Government of India has extended the time limit for conversion of PIO Cards to OCI cards, several times before. As of now, the extended such time limit is 31.12.2017.
International Civil Aviation Organization will accept only machine readable travel documents from October, 2018. The existing PIO cards, which are hand written, will, therefore, become invalid travel documents. Hence, it will be necessary upon PIO cardholders to obtain machine readable OCI cards in lieu of existing hand written PIO cards before October, 2018 to avoid any inconvenience.
In order to take advantage of getting such PIO cards converted into machine readable OCI cards on GRATIS basis, it will be advisable to get these converted before 31.12.2017.
The OCI application form is available on the website https://passport.gov.in/oci/ The OCI form has to be filled up online. Thereafter, all the required supporting documents are to be uploaded. Subsequently, a copy of the filled up OCI application form downloaded from the website, along with supporting documents, are to be submitted to the Consulate General of India, Milan or any Embassy/High Commission/Consulate General of India. You may also see the website of the Consulate General of India, Milan for the list of supporting documents required for verification of OCI cards.
