As someone who did the PIO to OCI for somebody else, the process is very simple. Took 2 1/2 weeks.

I don’t think a mandatory conversion from PIO to OCI is a good idea in this environment. I actually wrote a letter to the external affairs office, CG of India in NY and the PM’s office. Here are the links/ addresses: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], and contact PM of India: http://pgportal.gov.in/pmocitizen/Grievancepmo.aspx

My message was simple and I encourage anyone who feels this way to write something similar:

I am a US citizen by birth who has a Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card. Is it mandatory to convert the PIO card to OCI after June 30th? Will the PIO card be nullified after this date if we do not convert it?

I ask as I am concerned with the current environment in the US where Indians are being attached/ government policies are very unpredictable. Having been born in the US and never been an Indian citizen, I am hesitant to get something which calls me an “overseas CITIZEN OF INDIA” and would rather prefer to be just a “Person of Indian Origin”. So hopefully you will reconsider the mandatory conversion of PIO to OCI.

As a former PIO holder, your status is now OCI regardless of whether you have been issued a physical OCI card. I'm also quite confused about why you care about the semantics of the name.. OCI is a glorified visa, and there's nothing more to it.

The local CG has no ability to impact policy in this regard either, so I think this letter was probably a wasted effort.

The erstwhile "Overseas Citizen of India" program has been terminated. It is now called an "OCI Cardholder" program where the abbreviation "OCI" doesn't officially stand for "Overseas Citizen of India". All former PIOs are now considered to be "OCI Cardholders". The change was made to assuage the concerns of people like PrivatePilot as well as to open up the program to citizens of countries who didn't previously permit dual "citizenship" and hence prohibited their citizens from holding the erstwhile OCI status.

Can I travel to India with a PIO card after June 30 2017?
 

All,

I have a PIO card that I have not been able to get converted to OCI

I now have to go to India during the first week of July.

Although the offical last date to convert PIO to OCI is June 30, 2017, I won't be able to apply to get mine converted before then (currently out of country on another trip)

Does anyone know if I can travel to India with my PIO card in early July? Any suggestions on where to look to get a definitive response?

thanks for any info / suggestions!

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!