Arun_K
Thank you so much for detailed information. I really appreciate it.
on houston cgi web site it says "The Consulate is making its best efforts to process each OCI application swiftly so that the turnaround time after submitting the application with Travisa is 30 to 40 days." I wonder if they are talking about end to end time. if so, then what about taking care of people who applied before Travisa came in picture... sobs
I emailed mailto:shettybn@nic.in as per Arun_K and what do you know I got response from him immediately!!!!!
Here's what he recommended for my situation, he wasn't able to exactly trace my application but gave general answer which was more then what CGI Houston has done..
My question to him was "Dear Mr. Shetty,
Could you please help me with this query? It has been almost 9 months since I've applied. My staus on Online OCI enquiry web site shows as "Registration under process" and hasn't changed since January 25th. I'm not able to get anyone to answer phones or emails at CGI Houston. I have a situation for which I need your assistance. My daughter's US passport is expiring in August. How will this effect the OCI process if it's not completed by then? If I apply for her new passport before OCI process is complete will there be any issue? In the worst case scenario, if my daughter's OCI process is not complete by the time her passport expires (august) what will happen? will she still get OCI documents and U visa sticker on her "expired" passport?
"
His reply....
Sir
Due to huge backlog of applications pending with CGI Houston, the processing time is from 6 to 8 months. Please wait for some more time. The backlog is likely to be cleared by next month.
Hopefully, the backlog will be cleared before that. Please donot change the passport at this stage. Better, first get the OCI documents and the U visa sticker on the existing passport. After the documents are issued to you on the existing passport, the option will be with you, whether to get the visa transferred to new passport or not, since it is not mandatory. But, if you get new passport before it, then you will have to apply for misc. service before the docuements are issued to you. Transfer of visa may take another 6 to 8 weeks time.
In worst case scenario, you will have to apply for m isc. service and new booklet and new visa sticker will be printed and issued with new passport. This will involve payment of fees of about $39 plus shipping charges and two months time.
Efforts are underway to clear the backlog by end June.
Hope this helps someone on this forum.