PIO Card Validity Extended up to 31 December 2025
Indian Immigration will accept all Person of Indian Origin (PIO) cards, along with a valid foreign passport, as a valid travel document till 31 December 2025 instead of the earlier deadline of 31 December 2024.
Indian Immigration Check Post(s) will continue to consider all PIO cards valid for exit/entry into India till 31 December 2025. 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.
Further, existing PIO cardholders are hereby notified that no further extension will be given and they will have to get their PIO cards converted to OCI cards by 31 December 2025, else they will have to get Visa from the Indian Mission/Post abroad for travel to India and service of ‘New Visa’ from FRROs on the e-FRRO online portal if they are already living in India. The process of converting PIO cards into OCI cards is not automatic and the PIO cardholders need to formally apply for an OCI card to receive a physical, machine-readable document.
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