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Conversion of PIO cards to OCI Cards

Consulate General of India

New York

PRESS RELEASE

Conversion of PIO cards to OCI Cards

In terms of Government Notification of 9th January, 2016, all existing PIO Cardholders were deemed to be OCI Cardholders. PIO Card holders were advised to get their PIO Cards converted to OCI cards on gratis basis. The deadline for free conversion is 31st December 2017.

At present PIO Cards are handwritten. International Civil Aviation Organization will accept only machine readable travel documents from October 2018. The existing PIO Cards which are handwritten will therefore, become invalid travel documents effective October 2018.

Holders of PIO Cards are hence advised to apply for converting their PIO Cards to OCI Cards. Applications can be made to CKGS at the link given below: https://www.in.ckgs.us   The processing time taken for conversion is 7-10 days. 

New York

September 25, 2017