Travel To India With OCI Cards

As per the existing guidelines, holders of PIO/OCI card are required to carry the PIO/OCI card along with the current Passport while traveling to India. The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, vide their Circular No.26011/06/2015-OCI dated 29.01.2015 dispensed with the requirement of ‘U’ Visa OCI sticker and made OCI card in the form of booklet valid for travel to India. Therefore, it is reiterated that OCI Card holders need not carry the ‘U’ Visa OCI sticker issued to them earlier and instead should carry the machine readable OCI Card issued to them. Previously issued PIO Cards, which are handwritten, will become invalid due to the fact that from October 2018 onwards, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will accept only machine readable travel documents. Thus, it will be necessary upon PIO Card holders to obtain machine readable OCI Cards in lieu of existing hand written PIO Cards before October, 2018 on payment of necessary fees, to avoid any inconvenience.