through India's OCI admission system, and both succeeded. But the system is getting more competitive, and the cost-benefit math changes depending on what your child wants to study.
Use Amit's story as a decision framework, then verify the current admission rules on the official portals: DASA and CSAB for NIT, IIIT, and special-round counselling; Delhi University Foreign Students' Registry for DU foreign-national admissions; NLU Delhi's Foreign National/OCI/PIO page; and NLSIU international student admissions. Treat blog summaries and coaching-site pages as secondary until these official pages agree.
Amit studied at Pune University, graduating with first class with distinction. His first job was at Galileo International — now called Travelport — a global distribution system that handled large-scale mission-critical airline bookings. In the late 1990s, as India's economy opened up, he moved to the United States and started working for United Airlines in Denver, Colorado.
He was on H1B. He got married before leaving India, and his wife went with him. Their first child was born in the US. When you look at the timeline, it starts as a classic late-90s tech immigration story: good degree, global company, H1B sponsorship, family formation on American soil.
What changed the trajectory was September 11, 2001. Amit describes what happened at United Airlines after the attacks as a "blood bath." He was laid off along with many other talented people. He briefly chose to do a master's at the University of Denver, but family obligations pulled him back to India.
He moved back to India, worked there from 2002, then returned to the US on H1B again for about a year. His second child was born in the US. By 2004, he left the United States for good — or at least, for the next 21 years.
Amit does not frame his 2004 return as a grand emotional decision. It was practical. He had been laid off after 9/11. The US job market was tough. He had family obligations in India. He had already shuttled back and forth once — India in 2002, then back to the US on H1B for a year — and the pattern likely did not feel sustainable with two young children.
What makes his story different from most NRI return narratives is the next 21 years. He did not return to India temporarily. He stayed. He raised both his US citizen children entirely in India. They went through Indian schools. They navigated Indian college admissions. They built careers in India. And they did it all as OCI cardholders with American passports.
This is the part of the story that most NRI parents want data on. If you raise US citizen kids in India, what actually happens when it is time for college? Amit's two children answered that question through two completely different academic tracks.
For the broader context of how NRIs choose schools when moving back, see our detailed comparison of IB vs IGCSE vs CBSE for NRI kids.
The law school route is where Amit's story becomes extremely specific and useful. His daughter had an exceptional 10+2 score. She applied to national law universities through the supernumerary quota — additional seats reserved above the regular intake specifically for foreign nationals and OCI students.
She got calls from everywhere. NLS Bangalore. NALSAR. NLU Delhi. Every national law university she applied to said yes. At NLS Bangalore, there were only four supernumerary seats for the entire country. She was ranked second.
But Amit is careful not to oversell this. The supernumerary pool is small. The competition is real. You are not competing against the entire general category — you are competing within a small, merit-based pool of foreign nationals. His daughter's 10+2 score was genuinely exceptional. Without that, the supernumerary route would not have worked.
He also points out that the advantage may shrink over time. As more OCI families discover these routes and start competing, the supernumerary pool will become more crowded. What worked for his daughter five or ten years ago may be materially harder for OCI children applying today or in the near future.
Here is where Amit draws a hard line. For IITs, the answer is no. There is no shortcut.
He says the bar is very high even for OCI kids. A foreign passport does not buy you a seat at an IIT. You sit for the same exam. You clear the same cutoff. No exceptions.
There is an alternative route called DASA — Direct Admission of Students Abroad — which allows foreign nationals and OCI students to get into triple IITs (IIITs) or NITs through supernumerary seats. Amit's son initially showed interest in engineering and explored this path but eventually dropped it, so Amit's firsthand knowledge is limited.
His warning about DASA is about cost. If you go the supernumerary or DASA route for engineering, expect to pay almost 5x to 10x what Indian nationals pay. You need to do a cost-benefit analysis. Is the premium worth it compared to sending your child to a US university where they are already a citizen?
| Pathway | What it requires | Cost vs Indian nationals |
|---|---|---|
| IIT (JEE Advanced) | Clear JEE Advanced. No OCI shortcut. | Same as Indian nationals |
| NIT / IIIT (DASA) | DASA application. Supernumerary seats. | 5x to 10x higher |
| Private engineering colleges | Varies. Some offer supernumerary routes. | Very expensive, often beyond reach of most |
| State government colleges | Each state has its own guidelines for foreign nationals. | Varies by state |
Amit's overall message on engineering: if your child genuinely wants STEM at a top Indian institution, OCI status gives you almost no edge. The exam is the exam. For related education strategy, see why this parent chose India over the UK for her children's education.
Amit's son took a different path. After his 10+2, he applied to Delhi University through its foreign student admission mechanism. This is not the same as the supernumerary quota for professional courses. It is a separate pool that Delhi University reserves for foreign nationals from around the world.
