PM Narendra Modi at Madison Square Garden in New York. (Agence France-Presse)
In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent announcement, the Home Ministry has issued a notification that a "Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card" shall be valid for a lifetime.
The instruction was issued yesterday.
A statement from the ministry said that all PIO cards issued before September 30, 2014 "are automatically deemed to have life time validity."
On Sunday, PM Modi, while addressing 18,000 Indian Americans and NRIs at New York's Madison Square Garden venue, declared that those with PIO cards would have lifetime visas and would no longer need to report periodically to a police station while in India. The announcement was met with cheers and applause.