Persons of Indian Origin Card

Persons  of Indian Origin Card (PIO Card) was a type of identification issued to a Person of Indian Origin who held a passport  in a country other than Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In like manner, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003, made arrangement for obtaining of Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) by the Person of Indian Origin (PIOs) of 16 indicated nations. It likewise overlooked all arrangement perceiving, or identifying with the commonwealth citizenship from the principle Act. Afterward, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2005, extended the extent of grant of OCI for PIOs of all nations aside from Pakistan as long as their home country permits dual citizenship under their local law on the off chance that it perceives OCI as a second citizenship of India. The OCI isn't really a dual citizenship as the Indian constitution disallows dual nationality (Article 9).

On 9 January 2015, the Person of Indian Origin Card scheme was removed by the Government of India and was merged with the Overseas Citizen of India card scheme. All presently held PIO cards are treated as OCI cards. PIO card holders will get special stamp in their current PIO card, saying "lifelong validity" and "registration not required", hence making them equivalent to existing OCI cards. An extended deadline was given where the card could be changed over for free to an OCI until 31 December 2017.

PIO card holders can utilize their PIO card to venture out to India until 31 December 2021. Effective 1 January 2022, PIO card holders' entrance to India will be rejected.

 

Conditions

The conditions for issuing a PIO card to an individual were:

  1. Any individual who has at any point held an Indian passport, or
  2. The individual's parents, grandparents or great grandparents were born in and were permanent residents of India and never moved to (i.e., were never nationals of) Bangladesh and Pakistan, or
  3. The individual is the mate of a citizen of India or of a PIO and has been so for two years or more, and
  4. The individual and his/her parents, grandparents or great grandparents should not have been a national of Bangladesh or Pakistan at any point of time.

The PIO card programme came into effect on 15 September 2002.

 

 

Uses

The different advantages accessible to PIO cardholders were:

  • Visa-free entry into India during the 15 year period of validity of PIO card
  • Exception from the prerequisite of registration if stay in India doesn't surpass a half year. Should the constant stay surpass a half year, registration with the FRRO is required.
  • Parity with non-resident Indians in regard of facilities accessible to the last in economic, financial and educational fields.
  • All facilities in the issue of obtaining, holding, transfer and disposal of immovable properties in India besides in issues identifying with the procurement of agricultural/plantation properties.
  • Facilities  accessible to children  of  non-resident Indians for getting admission to educational institutions in India including medical colleges, engineering colleges, Institutes of Technology, Institutes of Management etc. under the general categories.
  • Facilities accessible under the different housing schemes of LIC, State Governments and other Government agencies.

Persons with a PIO were not:

  • eligible to vote.
  • eligible for an Inner Line Permit. They needed to apply for a Protected area permit.

 

Registration/Residential Permit

Earlier, PIO card holders expected to register with the appropriate FRRO in case they were planning to stay in India for over 180 days. This necessity was not pertinent for minors. However, on 30 September 2014, this prerequisite was eliminated.

The FRRO used to issue a "Residential Permit For PIO" which was normally valid till the expiry of the PIO card holder's passport. On 28 September 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared at Madison Square Garden (New York) that PIO card holders would be granted lifelong visas.

Note that while an Indian citizen can appreciate unlimited visa free visits to Nepal and Bhutan, this isn't workable for a PIO/OCI card holder.

 

 

 

PIO and OCI documents merge

The forerunner to the OCI was the Persons of Indian Origin Card (PIO card). The PIO card was less compelling than the OCI, and there was some criticism that holders of the more costly PIO card were burdened when the OCI scheme launched scarcely four years after the fact, that there was disarray of the contrasts between the two, and administration of the two independent schemes created intricacy and turmoil.

PM Narendra Modi declared on 28 September 2014 that PIO and OCI cards would be merged. Ultimately this was executed as:

  1. A gazetted order published on 30 September 2014 expressed a PIO card issued to a candidate will be valid for their lifetime, given such candidate has a valid Passport.
  2. A gazetted order published on 9 January 2015, changed over all PIO holders on that date to OCI,
  3. That second order halted further applications of the PIO card, and
  4. Free change of PIOs to OCIs was allowed until the extended deadline of 31 December 2017.

PIO cardholders should apply to change over their current cards into OCI cards. The Bureau of Immigration expressed that it would keep on tolerating the old PIO cards as valid travel documents until 31 December 2021.