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PIO Vs OCI (PIO Card Vs OCI Card)

For Indians living in the USA (or any other country), at some time, the question will hit you: What to go for? PIO Card or OCI?

PIO stands for Person of Indian Origin. PIO card is a kind of 15 visa for India. OCI stands for Overseas Citizenship of India. Here is some comparison between OCI and PIO card.

Customer Feedback: Thank you very much. As usual amazing service. I really appriciate what you are doing for Indians overseas. Ashish Advani Thu 4/29/10 8:47 AM

 

It is important to know one distinction about different terms.

• If you are born in India and living in India, you are an Indian (unless you specifically acquired citizenship of some other country).
• If you migrate to USA or some other country but still holding Indian citizenship, you are an NRI (Non Resident Indian)
• If you acquire citizenship of some country (say USA), you are no longer an Indian or NRI. You are now PIO (Person of Indian Origin). Acquiring greencard does not make any difference here. It is the citizenship of other country that makes difference. Also keep in mind the distinction between PIO and PIO card. A person is a PIO or NRI but PIO card is a type of visa/privilege with regard to entering into India.
• OCI is Overseas Citizenship of India. They card you get after you acquire OCI is OCI card.

If you are an Indian or NRI, you do not need to worry about PIO card or OCI. You are free to enter India whenever you want. Stay in India as long as you want. Things will change when your child is born outside India. That child will acquire citizenship of the country where he/she is born. He is a PIO- person of Indian Origin. Though you do not need Visa to enter India, your child will need one. Now you will have to learn about PIO card or OCI. Fortunately, it still very simple. If you and your spouse are still Indian or NRI, your child does not qualify for OCI yet. Only when you or your spouse becomes PIO, then only your child will qualify for PIO. Currently Foreign-born children of both Indian Parents are not eligible for OCI card.

Now if you become citizen of some other country (AKA PIO), you have a choice. You can go for PIO card or for an OCI. This is also true for your foreign born children. They can also go for PIO or OCI card.

What are the benefits of an OCI?

Following benefits will be allowed to an OCI:

(a) Multi-purpose, multiple entry, lifelong visa for visiting India.
(b) Exemption from registration with local police authority for any length of stay in India.
(c) Parity with NRIs in respect of economic, financial and education fields except in matters relating to the acquisition of agricultural/plantation properties.

Which is better: PIO or OCI?

What are the advantages of the OCI when compared to PIO cardholders

(i) An OCI is entitled to life long visa with free travel to India whereas for a PIO card holder, it is only valid for 15 years.

(ii) A PIO cardholder is required to register with local Police authority for any stay exceeding 180 days in India on any single visit whereas an OCI is exempted from registration with Police authority for any length of stay in India.

(iii) An OCI gets a specific right to become an Indian Citizen, whereas the PIO card holder does not have this.It depends. Let us look at some cases.

Finance perspective: Which one is cheaper

On the face value, OCI is cheaper. It costs $275 for US citizens and $295 for non-US citizen adults. OCI also lasts life-long. PIO card on the other hand costs $365 for an adult and $185 for kids below 18 years or lower.

Time perspective: You need visas urgently

If you need to go to India within 4 months of less, do not take risk with OCI unless you are applying to Consulate in San Francisco, USA. Currently the OCI applications are processed centrally in the New Delhi, India. So your embassy or consulate will send you application to India and once it is processed, it will travel back to your consulate or embassy. They will then ask you to deposit your passport to stamp OCI in your passport. This whole thing normally takes 3 to 4 months. On the other hand, PIO card can be in your hands within 2 to 4 weeks. Only exception is the Indian Consulate in San Francisco. They ask you to send in your original US passport with your application. The OCI application with them takes around 3 to 4 weeks.

Now if because of urgency, you decide to go for PIO card, no worries. When you get back from India, you can convert your PIO card into OCI pretty easily and cheaply. It costs $25 for a PIO card holder to get OCI if you are a US citizen. It is $45 for non-US citizen PIO card holders.

Validity: OCI Vs PIO

PIO card last 15 years. OCI last life-long.

Government Job: OCI Vs PIO

None of them helps. PIO or OCI card disqualifies from any government job in India.

Study in India: OCI Vs PIO

With either card, you can study in India under NRI quota.

Voting Rights: OCI Vs PIO

Neither PIO card nor OCI entitles you to vote in elections in India.

Reporting to police authorities while in India: OCI Vs PIO

PIO card holders are required to report to police authorities if you are staying more than 180 days in India. For OCI, there is no such need.

Acquiring back Indian Citizenship: OCI Vs PIO

PIO card holder can acquire Indian Citizenship after living in India for 7 years. OCI card holder needs to wait for 5 years and must have stayed in India for at least one year.

