Consulate General of India: New York

PIO Card Application (PDF)

INFORMATION REGARDING PIO CARD

ELIGIBILITY:

All persons of Indian origin who hold passport of any other country (with certain exceptions) will be eligible to apply for PIO Card, if:-

he at any time held an Indian passport; or
he or either of his parents or grand parents or great grand parents was born in and permanently resident in India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935, and other territories that became part of India thereafter, provided neither was at any time a citizen of any of the specified countries; or
he/she is a spouse of a citizen of India or a person of Indian origin covered under (i) and (ii) above.

VALIDITY

A PIO Card shall be valid for a period of fifteen years from the date of issue subject to the validity of the passport of the applicant. In other words, the PIO card shall be valid only if the passport held by the individual is valid on a particular date. After issuance of the PIO card, if the holder is issued a new passport, he should get the new passport number endorsed on the PIO card. There is no fee for this service.

TIMING:

Applications for PIO cards are accepted between 9.15 a.m. and 12.15 p.m only. PIO cards, irrespective of date or time of submission, are delivered only between 4:30 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. on working days. Ordinarily, it takes about 2-3 days to issue a PIO card but this schedule does not apply to cases where approval is required from authorities in India. You are advised to find out at the time of application the exact date on which PIO card would be ready. For applications sent by mail, a reasonable amount of time for mailing and its return may be added before making enquiries with us.

HOW TO APPLY:

Fill in the prescribed Application Form. For children who cannot sign, thumb impression may be put in place of signatures in the application form.

Other requirements are :

Existing (valid) passport in original, along with a photocopy;
Expired Indian passport/travel document(s) of the applicant or either of his/her parents or grandparents or great grandparents in original, along with photocopies;
All other relevant documents and their photocopies that may be helpful in establishing Indian origin which may include, inter alia, revenue records, domicile certificate/school or college leaving certificates, US naturalization certificate, Indian Birth certificate of the applicant and of the parents or grand parents of the applicant etc., Nationality certificates of the applicant and of the parents or grand parents;
In case application is for a child, Indian Passports of parents (along with photocopies) and original birth certificate of the child (along with photocopies) may be submitted.
Those applying as spouses of persons of Indian origin should submit original Indian passport or PIO card (whichever is applicable) of the spouse and original marriage certificate; (To be eligible the marriage must have taken place more than a year before the date of application)
Four recent passport size photographs of the applicant showing frontal view of full face;
Fee of US $ 310 (Fee of US $ 155 for minors below the age of 18). This can be paid in cash or Certified Checks or Money Orders payable to the CONSULATE GENERAL OF INDIA, NEW YORK.
Please fill the application form completely, in particular, column 13 & 14. Mention the details of parents, grandparents, spouse etc., to the extent possible bringing out their Indian or foreign origin as applicable.
Submit proof of residence for more than a year (such as Green Card) in the area of this Consulate�s jurisdiction in case the application is from a non-US passport holder.
Above requirements are indicative and attempt has been made to cover majority of cases. However, the Consular Officer may ask for additional documents after examining the application in person and the same would have to be provided.

APPLICATION BY MAIL:

In addition to applying in person at the Counter at the Indian Consulate, applications can also be sent by certified/express mail to Consulate General of India, 3 East, 64th Street, New York, NY-10021.

When sending by mail, only notarized copies of the documents that are required to be submitted with the application may be enclosed. Please do not send original documents unless it is required by us and we have specifically asked for it after the submission of the application. PIO cards along with other documents would be returned by mail only by Certified & Express Mail and following additional return mail charges should be sent for this purpose.

For Certified mail: $5 plus $ 1 for each additional application.

For Express mail: $15 up to four applications provided they are being mailed to same address.

You may send one check or money order towards payment of both PIO card as well as mail service. Please do not send pre-paid envelopes such as FedEx, UPS, AirBorne, etc., as we do not return documents through these services.

Fee should be paid by Money Order/Certified check payable to the Consulate General of India, New York. Do not send cash if applying by mail. PERSONAL CHEQUES ARE ALSO NOT ACCEPTED. THE CONSULATE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR DELAYED DESPATCH OF DOCUMENTS OR FOR LOSS OF DOCUMENTS IN MAIL.

WHOM TO APPLY:

An application for issue of a PIO Card shall be made to an Indian Embassy or Consulate in the country/area where the applicant is ordinarily resident.

For those staying in India on a long term visa, application may be made through the following authorities:

(A)... Those residing in :-

Delhi - Foreigners Regional Registration Officer, Level � II, East Block VIII, R. K. Puram, Sector � I, New Delhi.
Mumbai - Foreigners Regional Registration Officer, Annexe � II, Commissioner of Police, Crawford Market, Mumbai � 400001.
Kolkata - Foreigners Regional Registration Officer, 237, Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Road, Kolkata � 700020.
Amritsar - Additional Deputy Director, Bureau of Immigration, B/123 Ranjeet Avenue, Amritsar.
Chennai - Chief Immigration Officer, Bureau of Immigration, Shastri Bhavan Annexe, No. 26, Haddows Road, Chennai � 600006.
(B) Those residing in areas other than (A) above: Joint Secretary (Foreigners), Ministry of Home Affairs, 1st Floor, Lok Nayak Bhavan, Khan Market, New Delhi � 110003.

BENEFITS:

Besides making their journey back to their roots simpler, easier and smoother, this Scheme entitles the PIO cardholders to a wide range of economic, financial, educational and cultural benefits. The benefits envisaged under the Scheme include:

No requirement of visa to visit India when PIO card is carried along with the national passport;
No requirement of a �Student� Visa for undertaking studies in India and �Employment� visa for taking up employment in India. However, PIO cardholders would be required to fulfill other pre-requisite conditions and formalities in connection with their studies/employment as prescribed by concerned authorities from time to time.
No requirement to register with the Foreigners Registration Officer if continuous stay on a single visit does not exceed 180 days. If continuous stay exceeds 180 days, then registration is required to be done within a period of 30 days of the expiry of 180 days with the concerned Foreigners Regional Registration Officer / Foreigners Registration Officer.
Prior permission of the Government of India is required by the PIO Card holders for undertaking mountaineering expeditions, missionary activities, research work and visit to the restricted/protected area.
Parity with Non-Resident Indians (NRI) in respect of facilities available to the latter in economic, financial, educational fields etc. except in matters relating to the acquisition of agricultural/plantation properties. PIOs would be eligible for benefits as available to NRIs from time to time.
PIO card does not allow parity with NRIs in the sphere of political rights.
Separate counters for immigration would be provided to PIO Card holders at all International Airports in India.

HOLIDAYS:

The Consulate General of India would observe following holidays during the year 2004: Republic Day (January 26), Idu'l Zuha (February 02), Muharram (March 02), MahavirJayanti (April 03) Good Friday (April 09), Milad-Un-Nabi (May 02), Buddha Purnima (May 04), American Independence Day (July 4), Independence Day (August 15), Labour Day (September 06), Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday (October 02), Dussehra (October 22), Diwali (November 12), Idu'l Fitr (November 15), Thanksgiving Day (November 25), Guru Nanak's Birthday (November 26), Christmas Day (December 25).