The pool is genuinely international. Amit describes students applying from African countries, the Middle East, Afghanistan, Nepal, and other regions. Each college within Delhi University has a few seats reserved for foreign nationals. You compete, but you compete only within that pool — not against the millions of Indian students applying through regular cutoffs.
His son got into a reputable college at Delhi University. He graduated. And then he did something that validates the entire cross-border experiment: he got a job at Bain Consulting in Gurugram. A US citizen, raised in India, educated at Delhi University, working at a top-tier global consulting firm — from an Indian office.
Amit also points out that Delhi University's Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) has supernumerary seats for foreign nationals at the postgraduate level. For MBA aspirants, the cutoff is based on GMAT percentile. You do not have to appear for CAT. But you must do exceptionally well on the GMAT to get in.
This is the section where Amit's honesty makes the story valuable. He does not sell a dream. He gives a balanced ledger.
Is there an advantage for OCI kids in Indian college admissions? Yes. Is it easier than competing in the brutal general-category exams? In his experience, yes. But is it easy? No. And it is getting harder.
Here is the ledger as Amit presents it:
| What is genuinely easier | What is NOT easier |
|---|---|
| Supernumerary seats create a smaller, separate competition pool for law and some professional courses | IIT admission still requires clearing JEE Advanced with the same cutoff as everyone else |
| Delhi University's foreign national quota offers an international applicant track | Medical seats in government colleges remain extremely competitive even through foreign quotas |
| FMS Delhi accepts GMAT instead of CAT for foreign nationals at the PG level | You pay 5x to 10x the Indian-national fee for supernumerary and DASA seats |
| Your child grows up with genuine India experience and cultural fluency | Admission rules change frequently. Each state has different guidelines. |
| A dollar earned abroad stretches far more if you eventually return | Competition within the foreign national pool is intensifying as more families discover these routes |
For NRIs weighing whether to move back with school-age children, read our story about moving back to India with a middle schooler after 10 years in the US.
This is the twist. After spending 21 years raising his US citizen children in India, Amit is now back in the United States. He describes the decision as "extremely tactical, not very strategic."
His children, now in their twenties, were completing their education and starting careers in India. But they were also US citizens. That gave them optionality — the ability to build a base in the United States if they chose to. Amit moved back to give them a landing zone.
The mechanism was straightforward. His daughter turned 21 and sponsored him for an IR5 visa (parent of a US citizen). He got the green card within two years. Once that optionality existed, he took it.
He is clear that this is not a permanent relocation. He sees himself working in the US until roughly age 62 to 65, saving enough for retirement in rupees, and then moving back to India. The US passport — if he eventually gets it — gives him global mobility and the ability to hold an OCI card in India.
His situation also highlights something important about US citizen children. If you raise them in India, they can eventually sponsor you back to the US if you want that option. The cross-border family structure works in both directions.
Amit's advice comes from 21 years of lived experience, not theory. Here are the lessons that emerge from his story.
OCI status and a foreign passport create pathways — DASA, supernumerary seats, foreign national quotas — but every single pathway still requires strong academic performance. His daughter's exceptional 10+2 score is what made the NLU supernumerary route work. His son's Delhi University admission required competing within a merit-based international pool. Without merit, the passport is just a document.
As more OCI and NRI families discover these routes, the competition within foreign national pools is intensifying. What worked for Amit's children a few years ago will be harder for families applying today. Plan with the assumption that the advantage will narrow, not widen.
Supernumerary and DASA seats cost 5x to 10x what Indian nationals pay. Before committing to the OCI-in-India education path, compare that cost against what you would pay for the same child to study in the US, where they are already a citizen.
Amit's overarching question is simple: what do you want? If you stay in the US, you earn in dollars and spend in dollars. If you move to India, a dollar earned abroad stretches far more. He estimates that someone who works abroad and then returns to India can have a net worth 3x to 4x higher — or even 6x to 8x for dual-income families — compared to someone who worked their entire career in India.
If you are on H1B, Amit's advice is direct: do not put your life on hold waiting for a green card. He got laid off after 9/11. He moved back to India. He raised his kids there. He came back to the US later through his daughter's sponsorship. There are multiple paths. Waiting indefinitely for one specific immigration outcome is the worst of them.
Amit's most personal question to NRIs: think very hard about whether you can live with the fact that your aging parents are alone and isolated in their elder years. Many aging parents will never willingly settle abroad. They have deep roots and social structures. If you cannot be there, work out a system to mitigate their discomfort. There is no right or wrong answer — each situation is different — but you must think about the trade-off and take an informed decision.
For the practical side of OCI documentation and legal requirements, see our complete OCI to Aadhaar to PAN legal requirements guide.
