PIO to OCI Conversion..Returning to India with Minor

[r2i_soon]

Folks.. I need some input.. have gone through lot of material.. But did not find any information...

I am moving back to India in Middle of May...
Me and my wife are indian Citizen with Indian passport but my Daughter is US Citizen with valid PIO card..

Can I move back to India with that? or do I need to convert to OCI?
I do not have enough time to get the OCI before I leave.
Can that be done in India?

CKGS website says it is mandatory to do that after June 15... But I do not know what that means.. any inputs will really help!

[piooci]

Folks.. I need some input.. have gone through lot of material.. But did not find any information...

I am moving back to India in Middle of May...
Me and my wife are indian Citizen with Indian passport but my Daughter is US Citizen with valid PIO card..

Can I move back to India with that? or do I need to convert to OCI?
I do not have enough time to get the OCI before I leave.
Can that be done in India?

CKGS website says it is mandatory to do that after June 15... But I do not know what that means.. any inputs will really help!

I am also having similar question. My minor son has PIO card stamped with old USA passport. He has a new USA passport after turning 5. We are planning to travel to india during end may and come back after June 15th. So question is if his PIO would still be OK for this? Or would i need to apply for a 6 month indian visa.
I called CKGS helpline and as per them PIO to OCI must be done when passport renewal happens. But havent seen any official announcement/clarification about this.
Anyone aware of official clarification about such scenario?

thanks

[sunrag1]

Modi said he is making process simpler and everyone clapped recently.. Now this has become a complicated process and renew of OCI every 5 yrs etc..

Also process takes 60 working days to convert from PIO to OCI.. Is this becoming a simpler process?!.. Lots of questions in the form are not valid also.

So my question is: Can I travel with my kids having valid PIO in May and return back in August?. Already my travel plans done and I dont have 60 days to get OCI card now.

[piooci]

Folks.. I need some input.. have gone through lot of material.. But did not find any information...

I am moving back to India in Middle of May...
Me and my wife are indian Citizen with Indian passport but my Daughter is US Citizen with valid PIO card..

Can I move back to India with that? or do I need to convert to OCI?
I do not have enough time to get the OCI before I leave.
Can that be done in India?

CKGS website says it is mandatory to do that after June 15... But I do not know what that means.. any inputs will really help!

I sent an email to [email protected]. The indian consulate has mentioned this email address on https://www.indianembassy.org/pages.php?id=20
[email protected] (for OCI/PIO matters)
And they replied mentioning PIO is ok for current travel. And apply OCI as soon as possible.

Try sending email to them.

[sharan1234]

travel with PIO

I am also in a similar situation for my minor son. He has a PIO card. We are going this end of May and coming in July. CKGS says we should get 6 month visa for him if we don't have enough time to convert PIO to OCI.

This does not make sense to me as to why we should spend extra dollars and hassle of all this paperwork when we have a perfectly verified legal document (PIO) with us and how will we apply for OCI when we are in India on a summer vacation. This cutoff date of 17th June also does not make sense since this is summer holidays for school and most of kids will be in the middle of their travel.

One lady in the Indian consulate assured me that there will be no problem to travel on PIO but CKGS is adamant we need visa and the consulate is in the process of updating the information.

Does anyone know can my son go to India on PIO card. This is very confusing.

[sunrag1]

I am also in a similar situation for my minor son. He has a PIO card. We are going this end of May and coming in July. CKGS says we should get 6 month visa for him if we don't have enough time to convert PIO to OCI.

This does not make sense to me as to why we should spend extra dollars and hassle of all this paperwork when we have a perfectly verified legal document (PIO) with us and how will we apply for OCI when we are in India on a summer vacation. This cutoff date of 17th June also does not make sense since this is summer holidays for school and most of kids will be in the middle of their travel.

One lady in the Indian consulate assured me that there will be no problem to travel on PIO but CKGS is adamant we need visa and the consulate is in the process of updating the information.

Does anyone know can my son go to India on PIO card. This is very confusing.

Don't worry.. Everyone will be in same boat.. Pio is life long valid.. Some stupid folks made some changes or want to trouble majority of folks traveling to India for vacation... FRRO in India is not aware of an rules yet.. As you have valid PIO there is no need of visa... If visa is needed why did we apply for PIO?... So let us wait for their updates...

[indocan]

Instead of simplifying things, the bureaucrat babus have made it more complicated.

All PIO holders have paid for PIO card and it was valid for at least 15 years before they announced that it would be lifelong. Now why are they forcing people to convert it to OCI when the holders of PIO card have paid the required fee and were issued a document with 15 year validity.

I am tired of this Indian bureaucracy nonsense.

I hope the Indian diaspora will get together so the authorities immediately rollback this mandatory OCI in lieu of PIO thing.

[CKGS Visa Services]

Dear Applicant,

Kindly send the application details @ [email protected] to assist you better.

Please mention the link of this post in your email.

Regards,
CKGS USA Team.

I am also in a similar situation for my minor son. He has a PIO card. We are going this end of May and coming in July. CKGS says we should get 6 month visa for him if we don't have enough time to convert PIO to OCI.

This does not make sense to me as to why we should spend extra dollars and hassle of all this paperwork when we have a perfectly verified legal document (PIO) with us and how will we apply for OCI when we are in India on a summer vacation. This cutoff date of 17th June also does not make sense since this is summer holidays for school and most of kids will be in the middle of their travel.

