The details of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards issued during the last three years and the current year, are as under:

         Year                                 Total number of OCI cards

          2012                                  2,34,418

          2013                                  2,53,632

          2014                                  2,20,434

          2015 (as on 11.03.2015)        39,863 

Process of streamlining and simplification with respect to issue of OCI cards is a continuous process.  Recently the promulgation of Citizenship (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 on 06.01.2015 was a big step towards this.  For avoiding prevailing confusion and giving more benefits to applicants, Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) card scheme has been withdrawn with effect from 09.01.2015 and it is also notified that all existing PIO cards are deemed to be Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards.  Simultaneously, a mechanism has been activated for replacing PIO cards with OCI cards free of cost.  The applicants can apply for OCI card through MHA’s website: https://passport.gov.in/oci

This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju in a written reply to a question by Shri Mullappally Ramachandran and Shri Ram Charitra Nishad  in the Lok Sabha today.

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