Cabinet mulls bill on merger of Person of Indian Origin and Overseas Citizenship of India schemes

NEW DELHI: Pursuant to the announcements made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, the Cabinet is soon expected to consider a bill that will facilitate merger of the Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) schemes.

"A draft bill for amending the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which will enable merger of the PIO (Person of Indian Origin) and OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) schemes, is expected to be brought to the Cabinet for approval shortly," a PMO statement said.

During his visit to the US in September, Modi had announced grant of lifetime visa to PIOs. Subsequently, he had said the Home Ministry was working on the new programme that will merge the PIO and OCI schemes and that instructions had been issued to embassies and consulates that apart from special circumstances, US nationals should get visas for 10 years.

In another major initiative, Visa-on-Arrival and Electronic Travel Authorization in respect of 43 countries, including the United States, Australia, Fiji and Pacific Island countries is expected to be inaugurated on November 27, 2014, the PMO statement said.

The government has already announced fulfilment of the Prime Minister's announcements, including exemption for PIOs staying in India for long term from police reporting and issuance of long-term (10 year) visas to US nationals on reciprocal basis.