PIO Card

Persons of Indian Origin Card
Date first issued	15 September 2002
Issued by	India
Purpose	Identification
Expiration	9 January 2015 (merged with OCI)

Persons of Indian Origin Card (PIO Card) was a form of identification issued to a Person of Indian Origin who held a passport in a country other than Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

On 9 January 2015, the Person of Indian Origin card scheme was withdrawn by the Government of India and was merged with the Overseas Citizen of India card scheme. All currently held PIO cards are treated as OCI cards. PIO card holders will get a special stamp in their existing PIO card, saying "lifelong validity" and "registration not required", thus making them equal to existing OCI cards. An extended dealine was given where the card could be converted for free to an OCI before 30 June 2017.

The conditions for issuing a PIO card to a person were:

The PIO Card programme came into effect on 15 September 2002.

The various benefits available to a PIO cardholders were:

Persons with a PIO were not:

PIO card holders needed to with the appropriate FRRO (Foreigner Regional Registration Office) if they are planning to stay in India for more than 180 days. This requirement is not applicable for minors. However, in November 2014, this requirement was removed.

The FRRO will issue a "Residential Permit For PIO" which is typically valid till the expiry of the PIO card holder's passport. On 28 September 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced at Madison Square Garden (New York) that PIO card holders would be granted lifelong visas. This became a reality in November.

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