Abu Dhabi/Gandhinagar: India’s decision to give lifelong visas to all eligible foreign citizens of Indian origin under a new scheme ‘Indian Overseas Card holders’ will attract more such people to India, a top Indian diplomat told Gulf News on Wednesday.

“Of course this will encourage more people of Indian origin to register as [newly introduced] Indian Overseas Card holders that gives several benefits,” T.P Seetharam, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, said.

However, the number of people of Indian origin is very low in the UAE and hence the Indian diplomatic missions here will not need any special arrangements to entertain such applicants, he said.

“The Indian missions have been issuing the cards [for people of Indian origin living in the UAE] but their number has been very low.”

The actual numbers of those seeking the cards in the UAE was not immediately available.

He was responding to the Indian Government ordinance issued on Tuesday, which extends several benefits including a lifelong visa to people of Indian origin and exempting them from appearing before the local authorities on every visit to India.

The ordinance merges two previous schemes for foreign citizens of Indian origin — PIO (People of Indian Origin) cards and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cards. The PIO card was valid for 15 years and its holders had to report to local authorities after a continuous stay over 180 days, whereas lifelong OCI card holders did not have such hassles.

Both will merge as an “Indian Overseas Card” with all the benefits of the previous OCI card.

The ordinance was promulgated on the eve of the 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the annual congregation of the Indian diaspora, to fulfil the promise Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made in New York and Sydney last year.

A Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) official told Gulf News that President Pranab Mukherjee signed the ‘Citizenship Ordinance’ that prompted the merger of schemes.

Modi, in his speeches both in New York and Sydney, had promised the Indian diaspora that the PIO and OCI cards would be merged within two months. The home ministry had introduced the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2014, in the Lok Sabha earlier this month, but it could not be taken up due to frequent disruptions. The thinking in the government was that if it decided to wait until the next session in February, the promise would not be met and hence an ordinance has been brought by the government.

“This is indeed good news for the PIOs since we were facing a lot of trouble in getting visas to travel to India. Through this, the stay will not be limited to the stipulation of the visa and now I can stay back or visit often to care for my ageing parents,” said Akhil Goswami, a British citizen, visiting for the diaspora gathering.