Life-long visa-free entry for overseas Indians soon

Life-long visa-free entry for overseas Indians soon
PTI
NEW DELHI, JAN 8
Lending a helping hand to the Indian diaspora, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today announced a special facility to enable them life-long visa-free entry into the country and participation in business and other activities here.
Singh said the government had decided to merge the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and the Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cards into a single facility.
Addressing a gathering of Indian diaspora here, he pointed out that the Government had introduced the OCI and PIO cards to facilitate visa-free travel of NRIs and Indian Origin people to India as well as to provide them rights of residency and participation in business and educational activities.
“We have reviewed the functioning of these schemes, and have decided to merge the OCI and PIO cards into a single facility. We hope to iron out some of the problems that have arisen in the implementation of these schemes”, he said.
Later, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said Government will only issue Overseas Citizen of India card which will be a kind of life-long visa.
“We have to finalise the nitty-gritty. But it has been decided that it will be OCI card and holder of the card will have life-long visa free entry into the country”, he said.
PIO cards are given to Indians who have migrated permanently to other countries in a bid to encourage them to visit and invest in the country of origin.
A PIO card holder does not require a visa to visit India and the card is valid for 15 years. A PIO card holder enjoys several economic and educational benefits.
On the other hand, the OCI card is a kind of life-long visa and any India origin person can apply for it if his host country allows dual citizenship.
Talking about the Indians who emigrate for work, Singh said their welfare is “a matter of special concern for us”.
To improve the conditions for migration, India has signed Social Security Agreements with 12 countries and finalized Labour Mobility Partnerships with two others, he said, adding a generic arrangement is also being negotiated with the European Union also.