PIO and OCI merge?

While DH was making our lunch of alu paratha he was using a page of the Economic Times under to keep the mess minimal. Lo and behold, there was this article.

According to the ET there is some talks going on about merging PIO and OCI cards. It also gives a lot of good information, like where to apply and how much they cost, etc. Now, while this is good news for the Indian citizens, because it is less confusing and better in the long run it leads to me a few questions that, sadly, were left unanswered.

Will the PIO be no longer available? If so, how does this affect those of us who are not Indian by birth? One would assume that the PIO would still be available but there is no further information to be gleaned in the article (unless I'm missing something, which is entirely possible). Assuming the PIO is no longer available, then what will the spouses of Indian citizens get? Will we be eligible for OCI or what will we do?

There are so many unanswered questions, let us see what happens as DH says nothing will likely come into law for at least 2 years. :-)

How to register at the FRRO

I had to go register at the FRRO, even though I am on a 10 year tourist visa, because you need a residence permit in order to apply for the Entry (X) visa conversion. This is what I had to do:

• Bring 4 Indian size passport photos
• 2-3 copies of your passport (first page, address page, visa page, and stamp page)
• address proof

Here they will give you 1 or 2 pages, that you have fill out again the customary 2-3 times.

The information you will need to fill out is (and this is directly from my copy of my residence permit, so it may vary from place to place):

1. Name
2. Father's / Husband's name (in this case I gave my husband's name)
3. Sex, height, and hair color
4. Date and place of birth
5. Present nationality and previous nationality (if any)
6. Manner and date of acquiring present nationality
7. Address of last residence outside of India
8. Address in India (with telephone number, if any. There are also options for a temporary address, such as hotel, and permanent address)
9. Profession and Occupation
10. Have you served in Military, Navy, or Airforces or its reserves in any country? If the answer is yes, give the details
11. Number, date & place of issue of Visa, Date up to which visa is valid
12. Number, date & place of issue of passport, date up to which passport is valid, particulars of other proof of identity
13. Port of place of embarkation or departure for India
14. Date and place of arrival in India. Flight No.         
15. Purpose of visit in India (tourist/business/employment/study/others/specify)
16. Places previous registration in India, if any
17. Name of husband/wife/children and their nationality (if accompanying the visitor)
18. Signature of the foreigners

Here we gave them :

• passport photos of me
• copy of my Indian bank account passbook
• and many other address proofs
• copy of marriage certificate
• copies of husbands voter ID card

We gave all our papers and they told us to come back in 2 weeks. There may be a police check required, but it never happened for us.