Whether you are raising OCI kids in India or planning a return with school-age children, the decisions are complex. Join the Inner Circle for community support, real experiences from other NRI families, and access to planning resources.
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0:00 So, my decision is extremely practical. It's not very strategic, to be honest with you. I'm not looking at a long-term play in the United States right now. What I'm looking at, honestly, is the ability as a father to support my children here. Fortunately for me, I don't have to hang in this country by the skin of my teeth, right? I have that optionality. At any time, I can move back. I can even give up my green card and go back, right? I mean, if things don't work out. It's not open sesame. You cannot go get into premium colleges in India flashing a foreign passport. Dollar earned here will stretch far more in India, and you would have a lifestyle which is incomparable to what you'll ever have in this country. If you are on a H-1B, my advice would be do not put your life on hold.
0:51 >> [music] >> Amit went to US in 1999 and moved back to India in 2004. After living in India for 21 years, he's back in US again. In this episode, we dive into how OCI kids navigate the college admissions in India.
1:25 >> I went to Pune University. I did very well there. I graduated with first class with distinction, then started working for global distribution system or a GDS, which which basically handles large mission-critical airline booking. It was called Galileo International. It's now called Travelport. So, I started working for them. And as part of the engagement there, you know, the late '90s, the economy opened up, and that time I moved to the United States. I started working for United Airlines in Denver, Colorado. So, that is that was my journey. and before I moved I got married. So, of course my wife went along with me.
2:11 And then we had our first child in in the United States. So, I was on H1. >> Okay. >> And the reason I went to the US was basically, you know, more opportunity, more exposure, more money, all those drivers they were all full factors because of which I went. In unfortunately in 9/11 happened in September 2000 I mean in September 2001. And there was a bloodbath honestly at the United. I was let go along with several other talented people and for a brief period I chose to do my masters at University of Denver. But then there were family obligations and I decided to go back to India. So, I was then in India.
2:59 Worked from 1999 till almost 2002 in the US and then I had a brief hiatus of 6 months in India. Then again came back on H1 for around a year or so. >> Got it. >> Then finally by 2004 after my second child was born in the US I left the United States.
3:22 My daughter was is academically gifted, right? So, I just want to say that, right? I just want to set the perspective that holding a OCI card and a foreign passport is a advantage or was a advantage competitively if you are looking at getting into premier colleges in India. However, there's a nuance, right? I just want to share that. It depends on what your child is trying to pursue. If the child is trying to pursue or if there is a very strong urge to stay focused in engineering, right? And do STEM related subjects. As far as I know, if you're talking of premier colleges in India like the IIT, you still have to make sure you compete in IIT JEE and clear JEE Advanced.
4:15 It They will not take you unless you crack the JEE Advanced. They will not dilute the entry criteria. So, I think the bar is very high even for OCI kids to be able to crack into IIT. However, little which I researched because my son showed initial interest in engineering, then he dropped that. There is an option called DASA, which allows you to get into and there are things like the supernumerary seats, where you can try and get into triple IITs or NITs directly for foreign nationals, right? But, I think you will have to explore and see because these rules are changing all the time. The trade-off there is that you will have to pay almost five X or 10 X depending on what the Indian nationals are paying.
5:05 So, that cost-benefit risk analysis will need to be done. If they have the optionality to study in the United States and let's say you have the money to be able to send them to the United States, you have to be able to look at what is a trade-off and then make a call. So, that is with respect to engineering and I I have limited knowledge on that. I will not be able to share more. Now, with respect to NEET, as far as I know, in government colleges in India again, the entry is extremely competitive. If you are trying to get or go through that route, you will have to check because I think each state has its own guidelines. If you are I think probably some private colleges do allow you to get through a supernumerary route. Again, it's very, very expensive.
5:53 It's beyond the reach of most Indians, right? These seats which are out there. that's the second use case. Now, with respect to my children, I zero in. they my daughter had a exceptional 10 plus two score. She was able to get into every National Law University through the supernumerary quota. She got calls from everywhere. She got it from NLSIU Bangalore. She got it from NALSAR. She got it from from the NLU which they have in Delhi. She got calls from everywhere. Now, the thing there is which I just want to be very clear about is that they have a very, very small quota of seats. in case of National Law University Bangalore, they had four.
6:38 That was throughout the country. And she was ranked two over there. so, it's not that, you know, if you have a substandard score, you will walk in. It's not possible. Is it easier compared to say like giving CLAT? I would say probably yes, but it's going to get materially harder as more and more people realize this optionality and they start competing. So, it may become I don't know what the future holds, but it would be harder. I'm not saying it will be it will be impossible. For my son, again, the thing was that after his 10 plus two, he applied to he got into Narsee Monjee. He got into Narsee Monjee and he got into Delhi University.
