What's New What's New

Conversion of PIO card to OCI card

Conversion of PIO card to OCI card

PIO Card Validity Extended up to December 31, 2023

 Indian Immigration will accept all Person of Indian Origin (PIO) cards (including handwritten ones) along with valid foreign passport, as valid travel document till December 31, 2023, instead of earlier deadline of December 31, 2022.

  1. Indian Immigration Check Post(s) will continue to consider all PIO cards (which were valid as on January 9, 2015) valid for exit from/entry into India till December 31, 2023. This extension of timeline is subject to the condition that if in the meantime, any deadline is notified by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) thereby making handwritten PIO cards invalid, then PIO cardholders may have to obtain appropriate visa from Indian Missions/Posts.

  2. All PIO cardholders (handwritten and machine-readable) are meanwhile advised to convert their PIO card to OCI card before this deadline.

  3. It is informed that VFS Global is the Outsourcing Service Provider of OCI Services, including PIO to OCI conversion, for the Embassy of India, Washington DC and its Consulates in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York, and San Francisco.

  4. All the applicants under the Consular Jurisdiction of the Consulate General of India, Houston (Arkansas,Colorado,Kansas,New Mexico, Louisiana, Oklahoma,Texas), may visit the following link for details :https://services.vfsglobal.com/usa/en/ind/apply-oci-services.

  5. Apart from the applicable Government of India fees (US$ 100 and US$ 200 for lost/damaged PIO cards), the applicants will also be required to pay US$ 15.90 as service charge to VFS Global and US$ 3 as contribution to Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) and any other Value-Added Services as selected by the applicant.

VFS Helpline Numbers:

Consular Services (For PIO, OCI and Renunciation) + 1 800 320 9693
Operational Days: Monday to Friday, 0800 to 2000 hours EST
In case of any other specific queries related to PIO to OCI conversion, please email – info.houston@mea.gov.in

Houston

09 January 2023