OCI - Houston Tracker

Our OCI Acknowledged

Looks like Houston is not in total hibernation but just processing things very very slowly. Our OCI app which was received by Houston on July 11th at last got acknowledged on Aug 8th. So, all of you guys waiting for Houston to respond, do not despair and keep your fingers crossed. After having endured the hell of dealing with INS for so many years, this should not be too difficult for us. Cheer up.:)

Here is my timeline:
05-Jul-07: Filled Online
10-Jul-07: Sent Part A & Part B
11-Jul-07: Received at Houston
08-Aug-07: Date Of Acknowledgment
XX-XXX-XX: Photo/Signature Scanned
XX-XXX-XX: Registration status Granted
XX-XXX-XX: Documents Printed
XX-XXX-XX: Documents Dispatched From Delhi
XX-XXX-XX: Documents Received at Houston
XX-XXX-XX: US Passport sent to Houston
XX-XXX-XX: US Passport Received by Houston
XX-XXX-XX: US Passport with U Visa + OCI booklet Received
 
Our Application acknowledged on 11Aug 2007. (IST ???). I mailed on July11 and it was delivered to Houston Consulate on July 13th. It seems Houston started working again...
 
Documents dispatched from Delhi

Looks like CGI, Houston is working again...they may work in batches since the timelines are unreliable and can't be used to generate a trendline..

Current status shows document dispatched..

Do I have to wait for an email/snail mail acknowledgment from CGI once they receive the documents from Delhi or just keep monitoring my status online to send my passport?

Thanks.
 
I did receive an email from CGI once they received the documents from India. But this was 4 or 5 days after the online status had showed the same.. So in effect by the time CGI sent an email to me asking to send in my passports for stamping.. i had already dispatched the same to Houston. The CGI web site says to send in as soon as the online status changes .. so i guess you should just go ahead and monitor that. In my case CGI recvd then one week after dispatched from India
 
I had a nice surprise when went home yesterday. We have received our Passports with U-Stamps from Houston yesterday. I also sent my old passports for cancellation and they arrived with my US passports too.

Rough timeline

Sent application in one form (Family option) 2 new OCI and one PIO-OCI conversion. Paid with one money order for all three plus $15 for mailing costs.

I initially applied around May 24 but my application was returned on June 17 th. as I forgot to include birth certificate for my little one. I resent my application and it was recd. on June 25th at CGI Houston.
Form Acknowledged on 7/11/07
Photo Scanned - 7/17/07
App Granted - 7/21/07
Docs printed and sent out - 7/21/07
Houston recd date - 7/31/07
Passports sent on 8/1/07
Passports recd by Houston on 8/2/07
Passport recd. by me on 8/13/07.

Thanks every one for you support.

s_a_kumar
 
Looks like CGI Houston has improved on the turnaround time for mailing pack the passports

Passports (US + Indian for cancellation) sent on 8/1/07
Passports recd by Houston on 8/2/07
Passports + OCI recd. by me on 8/14/07.
 
Glad to see s_a_kumar and atl_gc get their passports back with OCI. Mine reached the consulate on July 13 and am still waiting. Hopefully they would mail ours in the next few days.
 
OCI Application Returned

Our application of June 20, 2007 was returned on Aug 12, 2007 as we did not include birth certificate of my child as well. Re-applied yesterday. It's back to a waiting game now.

s_a_kumar said:
I initially applied around May 24 but my application was returned on June 17 th. as I forgot to include birth certificate for my little one. I resent my application and it was recd. on June 25th at CGI Houston.
Form Acknowledged on 7/11/07
Photo Scanned - 7/17/07
App Granted - 7/21/07
Docs printed and sent out - 7/21/07
Houston recd date - 7/31/07
Passports sent on 8/1/07
Passports recd by Houston on 8/2/07
Passport recd. by me on 8/13/07.

Thanks every one for you support.

s_a_kumar
Click to expand...
 
I sent in my passport to CGI Houston for my OCI U-visa and OCI card on August 6th. I got delivery confirmation on August 7th. I was very concerned that I did not get my passport back within a week but looking at this forum, it looks like 3-4 weeks is quite normal. I assumed it would be quicker because of their statement that if you come in to the office they can deliver it the same day. If they can do that in person, why can they not turn a mail application around in 1-2 days?

Anyway, I tried various ways of contacting them -- email, voice mails (since no one answers the phone), etc. -- and have had no response. I'll wait another 2 weeks before I panic.

I'm glad I found this forum to find out that this is normal. I don't have plans to travel internationally for a while, so I think I'm okay.
 
sbgr - did u receive your passports back?

To all those who got the passports back, what is the mode of shipment - USPS, Fedex or UPS?
 
A long journey...
I had sent my passports for stamping on 12th of July by express mail and was rec'd by Houston on 13th of July. I waited for about a month before I tried to call with no luck (to any of the numbers). Then I faxed with my information to them during the early part of last week. No response. Luckily my brother in law was travelling to the Houston consulate and I gave him all the details to enquire.

In the morning they said they would get back in the evening since the OCI guy was not there. In the eve - they said to him that they had mailed it long ago by Fedex (this was on 24th). I asked him to get the tracking # etc and they said to him that they would call me directly with information on Monday (27th). Of course they did not call. They did say to him that the only way to reach is by fax.

I faxed once again y'day (27th) and also tried to call - got to the operator and she transferred to mail room when I asked for the tracking #. Well got the voice mail and left a message (Note that I had left messages before too).
Tried again later in the afternoon and got the operator and she said could only take the info and someone will call back. I was pretty much resigned at this point and was thinking about making a visit to Houston sometime.
Well, when I got home - guess what - there was a note from Fedex for a missed delivery. I tracked the package and was shipped on Friday (24th) after my brother in law left the consulate. Finally I got the passports back y'day after a long wait. I am glad it is finally over. Good luck to all of you involved in this journey.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Status update

Our online status changed to "granted". Below is the timeline.

05-Jul-07: Filled Online
10-Jul-07: Sent Part A & Part B
11-Jul-07: Received at Houston
08-Aug-07: Date Of Acknowledgment
16-Aug-07: Photo/Signature Scanned
30-Aug-07: Registration status Granted
XX-XXX-XX: Documents Printed
XX-XXX-XX: Documents Dispatched From Delhi
XX-XXX-XX: Documents Received at Houston
XX-XXX-XX: US Passport sent to Houston
XX-XXX-XX: US Passport Received by Houston
XX-XXX-XX: US Passport with U Visa + OCI booklet Received
 
Self addressed envelope not required

Self addressed envelope is not required. Just add an extra $15 to the total OCI fee for return postage. That is enough.
 
21-Jul-07: Filled Online
21-Jul-07: Sent Part A & Part B
23-Jul-07: Received at Houston
29-Aug-07: Date Of Acknowledgment
XX-XXX-XX: Photo/Signature Scanned
XX-XXX-XX: Registration status Granted
XX-XXX-XX: Documents Printed
XX-XXX-XX: Documents Dispatched From Delhi
XX-XXX-XX: Documents Received at Houston
XX-XXX-XX: US Passport sent to Houston
XX-XXX-XX: US Passport Received by Houston
XX-XXX-XX: US Passport with U Visa + OCI booklet Received
 
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