Indian embassy mailing charges?

[mr. a]

I can't believe that for almost any paperwork you mail to Indian embassy in US you have to pay for your own mailing charges. So what the hell those high fees cover?

Instead giving instruction on how to include self addressed envelope or cash/money order for mailing charges, why can't they just hike fees by few dollars?

 

[alt]

I can't believe that for almost any paperwork you mail to Indian embassy in US you have to pay for your own mailing charges. So what the hell those high fees cover?

Instead giving instruction on how to include self addressed envelope or cash/money order for mailing charges, why can't they just hike fees by few dollars?

Thats what they did with OCI applications - you have to include an extra 15$ for return mailing fee

 

[mnsweeps]

I can't believe that for almost any paperwork you mail to Indian embassy in US you have to pay for your own mailing charges. So what the hell those high fees cover?

Instead giving instruction on how to include self addressed envelope or cash/money order for mailing charges, why can't they just hike fees by few dollars?

the scums want money to fill their bank accounts.....

 

[spiritual]

Mailing Charges are Legit

the scums want money to fill their bank accounts.....

mnsweeps - please don't make such un-substantiated accusations - it doesn't really help.

The fees we give are for covering the processing charges and to pay for the BENEFIT of getting an OCI. Processing charges include the salaries of the human beings needed to review and approve applications as well as to pay for general administration expenses (rent, cost of computer servers, electricity, paper, ..).

Mailing fees are an additional cost and I think it is perfectly legitimate to categorize it separately (since it can change frequently based on the whims of the USPS/Fedex/UPS). Whats the problem with that? They tell you exactly how much to pay for postage and you just add it to the processing fee and send one money order for the whole thing.

Why get upset over it? Do you also get upset when the US State Dept asks you to include a return envelope for getting your new US passport back?

 

[mnsweeps]

mnsweeps - please don't make such un-substantiated accusations - it doesn't really help.

The fees we give are for covering the processing charges and to pay for the BENEFIT of getting an OCI. Processing charges include the salaries of the human beings needed to review and approve applications as well as to pay for general administration expenses (rent, cost of computer servers, electricity, paper, ..).

Mailing fees are an additional cost and I think it is perfectly legitimate to categorize it separately (since it can change frequently based on the whims of the USPS/Fedex/UPS). Whats the problem with that? They tell you exactly how much to pay for postage and you just add it to the processing fee and send one money order for the whole thing.

Why get upset over it? Do you also get upset when the US State Dept asks you to include a return envelope for getting your new US passport back?

No I dont get upset when US DOS charges ( they never asked me to include return envelope). Cos I know for sure I will get professional service from them. Eg: My wife applied for US passport ( non-expediated) and she was expected to receive it within 6 weeks. After 2 weeks we decide to expediate it. I called DOS / passport service and paid $15 or so extra over phone using AMEX on Nov 15. Guess what on Nov 17 she received her passport. Where does Indian consulate accept credit cards? which phone no do they answer calls? Have they ever answered or replied to your emails? The US DOS charges extra fees for EXPEDIATE PROCESSING AND MAILING . But the Indian consulate charges extra for EXPEDIATED MAILING only not processing..

If OCI being a new service is an additional burden on CGI then Indian govt should emply more people and rent more space in SFO. Rather than increasing the timeframe to get our OCI they should be taking proactive actions to expediate our applications ...if they had foresight they would have done so in SFO. why is Houston faster than SFO and they also charge the same OCI fees? If SFO is burdened by more applications then outsource it to someone here in CA.

when PIO started I think the fees was like $1000..and when NRI groups complained to the rats in Delhi it was reduced to less than $250. So if they can sustain with that lower fees then why were they charging $1000 in first place?

The visa camps outside SFO has existed for many years but there was never any extra charge for that. I used visa camps back in 1999 in LA and the fees were the same as if I would have applied in SFO directly. Now since middle of this yr ( or was it last yr) they have added a $10 to every application if processed by visa camp. Why this increase of $10 when things had worked before without the extra fees?

Bottomline..the Indian govt is a leech most of the times feeding on NRI money. Does that mean I hate India? No I love India as mush as I had before becoming a US citizen.