Consulate General of India

Consulate General of India

Atlanta

Advisory on Fraud Calls 

          It has been brought to the notice of the Consulate that some fraudsters are spoofing telephone lines of Embassy and Consulates to make calls aimed at cheating people. Some of these calls are shown as being from the Embassy telephone numbers (202-939-7000), Consulate General of India, Atlanta’s telephone number (404-963-5902) while others simply use Embassy/Consulate identity. These fraudsters either seek personal information like credit card details etc. or try to extort money from Indian nationals by inter alia claiming that there are errors in their passports, visa forms, immigration forms etc. which could be rectified by paying money, and at the same time warning that the so called errors, if not rectified, could result in deportation of the individual to India or their imprisonment in USA. In some cases, these fraudsters have also falsely claimed that they received such privileged information from the Embassy or other authorities in India. Visa applicants have also received such calls purporting to be from the Embassy/Consulate.

2. 2. This is to confirm that no official from the Embassy/Consulate makes any telephone call seeking personal information from any Indian or foreign nationals. In case any additional documentation is required from an existing applicant, it is sought only through email(s) originating from the email domain @mea.gov.in.

3. 3. The Consulate hereby advises members of the public not to entertain any suspicious telephone calls made in the name of Embassy of India/Consulate. They are also advised not to reveal any personal information or transfer any money in response to such calls. They may bring such matters to the notice of the Consulate at the email ID: cons.atlanta@mea.gov.in.

4. 4. Also, if you want to share the information on spoofed telephone calls   PLEASE FILL THE FORM  and send it by email to cons.atlanta@mea.gov.in with a subject: INFORMATION ON SPOOFED CALLS

Consulate General of India
Atlanta
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Press Release
Extension of validity of PIO Cards till December 31, 2025

The Government of India has decided that the Bureau of Immigration (BOI) will continue to accept PIO cards as valid travel document till 31.12.2025 alongwith valid foreign passport and the Indian Immigration Check Post(s) will continue to consider all PIO cards valid for exit/entry into India till December 31, 2025. This extension of timeline is subject to the condition that if in the meantime any deadline is notified by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) thereby making hand written PIO Cards invalid, then PIO cardholders may have to obtain appropriate visa from India Missions/Posts.

Further, all the existing PIO cardholders are informed that no further extension will be given and they will have to get their PIO cards converted to OCI card by 31.12.2025 or they will have to get Indian Visa for travel to India and service of ‘New Visa’ from FRROs on the e-FRRO online portal if they are already living in India. 

All the PIO cardholders with valid PIO Cards as on January 09, 2015 are strongly advised to apply for conversion of PIO card to OCI card. The relevant link is: https://services.vfsglobal.com/usa/en/ind/apply-oci-services

Atlanta
January 14, 2025