The Cox and Kings website (https://www.in.ckgs.us/) now states that free PIO-to-OCI conversion has been extended to Dec 31 2017.

It is also reported at this website: http://www.firstpost.com/india/centr...r-3752887.html

However, the US Indian embassy and consulate websites all continue to state the June 30 deadline, so thus far I have seen nothing on an official govt site confirming the extension.

Whether the whole PIO-to-OCI conversion is even mandatory or optional is still not clear-cut, I've received email from the embassy stating that PIO cards continue to be valid after June 30, but friends have been told over the phone by consulate personnel that a PIO will only be valid if it is accompanied by a receipt indicating the OCI has been applied for.
And of course, none of the embassy/consulate websites have anything that addresses this, instead using words like 'advised to convert', 'last day to convert', 'convert to avoid inconveniences', and never actually state if it's required (probably because they don't want to lose out on application and processing fees).
Some basic questions I'd love to see answered AND POSTED on official sites:

1. Is PIO-to-OCI conversion mandatory or simply recommended?
2. If one does nothing, will existing valid PIO cards continue to be valid for entry to India? (since some statements posted on the embassy/consulate sites that say that all PIO cardholders are now considered OCI holders). And if so, are they now valid for life or will they expire per expiration date on them?
3. Can PIO-to-OCI conversion be done after the period of 'free' conversion ends?

I just entered and was told that applying for OCI was "highly recommended" as they would be "cancelling" the PIO status.

However, I retorted by asking: "Isn't the PIO supposed to be lifelong?", and the immigration officer agreed, but with uncertainty and stating the previous recommendation...

My understanding was that the government wants to completely stop just about any and all support for PIO status. So at some point that will mean the PIO status becomes just about completely meaningless if it hasn't been used to get converted into OCI and/or get documented as an OCI.

My bet is that at some point those PIOs who haven't gone in for the conversion to OCI will have to apply for OCI (if they qualify) and just forget about PIO status meaning much of anything.

PIO and OCI status have already ceased to exist.

The only status currently recognised is "OCI Cardholder" status. Both erstwhile PIO and OCI status have been converted to the new status.

The only question here is the physical card. Every former PIO is already considered an OCI cardholder by decree.

Lifetime PIO, but what of age thresholds?
 

Dear all, thanks for this discussion which I found more illuminating than going through CKGS, Indian embassies and consulates, and immihelp websites. A few questions...

1. Has anyone actually gotten any Immigration checkpoint in India to notate the PIO card for lifetime validity? My impression is that this is not mandatory, but it's useful to have in case GoI changes/reinterprets its rules again.

2. What about PIO cards held by minors that were initially valid for 15 years? Those cards have an expiration date on them, but is the expiration date henceforth rendered irrelevant?

3. My minor child's PIO card has a page dedicated to "endorsement to be made by a competent authority in case of change/renewal of passport of this PIO card holder." Given US passports for minors change every 5 years, can this endorsements page get updated simply by the personnel at the Immigration checkpoint when entering India? Has anyone had that happen?
Or does one need to go through the CKGS "black hole" system in advance (and very likely be strong-armed by CKGS into switching to an OCI)?

Thank you for your advice.

Yesterday was at the counter next to me in Delhi immigration and used her PIO card. The BoI officer gave her the usual 'get an OCI card' speech and she challenged him if this was really necessary and when the PIO card would be invalid. Since there was not much going on the officer loudly asked his supervisor (across three counters) what the policy was. He responded that there is no official circular so far to that topic. They are supposed to remind people to convert to OCI but old PIO cards remain valid until further notice.

It seems a date for the demise of the PIO card is now set. The TIMATIC entry for India has this passage:

TIMATIC now has this messge:

Just saw this message during my checkin with LH:

PIO to OCI Conversion
 

I am trying to apply for OCI in lieu of valid PIO. However I am getting stuck in a very peculiar situation. In the Applicants information, when I choose Date of Birth as Adult, the Marital Status box shows up as mandatory. Once I select Married, then the entire Spouse information is required(like PP number etc). If I enter all the information for my spouse, then the form shows that this is being applied on the basis of Spouse eligibility which is not correct. I don't see any checkbox for deselecting this option(as per instructions). How do I proceed?

Thanks!

a lot of these government websites are poorly configured, leading to mistakes like this....you can try complaining but don't expect them to do anything quickly....

Agreed. But this is not mere complaining- unable to proceed further!

Websites developed by inadequate developers are often only tested in the most basic configurations. The form may be breaking because of some non-standard setting on your browser, and could start to work for you if you change your browser & its configuration to match what those developers expect.

You could try the following...
Try the form again after disabling any adblocking or anti-virus browser addons. Also make sure your browser is not blocking cookies/third-party cookies. If that does not work try another browser (i.e. if you use chrome, try the form again in Edge or Firefox).

If all else fails & you yourself are a software developer, there's always the option of firing up the debugger & bludgeoning the form into submission.

Flushing the cookies and any preloaded stuff with crtl+shift+R helps too ;)

Unfortunately, tried three different browsers and 2 different computers. Just cant see a way around this :-(

Don't mention the spouse perhaps?

Unfortunately that's the issue! Moment I choose Married, the Spouse information becomes mandatory.

Hi fw10001 i have similar question. Here are my details..

After this PIO-OCI conversion news published, we made a trip to india and landed in BLR back in 2016, the immigration checkpoint has no clue regarding stamping of "Life time validty" on our son's PIO booklet. Luckily i have taken the printout of the publication and after some back n forth moments (almost 2 hours delayed), finally they stamped our son's (minor 12years) PIO card with this Life time validity.
Just now realized ( planning a trip to india) that his PIO card has expired in 2020 when he turned 16. I am not sure whats our course of action..
Should we continue to carry his expired PIO booklet having the "Life time validity" stamp or should we apply again and go thru new OCI process ??

Technically the life time validity stamp should work but my son PIO card has picture of 1 year old when he applied. I dont want any trouble at the immigration that too having connecting flight at DELHI to HYD is only 4 hours..

Appreciate if any one in my situation has any inputs.

The PIO card validity saga continues... noticed this in TIMATIC ( https://www.emirates.com/de/english/...destination=in )

Also:
So they have extended the deadline one 'last' time?