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PERSON OF INDIAN ORIGIN CARD SCHEME
| 1. |
Understanding
the sentiments of persons of Indian origin to be closer to their
original country and to reinforce their emotional bonds, as well
as respecting their desire to participate in the development of
the country of their origin, the Government of India made an earnest
resolve to frame a special scheme. In pursuit of this objective
Government have decided issuance of Person of Indian Origin (PIO)
Card for those living abroad and having foreign passports. The scheme
has become effective from 30 March, 1999.
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| 2. |
Person
of Indian Origin has been defined as a foreign citizen (not being
a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh and other countries as may be specified
by the Central Government from time to time) if,
- he/she at
any time held an Indian passport; or
- he/she or
either of his/her parents or grand parents or great grand parents
was born in and permanently resident in India as defined in the
Government of India Act, 1935 and other territories that became
part of India thereafter provided neither was at any time a citizen
of any of the aforesaid countries(as referred to in para 2 above);
or
- he/she is
a spouse of a citizen of India or a person of Indian origin
covered under (i) or (ii) above.
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| 3. |
The
salient points of the PIO card are as follows:
- The fee
for card which will have validity of 20 years, would be US$1000.
- PIO Card
holder shall not require a visa to visit India.
- PIO Card
holder will be exempted from the requirement of registration if
his stay in India does not exceed 180 days.
- In the event
of continuous stay in India of the PIO Card holder exceeding
180 days, he/she shall have to get himself / herself registered
within 30 days
of the expiry of 180 days with the concerned Foreigners Registration
Officer at District Headquarters.
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| 4. |
A PIO Card holder shall enjoy parity with NRIs in respect of all
facilities available to the latter in the economic, financial and
educational fields except in matter relating to the acquisition
of agricultural/plantation properties. These facilities will include.
- Acquisition,
holding, transfer and disposal of immovable properties in
India except of agricultural/plantation properties;
- admission
of children in educational institutions in India under the general
category quota for NRIs - including medical/ engineering colleges,
DTs,
IIMs, etc.;
- various
housing schemes of Life Insurance Corporation of India, State
Governments and other Government agencies;
- All future
benefits that would be extended to NRIs would also be available
to the PIO Card holders;
- However,
they shall not enjoy political rights in India.
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| 5. |
On 30 March,
Reserve Bank of India simplified facilities for financial transaction
byNRIs/PIOs. The changes are:
A)
In order to simple the procedures and to provide greater freedom
to NRIs/PIOs for putting through financial transactions in India
it has been decided to permit them to open bank accounts in India
which will be at par with rupee accounts maintained by residents.
They will now be permitted to open Non-Resident(Special) Rupee Accounts
with banks in India which will have the same facilities and restrictions
as are applicable to rupee accounts maintained in India by residents
in regard to repatriation funds held in these accounts and/or income/interest
earned on them. The procedure for opening such accounts will be
the same as in the case of domestic accounts of resident individuals.
This scheme will become effective from April 15, 1999.
B) RBI has
also granted general permission to:
- resident
individuals, partnership/proprietorship concerns to avail of interest
bearing rupee loans from NRIs/PIOs out of funds remitted by them
from
abroad or out of funds held in their bank accounts in India, on
non-repatriation
basis, subject to certain conditions one of them being that the
rate of interest
on such loans should not exceed Bank Rate plus two percentage
points.
- NRIs/PIOs
to transfer by way of gift, hares held by them in Indian companies
and to PIOs to transfer by way of gift , immovable property held
by them in India
to registered charitable trusts/ organisations subject to compliance
with other
applicable rules/ regulations including the provisions of Foreign
Contribution
Regulations Act, 1976 by the charitable trust/organisation concerned.
- NRIs/OCBs
for investment on repatriation basis in Air Taxi operations subject
to,
among other conditions, that the approval of the Director General
of Civil
Aviation has been obtained.
- All domestic
public/private sector mutual funds for issue of Units to
NRIs/PIOs/OCBs on both repatriation as well as non-repatriation
basis.
- NRIs/PIOs/OCBs
to place deposits with Indian firms, on non-repatriation basis
and with Indian companies including Non-banking financial companies
on both
repatriation and non-repatriation basis.
- NRIs/PIOs/OCBs
for sale of shares acquired under direct investment Schemes
on stock exchanges in India.
C) The Reserve
Bank will grant general permission to NRIs/ PIOs/OCBs to invest
in Government Securities and treasury bills while granting permission
for investment in shares and debentures under the portfolio scheme.
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| 6. |
Applicants
living abroad shall make applications in the prescribed form for
issue of PIO cards to an Indian mission in the country where they
are ordinarily resident. Applicants already in India on long-term
visa (one year or more) shall make applications to the concerned
Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta
and Chennai) and those residing in areas other than the above shall
approach Joint Secretary(Foreigners), Ministry of Home Affairs,
First Floor, Lok Nayak Bhawan, Khan Market, New Delhi-110003, India.
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| 7. |
For further
information regarding PIO cards, applicants shall contact the Assistant
Consular Officer of this Embassy at telephone No. 3511268. The prescribed
application forms for issuing of PIO cards are available with the
Consular Section of this Embassy.
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