If you've ever spent a Saturday afternoon fighting the old OCI portal — uploading the same photo eleven times, getting timed out, then starting over — you'll appreciate what's changed.
What's new
The redesigned portal, soft-launched earlier this month and now generally available, finally treats applicants like adults. Sessions persist for 72 hours, biometrics from a prior application can be reused for renewals, and the fee schedule is published in one place instead of scattered across PDFs.
Spouse endorsements, finally
Spouse-of-OCI endorsements used to take 6–10 weeks at most consulates. The new flow routes directly to the issuing post, and early reports show 10–14 day turnarounds in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Germany.
What stayed the same
You still need a valid foreign passport, your old Indian passport (cancelled), and a recent photo on a white background. The portal still doesn't accept HEIC images — convert to JPG before uploading.
Our take
It's not perfect, but it's the biggest usability jump for NRI paperwork in a decade. If you've been putting off a renewal because of the old portal, now's the time.