As part of the system overhaul, the Government of India had announced that it will be withdrawing the PIO Card Scheme and all existing Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) card holders will be deemed to be Overseas Citizens of India Cardholders.
As part of the exercise of bringing uniformity in the scheme, all PIO card holders are now supposed to get their PIO card converted into OCI card at the earliest as per instructions issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Previously the last date for submission of applications for converting PIO cards in to OCI cards was the 30th of June 2017.
But this date has been extended. As of now, there will not be any registration fee if the application for conversion is made before 31 December 2017. However, SMS/Courier/Agent charges, as applicable, will be payable by the applicant.
According to VFS, the processing time for conversion of PIO cards into OCI cards is between four to eight weeks. Processing time for all new OCI card applications is eight weeks.
Source: High Commission of India
