Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assurance to the Indian diaspora, the Centre on Tuesday issued a notification on lifelong Indian Visa to Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and 10-year Visa for US nationals. The news norms have abolished the mandatory police reporting of PIOs for staying above 180 days in India.
“I am very glad to share that the Government of India has moved swiftly on the announcements I had made on consular and visa issues during my USA visit. On September 30, a Gazette notification was issued, which said that all PIO cards are valid for lifetime of cardholders. Earlier it was 15 years,” announced Modi on Twitter. “I am sure these efforts will further strengthen our bond with the Diaspora and give an impetus to our development journey,” added Modi.
Prime Minister has also asked the Home Ministry to work out a new scheme to merge the PIO and OCI schemes. Earlier, Government of India had announced an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) scheme like PIO. However, there given the differences and ambiguities in these two schemes it posed a lot of problems for the Indian diaspora.
“Further, following the Prime MinisterRs s announcement that PIO cardholders would be exempt from police reporting, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued instructions through the same Gazette notification dated September 30th, that PIO cardholders would not be required to report to a police station even if their visit to India exceeds 180 days,” the PMO said in a statement.
“Fulfilling yet another announcement made by the Prime Minister, instructions have been issued to Embassies and Consulates that unless there are exceptional circumstances, visas to US nationals should normally be given for 10 years. Systems are in place to introduce visa on arrival for US tourists in October itself. The Ministry of Home Affairs is working on a new scheme that will merge the PIO and OCI schemes,” added the statement.