One lady in the Indian consulate assured me that there will be no problem to travel on PIO but CKGS is adamant we need visa and the consulate is in the process of updating the information.

Does anyone know can my son go to India on PIO card. This is very confusing.

[babluvn]

Good step from Indian Govt

Guys, I think this is a great step from Indian Govt. There was a lot more confusion in the past between PIO and OCI. Now the merger clears it all. After this initial uncertainity it will be good in the long run. Just to maintain the clarity, the govt should not change its stance now and should abolish the PIO and all PIO holders should switch to OCI. I have submitted the application for OCI in lieu of PIO. Lets see what reply I get.

[pio2oci]

Guys, I think this is a great step from Indian Govt. There was a lot more confusion in the past between PIO and OCI. Now the merger clears it all. After this initial uncertainity it will be good in the long run. Just to maintain the clarity, the govt should not change its stance now and should abolish the PIO and all PIO holders should switch to OCI. I have submitted the application for OCI in lieu of PIO. Lets see what reply I get.

Wait and watch when all OCI holders need to convert to OIC (Overseas Indian Card), whichc was the bill that was passed in the Parliament. PIO and OCI merger meant to replace by OIC.

Google it

[aboppana]

Folks.. I need some input.. have gone through lot of material.. But did not find any information...

I am moving back to India in Middle of May...
Me and my wife are indian Citizen with Indian passport but my Daughter is US Citizen with valid PIO card..

Can I move back to India with that? or do I need to convert to OCI?
I do not have enough time to get the OCI before I leave.
Can that be done in India?

CKGS website says it is mandatory to do that after June 15... But I do not know what that means.. any inputs will really help!

little more info on SFO consulate website, although it's completely not clear.

http://www.cgisf.org/page/display/30/231

[ploutos]

From SFO website, looks like just traveling with existing PIO card and older passport is fine. Its clear from the FAQ. Wondering what is not clear here.
I wrote to ckgs as well.. Did anyone receive any email response from ckgs?

little more info on SFO consulate website, although it's completely not clear.
http://www.cgisf.org/page/display/30/231

[pbhagavan19]

PIO to OCI conversion

I have visited India with my PIO daughter in end of Jan. They have stamped (Life time validity) on PIO card. I don't think we will need to convert PIO to OCI. May be CKGS they may not familiar with this.

[dce3535]

From SFO website, looks like just traveling with existing PIO card and older passport is fine. Its clear from the FAQ. Wondering what is not clear here.
I wrote to ckgs as well.. Did anyone receive any email response from ckgs?

Here is the response I received from the Embassy of India in response to my query.

"YOU MAY TRAVEL WITH THE EXISTING PIO CARD. HOWEVER, YOU ARE ADVISED TO APPLY FOR OCI AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AT HTTP://WWW.IN.CKGS.US/OCI/OCI-CATEGO...US-ADULT.SHTML.
*
REGARDS
*
*
OCI WING
EMBASSY OF INDIA
WASHINGTON DC"
*
*
From: xxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2015 1:13 PM
To: OCIPIO E/I Washington
Subject: Travel to India with valid PIO, but new USA passport
*
Dear Sir/Madam,
*
My child has a valid PIO, but was issued a new U.S. Passport. When I applied for endorsement of the PIO on the new US passport in January, due to a change of rules, the application was sent back and I was told that the PIO has lifelong validity and endorsement was not needed. However, now the CKGS insists that my child cannot travel to India with his existing PIO card in spite of lifelong validity, as it has not been endorsed on the new US passport, and that he needs to apply for a visa ( we do not have enough time to apply for OCI in lieu of PIO since we are traveling to India in the last week of May).
*
I would appreciate your kind clarification in this matter, whether my child will be able to travel to India if we carry both his old and new passports along with the valid PIO card. Please let me know if you need additional details.
*
*
*
Regards,
*
Xyz

[sharan1234]

The Washington embassy website and CKGS website also seems to have updated that PIO card holder can travel but need to apply for OCI as soon as possible.

Here is the response I received from the Embassy of India in response to my query.

"YOU MAY TRAVEL WITH THE EXISTING PIO CARD. HOWEVER, YOU ARE ADVISED TO APPLY FOR OCI AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AT HTTP://WWW.IN.CKGS.US/OCI/OCI-CATEGO...US-ADULT.SHTML.
*
REGARDS
*
*
OCI WING
EMBASSY OF INDIA
WASHINGTON DC"
*
*
From: xxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2015 1:13 PM
To: OCIPIO E/I Washington
Subject: Travel to India with valid PIO, but new USA passport
*
Dear Sir/Madam,
*
My child has a valid PIO, but was issued a new U.S. Passport. When I applied for endorsement of the PIO on the new US passport in January, due to a change of rules, the application was sent back and I was told that the PIO has lifelong validity and endorsement was not needed. However, now the CKGS insists that my child cannot travel to India with his existing PIO card in spite of lifelong validity, as it has not been endorsed on the new US passport, and that he needs to apply for a visa ( we do not have enough time to apply for OCI in lieu of PIO since we are traveling to India in the last week of May).
*
I would appreciate your kind clarification in this matter, whether my child will be able to travel to India if we carry both his old and new passports along with the valid PIO card. Please let me know if you need additional details.
*
*
*
Regards,
*
Xyz