| New Delhi, India | 23 June 2016 | Asia Samachar |
Holders of the Person of Indian Origin (PIO) cards have till year-end to convert for free the card into the newly introduced Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card.
The Indian government has extended, for the second time, the deadline for PIO cardholders to submit their application for the conversion. The 30 June deadline has been extended to 31 Dec 2016. The earlier dateline was 30 March.
The decision by the Ministry of Home Affairs was made in consultation with Ministry of External Affairs, according to the a statement on the latter’s website.
“External Affairs Minister has announced that the conversion of PIO cards into OCI cards will be done free-of-charge (gratis) for applications submitted until December 31, 2016,” it said.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told reporters in New Delhi at at her annual press conference on 20 June: “I feel that the coversion will not be completed by June 30. So we have decided to extend the last date to December 31.”
“There will be no charge for conversion during this period. So I will suggest those, who are seeking to convert their PIO cards to OCI cards, use this time line. I want this conversion to be completed by December 31,” she was quoted in media reports.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the PIO and OCI cards will be merged and the Indian diaspora will be given maximum possible benefits. Officials said that simultaneous existence of PIO and OCI cards lead to confusion among People of Indian Origin residing abroad, reports The Times of India.
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