Law /
Applying for a PIO card (Person Of Indian Origin) at the Indian Embassy in Warsaw [11]
So what is a PIO card you may ask ?
Well, PIO card means that you are a Person Of Indian Origin. A PIO (Person of Indian Origin) Card allows visa free travel and gives several benefits to the card holder.
A little bit more about this, taken from a leading website.
A "Person of Indian Origin" means a foreign citizen not being a citizen of Bangladesh, Pakistan or other countries as may be specified by the Central Government from time to time if;
1. he/she at any time held a Indian passport; or
2. he/she or either of his/her parents or grandparents or great grandparents was born in and was a permanent resident in India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935 and other territories that became part of India thereafter provided neither was at any time citizens of any of the aforesaid countries (as referred above) ; or
3. he/she is a spouse of a citizen of India or a person of Indian origin covered under (i) or (ii) above.
So I live in Poznan, and my wife is a Polish citizen, therefore I decided to apply for a PIO card for her, and that is when I began to fully understand the complexities and hurdles thrown in my way while dealing with the officials at the Indian Embassy in Warsaw ( God Bless them All )
This post is intended to warn all of you out there who are contemplating taking this path.Be warned that the Official information regarding the list of documentary evidence listed currently on the Embassy website is not up to scratch, as when one finally turns up for submission of documents, the officials at the Embassy ( God Bless them ) pull out a completely different list of documentary evidence, and demand for evidence such as ; joint photograph of you and your wife / husband ( surprise) and whatever.
My initial reaction to this was of dismay and confrontation with the Embassy officials, and when i queried as to why the documentation list is different from the one that they require, I was given a typical Indian bureaucracy answer that the information contained on the official web-site is ascertained by someone sitting in India ! WOW !
The time frame for delivery of the PIO card was supposed to be 2-3 weeks from the date of submission, ----- and guess how many days it actually took for it to be delivered ?
2 months and at least 15 phone calls, with reminders and many polite requests thrown in. Disgusting to note that despite the heavy documentation fees the speed of processing and delivery does not match up .
Lastly a note on final delivery of documentation: There is no indication on the web site or a reference by the officials in the Indian Embassy that they will not dispatch the documents to you, as they ASSUME (MAKE an ass of you and me ) that every one applying for Embassy/ Consular services lives within spitting distance from the Embassy and is free most of the days in the week to personally come and collect documents ( I was amused with a heart burn when a Polish chap who works for the Embassy said with some irony in his voice that the Embassy prefers to deal with people physically, rather than emails or phone calls, AND WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE LIVING IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY !!! )
To sum it up, if you ever have the misfortune to deal with the hole in the wall so called Embassy of India where one can't even be offered a cup of Masala Chai or smell the perfume of incense, or even be shown the toilets when you are bursting to go, then please be prepared for a Karmic penitence, as the only thing that will save you is Ram Ram Ram Hari Ram Siya Ram ( this mantra needs to be chanted a thousand fold times to avoid a severe heart burn, agonizing wait, a swollen urinary bladder and completely unbridled temper )
I HOPE SOMEBODY FROM THE EMBASSY READS THIS INFORMATION :
THIS IS WRITTEN FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN POLAND IT IS WRITTEN FOR THE GENERAL GOOD, I CORDIALLY INVITE THEM( THE EMBASSY STAFF) FOR A HEARTY INDIAN MEAL, AND RECOUNT MY EXPERIENCES IN GRAPHIC DETAIL. MY HOME IS POZNAN :-) WELCOME AND ENJOY TRUE INDIAN HOSPITALITY !
UNLIKE THE INDIAN EMBASSY WHERE EMAILS SENT ARE NOT EVEN ACKNOWLEDGED BY A BOT PROGRAM, I REPLY TO ALL EMAILS AND IF YOU HAVE ANY ADVENTURES WITH THE INDIAN EMBASSY PLEASE CARRY THIS THREAD FORWARD FOR THE NOTICE OF THE CURRENT AMBASSADOR, WHO KNOWS YOU MAY BE INVITED TO A CUP OF MASALA CHAI AND SOME CURRY, RICE AND A SONG !
JAI HIND AND BHARAT MATA KI JAIJAI HIND AND BHARAT MATA KI JAI 