Delhi High Court BIG Relief on OCI Card Rejection!

18 May 2026 · 1 min

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The Delhi High Court set aside the government's rejection of journalist Siddharth Varadarajan's application to convert his Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card to an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, criticizing the lack of a proper reason for the denial. The court cancelled the rejection order and instructed the centre to reconsider the application with appropriate justification. The ruling is significant because all PIO cards have been treated as OCI cards since 2015, and the old PIO cards will cease to be valid for travel from January 2026. Consequently, the decision could affect thousands of pending PIO‑to‑OCI conversions, offering potential relief for NRIs and other OCI applicants who face delays or rejections.

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Big news for OCI cardholders. Delhi High Court has just slammed the government over rejecting the wire editor Siddharth Varadarajan OCI application, and what the court has said could impact thousands of PIO to OCI cases. The court said the government gave no proper reason for rejecting his OCI conversion, but then came in the big twist. The High Court cancelled the rejection order and asked the center to reconsider the entire application with proper application. Once again, here's why this matters. Mr. Varadarajan has lived in India since 1995, and his lawyers have argued that all PIO cards were already treated as OCI cards since 2015. Now, with old PIO cards no longer valid for travel from January 2026, this case could become more important for NRIs and OCI applicants worldwide. So, could this decision help others facing OCI delays and rejections too?