Photo requirements PIO vs OCI

Looks like both of them ask for same kind of passport photos with application. However different consulates in the USA ask for different size of passport photos, different background for passport pictures and different number of copies.

Consulate	PIO Card Photo	OCI Photo
	IMPORTANT update as of Feb 2011.	Almost all of the Consulates of India in the USA have oursourced OCI services to Travisa. This has resulted in uniform photo size for OCI Applicants- 2x2 inch (51x51mm).
San Francisco consulate of India	Qty: 2 photos 2x2 inch or 35x35mm photos with white or off white background	Qty: 2 photos 2x2 inch photos with white or off white background
Houston Consulate	Outsourced to Travisa Qty: 4 photos 51 x 51 mm photos	35 x 35 mm photos with light colored background (non-white)
Chicago Consulate	Qty:4 Photos 2 x2 inches (51x51mm) with White Background only	Qty: 5 photos 35 x 35 mm photos with light colored background (non-white)
New York Consulate	Qty: 4 photos 35 x 35 mm photos with light colored background (non-white) They also seem to accept 2x2 inch photo (based on customer feedbacks)	2 x2 inch (51mmx51 mm) photos with light colored background (non-white)
Indian Embassy, Washington DC	Qty: 2 photos 2x2 inch photos	Qty: 2 photos 2 inches x 2 inches color photos. Close-up of head and top of shoulders with face filling up 70% to 80% of the photo (See note below* )
OCI Cell, Ministry of Home Affairs (NIC)		Not less than 51x51 (with 80% coverage by face)....light colored background (not white)...

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*IMPORTANT NOTE FOR OCI APPLICANTS: 51x51 is the same as US Passport photo size however photos taken at your local Costco, Walgreens or CVS probably will not work for most consulates as NIC above requires ***NOT WHITE*** background and 80% coverage by face in the photo. Most US Passport photos printed at local stores (Costco, Walgreens, Kinkos, CVS, Walmart etc) typically have 25%-35% face coverage with mostly white background.

Your best option is to order your OCI Photos with us.

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The addresses of the Indian Diplomatic Missions in the U.S. and their Consular Jurisdictions are given below:
 

EMBASSY OF INDIA, http://www.indianembassy.org  WASHINGTON   D.C. 2107, Massachusetts Ave.  Washington, D.C. 20008  Tel:  (202) 939 7000  Fax: (202) 265 4351 Email: indembwash@indiagov.org	CONSULATE GENERAL OF INDIA, HOUSTON http://www.cgihouston.org/ 1990, Post Oak Blvd. Suite 600  Houston, TX 77056  Ph:   (713)-626-2148/49 Fax: (713)-626-2450 Email: cgi-hou@swbell.net
DELAWARE (DE)	ALABAMA (AL)
WASHINGTON D.C.	ARKANSAS (AR)
KENTUCKY (KY)	FLORIDA (FL)
MARYLAND (MD)	GEORGIA (GA)
NORTH CAROLINA (NC)	KANSAS (KS)
SOUTH CAROLINA (SC)	LOUISIANA (LA)
TENNESSEE (TN)	MISSISSIPPI (MS)
VIRGINIA (VA)	OKLAHOMA (OK)
WEST VIRGINIA (WV)	TEXAS (TX)

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CONSULATE GENERAL OF INDIA, http://www.Indiacgny.org  NEW YORK 3, East 64th Street  New York, NY 10021  Tel:  (212) 774 0600  Fax: (212) 861 3788  Email: indhoccgny@aol.com	CONSULATE GENERAL OF INDIA,  http://www.IndianConsulate.com CHICAGO 455 North City Front Plaza Dr.  (NBC Tower Building) Suite 850 Chicago, IL 60611  Tel:  (312)-595-0405 Fax: (312)-595-0417/18 Email: congendia@aol.com
CONNECTICUT (CT)	ILLINOIS (IL)
MAINE (ME)	INDIANA (IN)
MASSACHUSETTS (MA)	IOWA (IA)
NEW HAMPSHIRE (NH)	MICHIGAN (MI)
NEW JERSEY (NJ)	MINNESOTA (MN)
NEW YORK (NY)	MISSOURI (MO)
OHIO (OH)	NORTH DAKOTA (ND)
PENNSYLVANIA (PA)	SOUTH DAKOTA (SD)
PUERTO RICO (PR)	WISCONSIN (WI)
RHODE ISLAND (RI)
VERMONT (VT)
VIRGIN ISLANDS (VI)

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Above info not enough on PIO Vs OCI? Here is the document from Indian Consulate at San Francisco on PIO Vs OCI Vs Various Visas for India