Need to travel to India right after Oath ceremony

I find this surprising. The way I look at it, the easiest visa applications to adjudicate should be the ones from ex-Indian citizens since no "background check" should be needed.

cafeconleche said:
On the Travisa website it says that same day visa isn't available for former Indian nationals.
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Hello sreeleshk,

I am in a similar situation . Need to get my entry visa ASAP after my oath. How did you manage obtaining SC and entry visa in 2 days?

Would greatly appreciate your inputs and guidance in this regard.

sreeleshk said:
took me 3 days... day 1... went for emergency passport. the same day i got my sc and indian pp cancelled... day 2 went to collect my USpp, the same day i dropped of the passport for entry visa at travisa. day 3 went to collect the passport with entry visa stamped
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We are in a similar situation. Unfortulately we live in Indianapolis and the closest Indian consulate and/or US passport agency is in Chicago. I'll have to camp out there for 3 days to get in that fast. We plan to apply for the expedited passport here locally at the post office and they mentioned we shoudl receive it in a week. We will then drive to Chicago for a day and get the India passport surrendered, SC (Surrender Certificate) and apply for the India Visa.

Question for the experienced folks, can I get the SC & Visa on the same day or will I have to wait overnight in Chicago.

Thanks Much....
Oath Date is 5/11/2011.
 
ditto here. Taking oath next week and urgently need to leave by the 16th and have an Indian visa by then also. I'll have more than 3 days to spare so the news that it can be done so fast is hopeful. Hoping to get my passport by the 9th. Submitting my Renunciation form and visa form same day and hope to get it all back by the 13th. I wonder if that's feasible. Luckily am in NY so can go in person.
 
Does anyone know how much time the Travisa center in Chicago is taking to get the surrender certificate.

Also, I went through the requirements and they say that we have to provide a copy of the US passport. I was thinking of applying for SC while the Passport is being processed. Why do they need that and not only the naturalization certificate. Has anyone dealt with them and know the answer.
 
You can not even complete the application as in the application you will need fill the US passport number, date of issue, date of expiry . So bottom line you will need to wait for your US passport.
 
In one of the threads someone mentioned that they applied for the US passport and went for the surrender certificate the same day. They then picked up the passport the next day.

Indian consulate should only be concerned about the Naturalization Certificate. You may want to give us the indian citizenship but may not immediately want the US passport. We can want to go for that later, right?
 
Just spoke with someone at Travisa NY and they said it should take 1-4 working days for me to do the SC and Entry Visa together. They said 4 days was the outer maximum and that in all likelihood it will be much sooner than that but he is obliged to give me that outer limit.

So if I take my oath on Friday, drop off my passport application right after, then hopefully by Monday I can pick it up and take it straight to Travisa office.
 
justfiled - Thanks for sharing your experience.

What exactly did the Travisa NY personnel say as the process to expedite SC+ Entry visa so it can be had in 4 days ? Please keep us posted on the progress you make with this.
 
I will- I don't actually apply before next week, so hoping everything goes smoothly for me at Oath and applying for passport, I will go to the Travisa office next Monday or Tuesday at the latest. I need it back before that same Friday so I hope and pray that it works.
Basically the guy said one has to apply for the SC + Entry visa together, in person if wanting to get it that soon. It seemed he was only giving the 4 days as an outer limit because he was obliged to do so and gave me the impression that in all likelihood it should be much faster than that.
I've already filled out the form online and made reservations and have my forms all ready. So as soon as I get my US passport, I will plug in the remaining details on the SC form and hand it in that very same day.
 
Isn't the Indian passport valid upto 3-month after getting another countries citizenship. Why don't you contact the Indian consulate and find out ?

ppobox74 said:
My oath ceremony is scheduled for the 12th in Newark. I have to fly to India on the 15th and that does not give me enough time to get US passport + entry visa. I was thinking of getting the US passport and applying for OCI once i am in India. Am planning to use my India passport to travel to India this time. Anybody with similar experiences?
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Unfortunately, there is NO reliable source for this information. I have never been able to trust Indian missions and the government because there is almost ALWAYS a discrepancy in the information provided. So, use the passport at your own risk.
 
skkgc said:
Isn't the Indian passport valid upto 3-month after getting another countries citizenship. Why don't you contact the Indian consulate and find out ?
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Indian citizenship is revoked as soon as one acquires another country citizenship voluntarily. In essence, as soon as an Indian citizen takes oath for US citizenship, this person is not citizen of India anymore. So, cannot use Indian passport since one will be falsely claiming to Indian citizen.

Three months time period is grace period to formally surrender Indian citizenship without any penalty or penalties.
 
For Chicago...does anyone know how much time Travisa takes for SC + Visa. I don't live in Chicago but in Indianapolis. Will I be able to go there and get it the same day.
 
An update for everyone who wanted some more info on this: I went to get my US passport today at 7am at the NY passport agency. By 10.30am I had received it- with a bit of pleading and begging. My appt with Travisa was for tomorrow (didn't think I'd get the passport in one day) but I called them and they said the appt time didn't matter, to just come along. So I went by 11.30, but the security outside told me those at the call center don't know a thing and say whatever they want. They said the line was too long right then but to come back at 3pm when it was walk-in. So I went back home, went online, actually found an appt for 3.20pm, booked it and went back at 2.30pm.
A different security guy told me that I should go for a walk and come back when it's my time. Hardly anyone was in line at that point and I told him it was an emergency and besides, wasn't it 'walk-in' from 3pm anyway? He said, 'oh yeah' and then let me in.
Submitted my paperwork and was told it will take 3-5 working days so keeping fingers crossed.
It seems from this experience that no one in Travisa really knows what the rules are. Different people say different things and it was a bit confusing. I specifically heard one security guy tell one of the people in line not to pay attention to the 'rules' listed online (in relation to the OCI I think but I could be wrong) because they were incorrect.
 
Please keep us updated. I am getting REALLY frustrated with these people. Good luck. BTW, is your oath ceremony in Brooklyn?
 
They're ridiculous. At this rate, I'll never be able to apply for the OCI because I'm constantly traveling and can't part with my passport for long periods of time. My oath was at 100 Pearl Street in downtown Manhattan.
 
Let's everyone PLEASE complain to them. This is not the way to run an outsourcing business that is meant to streamline the process and make things clearer. At this point, the only thing the addition of Travisa to the process does is give us 2 sets of doubts and worries instead of just 1 with the consulate/embassy.
 
Well, before I jump to any hasty fingerpointing, I have to say I just got an email saying my passport is ready to be picked up. That's incredible. In one day. I was a bit nervous because I needed it by this Friday.
As for the OCI, I'm not even going to think about it for now. I'm traveling too much. But most of the confusion seems to come from that process, which I think they only recently outsourced to Travisa, am I right?
I think I heard one of the security people say that they were soon going to allow in-person applications- I'm not sure in regards to what he was saying this.
My best advice to everyone is to book an appt which is easy to get and go stand in line and then talk to someone at the counter. That is the only way to get a straight answer. Otherwise over the phone they tell you one thing and at the door they tell you another.
 
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