Deadline announced for conversion of PIO cards into OCI cards

- ADVERTISEMENT -

PIO card holders under the jurisdiction of the Consulate General of New York are requested to urgently convert their PIO cards into OCI cards before the expiry of the deadline for the conversion process which is June 30, 2017. Jurisdiction includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Applications can be made to CKGS at the link given below: https://www.in.ckgs.us

In terms of the notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Jan. 9, 2015, , all the existing PIO card holders were deemed to be OCI card holders, a press release issued by the consulate said. However, the consulate also advised all persons with valid PIO cards to apply for registration as OCI card holder in view of the following advantages in processing as OCI card:

(a) OCI card is a smart card;

(b) Possession of an OCI card will facilitate quicker immigration clearance at the Immigration Check Posts;

(c) It will help in obtaining various Consular Services from the Indian Missions;

(d) For those who are resident in India, it will facilitate in availing various services in India.

The cutoff date will be only for submission of the applications online by the applicants. A separate online application form for submission of application for registration as OCI cardholder in lieu of PIO card is available in the website https://passport.gov.in/oci/.