7:25 Delhi University is again extremely competitive. it has a mechanism where it allows foreign students from all over the world to apply. So, you have again students which are coming from African countries, Middle East, including India, Afghanistan, Nepal. There's a pool of people which apply for these colleges which are there, and they have a few seats reserved in each college for foreign nationals. So, you compete, but you have to compete within that pool, right? You have to You have to again, it's merit. It's not that you can you just walk in, you give your passport, and they admit you. It's not like that. So, he competed, he got into a pretty reputable college in Delhi University. He graduated. He's now working for Bain Consulting in Gurugram.
8:17 Yeah. The optionality exists. It is a advantage. How much of a competitive advantage it will continue to be, I don't know. But, it is there. One more thing in You can do post graduation also from Delhi University. FMS has seats which are reserved supernumerary for foreign nationals, not NRIs. So, you need to have foreign passport. and the cut-off is again based on your GMAT percentile. So, you don't have to appear for CAT or their competitive exam, but you must do exceptionally on the GMAT to be able to get into that particular course. >> So, like I said, it's not It's not open sesame. You cannot get into premium colleges in India flashing a foreign passport.
9:05 It's not It's easy, but it's not It's not a super easy. Is it easier than like competing brutally? I would say yes. In my experience, I would say yes. So, there is advantage, but it's an advantage only if you if you have merit.
9:27 The children were at a are were at a period in time where they were now completing their graduations in India, and frankly we're looking at optionality of setting up some kind of a base in the United States. So, my decision is extremely long-term play in the United States. Right now, what I'm looking at, children here, make sure that you know, they I give them a landing zone, and then probably move back to India at a opportune time. I am at the end of my maybe towards the very end of my career, maybe 62, 65.
10:20 Can you during this period, you know, save enough for your coming retirement in in rupees, and then hopefully, if you are able to get optionality of a US passport, then you know, you get the benefit of traveling worldwide. You have a very powerful passport, which you can use. You could You could have a OCI card in and the other reason why I came back is because I got a green card, right? So, I was not in the H1B L1 hell right now, which people are facing. Because my daughter had turned 21, she could sponsor me, and I got the IR5 visa in within 2 years. So, that optionality existed.
11:07 Once that optionality came on the table, then it was you know, then the mind If you don't have an option, then you will not think about these things. If you have an option, then you exercise it and say, "Okay, I have this optionality. Let me figure out and see whether that optionality works. If it works, great, then I capitalize on it. If it doesn't, then I fall back, right? I have an option. I can go back to India. It's not like you know, it's all doom and gloom and fortunately for me, I don't have to hang in this country by the skin of my teeth, right? I have that optionality. At any time I can move back. I can even give up my green card and go back, right? I mean, if things don't work out. >> Sure. >> it's a calculated gamble, I would say.
11:51 India has changed a lot. Recently, if you look at the past 4-5 years, 6 years, opportunities are galore. You can make a lot of money there. The salaries have risen exponentially. A lot of product companies, startups are coming in places like Bangalore. So, yes, the optionality exists. Did it happen throughout my career? No, I saw that take off only sometime after 2015, but not before that. So, this phenomenon is recent. Till 2015, I would say pretty much most of the work or bulk of the work was being done by services and the salaries were not that great. I mean, they were good, but not great. So, that is what I think the single biggest thing which a person needs to take into account in their calculus is what do they want out of life. If you if you want to stay in the United States, then you will earn in dollars, but you will spend in dollars, correct?
12:47 If you plan to take towards the end of your career, make a decision that no, I have had enough in this country and then I would move to the to India for good, I can guarantee you that you know, your net worth maximization compared to somebody who's been working 20 years in India would be at least 3x to 4x. Depends on what your you know, what your financial situation is. If you are a person with two income family, probably it may be even 6x or 8x. So, a dollar earned here will stretch far more in India and you would have a lifestyle ever have in this country. I think that is one, right? Which I want to call out very clearly. Your parents are the people who who played a very important role in your life.
13:44 Think very hard about will you be able to live with the fact that in their elder years they are all alone and isolated. If you are and see this is a extremely hard and a sensitive question for lots of people. But I would say think very hard on what your and there is no right or wrong. Each person's situation is different. So I would say think about that trade-off and take a informed decision. That is all what I would urge people to do. So we have our we have ourselves, we have our children, but we also have aging parents and a lot of aging parents will never want to come and settle in this country at least willingly. They will not, right? They have deep roots, they have deep social structures.
14:40 So think of that and work out a system. I mean, if you if you feel that you can't be there for them for whatever reason, think of ways you can mitigate their discomfort in their old age as much as possible. And look at ways so that you know you can make sure that they are they are com- as comfortable as possible.
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