Ask a Question
Yes, the Government of India discontinued the issuance of new PIO cards as of January 9, 2015. The PIO card is now merged with the OCI card. Therefore, applicants who already hold an OCI card must apply for a PIO to OCI conversion to obtain an OCI. According to the Indian government gazette notification 11 of 9 January 2015, all the PIO (Person of Indian Origin) cardholders will be considered as OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) cardholders.
As per the government of India gazette notification number 26011/01/2014, on 09/January/2015, all the PIO cards published until 9 January 2015 are considered as OCI cards. For this, the PIO cardholders need to apply for a conversion application before 31 March 2016. After this, if any PIO cardholders want to travel to India, then he or she need to have a valid visa.
I have a PIO card before, but after the notification from the government of India, I quickly applied for the conversion application for PIO to OCI card, and it helps me to travel safely to India with some more benefits.
Share Your Thoughts and Connect with Others.
If your OCI is damaged or lost, then you need to apply for a new OCI card from the official OCI services government website, and then select the miscellaneous services...
Yes, OCI cardholders living in India must have a valid foreign passport to travel to India. An OCI card is a travel document and a lifetime visa for foreign national...
Yes, a foreign national of Indian origin can apply for an OCI card and is eligible to register for an OCI even after the death of their parents. For the...
No, foreign military and police personnel are not eligible for registration for the OCI card, whether they are serving in the army or police, or they retired. Only Israeli citizens'...
Given below are some of the points that you should remember while filing an OCI card application: Make sure you have uploaded a high-quality photo and signature for your OCI...
To convert the PIO to OCI online, follow the steps below: You need to visit the official website of the OCI services. Register in the OCI services and log in...
No, a stateless/refugee person of any country cannot apply for an OCI card or register for an OCI card on the spouse's basis. If a person has an OCI card...
Yes, OCI cardholders can change their genders, but there is one condition: for the gender change, you must have a new passport that shows the gender change before applying for...
Yes, citizens of some countries can register for the OCI card beyond the 4th generation, which are given below: Suriname - up to 6th generation Guyana - up to 6th...
No, A foreign national holding a diplomatic passport will not be registered as an OCI cardholder. However, the foreign diplomats and official passport holders not appointed in India can only...
Let Visament guide you to the perfect solution for all your queries.
All the individuals who have a PIO card have to apply for the conversion of the PIO to an OCI card because the government of India has discontinued the new issuance of the PIO card, and merged the PIO and OCI cards from 9 January 2015, and all the individuals who have a PIO card are considered OCI cardholders from 9 January 2015. Applicants can apply for a conversion application through the OCI services website by filing out an online application form.