Conversion of PIO card to OCI card PIO Card Validity Extended up to December 31, 2024

1. Indian Immigration will accept all Person of Indian Origin (PIO) cards (including handwritten ones) along with valid foreign passport, as valid travel document till December 31, 2024, instead of earlier deadline of December 31, 2023.
2. Indian Immigration Check Post(s) will continue to consider all PIO cards (which were valid as on January 9, 2015) valid for exit from/entry into India till December 31, 2024. This extension of timeline is subject to the condition that if in the meantime, any deadline is notified by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) thereby making handwritten PIO cards invalid, then PIO cardholders may have to obtain appropriate visa from Indian Missions/Posts.
3. All PIO cardholders (handwritten and machine-readable) are meanwhile advised to urgently convert their PIO card to OCI card before this deadline.
4. It is informed that VFS Global is the Outsourcing Service Provider of OCI Services, including PIO to OCI conversion, for the Consulate General of India, Sydney. 
5. All the applicants under the Consular Jurisdiction of the Consulate General of India, Sydney (those living in NSW and SA Region of Australia) may visit the following link for details: https://services.vfsglobal.com/aus/en/ind/apply-oci-services.
6. Apart from the applicable Government of India fees for OCI, the applicants will also be required to pay additional service charges to VFS Global and AUS$ 5 as contribution to Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) and any other value-added services as selected by the applicant.

In case of any other specific queries related to PIO to OCI conversion, please contact VFS or oci.sydney@mea.gov.in