OCI - Houston Tracker

ap74mo said:
I'm waiting 18 days and counting. Pump - how was your passport returned - Fedex or Express mail? Thanks
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Hi ap74mo,

My passport was returned through Fedex overnight. CGI, Houston uses Fedex overnight. They do not use Express mail. The package was delivered to me at my doorstep by Fedex operator. It was a very prompt service. They are good in dispatching documents. It just takes them long time to get the U Visa done on the passport. I believe the OCI booklet itself is dispatched from MHA N. Delhi. The U Visa is affixed here at CGI.

They might be a little slow because of the holiday season. You should be getting it soon. It could happen anytime now. My guess is that you might get it by Friday.

Good luck to you.
 
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ap74mo said:
I did indeed receive passports today by overnight Fedex. 19 days in all. Good luck to all.
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Congratulations,

Mine just got acknowledged after a long time. Since the mailing fee is changed from $15.00 to $20.00, ap74mo, pump, dump, did you guys send the extra postage fee or not?
Thank you
 
sailakfan said:
Congratulations,

Mine just got acknowledged after a long time. Since the mailing fee is changed from $15.00 to $20.00, ap74mo, pump, dump, did you guys send the extra postage fee or not?
Thank you
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Hi Sailakfan,
I did not send extra fee because I received the email only after I had mailed my passport to them. I did mention in my cover letter that I already paid the $15 return postage charge. I also enclosed copies of the cashier's check alongwith the cover letter. I did not face any issues. CGI, Houston honored that even though they have increased the fee recently.

If you really want to play it safe, you can send the money order for an extra amount of $5 to them. Do mention that in your cover letter if you choose to do it. You will have the peace of mind. I would have done that. But, I noticed the fee increase only after I had mailed my passport. Fortunately for me, they accepted it. The email did not mention anything about paying extra fee. But, it did say the return fee is $20. I would say, do not take a chance. 5 bucks is a very small amount.

Here is the content of email I received from CGI.

Sir/Madam,

Please refer to your application for Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI).


We are happy to inform you that your application for OCI and ‘U’ Visa has been approved.

You are requested to send your original US passport for stamping the “U” Visa and the Indian Passport(where applicable) for verification by mail. In case you are a PIO card holder, pls send your PIO card for cancellation.

In case you have not already paid the return fee, please send a Cashier’s cheque or a money order for $ 20/- payable to “Consulate General of India, Houston” to return your Passport and OCI Card by express mail.

In case you want to come and collect the OCI cards in person, pls give your passports at the counter between 9am and 12:30pm and collect then between 4pm and 5pm.

"Please do enclose Indian Passports though cancelled"

Thanks,
Consulate General Of India Houston
1990 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite #600
Houston, TX - 77056
Telephone 713-626-2148, 713-626-2149
Fax: 713-626-2450, 713-627-2034, 713-993-9347
Website: www.cgihouston.org
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Cover letter to CGI, Houston

Hi,

This is the content of my cover letter that I sent to CGI, Houston.

To,

Consulate General of India
1990 Post Oak Blvd. # 600
3 Post Oak Central
Houston, TX 77056, USA

Subject: Request for Issue of U Visa Stamp and OCI Card
(File Acknowledgement # ______________)

Dear Sir/Madam,

As per the OCI Online Services inquiry, my application for OCI has been granted and the documents dispatched from Delhi have already been received by Houston Consulate on ______________. The details of my application are listed below:

Applicant: ______________________________________
File Acknowledgement #: ___________________
Online Registration #: ___________________
Registration Status: Granted on ________________
(Documents received at Houston on ____________________)

I am enclosing the following items for you:-
1. Foreign passport (USA) – # ______________________
2. Old Canceled Indian Passport – # _______________________
3. Copy of Online Status
4. Copy of cashier check

May I request you to issue me the OCI card along with the U Visa stamp on my foreign (USA) passport to grant me the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)? I would request you to mail my passports (US & India) along with the OCI card to my residential address listed below. At the submission of my OCI application, I had already paid the $15 charge for the return postage. The copy of the original cashier’s check for application fee and return postage charge is also enclosed here.


Your's sincerely,
___________
_____________________[Address Line 1]
_____________________[Address Line 2]
_____________________[City, State, Zip Code]

_____________________[Phone]
_____________________[/QUOTE]
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Pump said:
Hi,

This is the content of my cover letter that I sent to CGI, Houston.
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Pump,

Thank you very much for your prompt response. I will send the extra $5.00 to be on the safer side. I also appreciate you posting the email and the cover letter format. Thanks again
 
sailakfan said:
Pump,

Thank you very much for your prompt response. I will send the extra $5.00 to be on the safer side. I also appreciate you posting the email and the cover letter format. Thanks again
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Hi sailakfan,
I think it is smart thing to send $5 additional charge. Now that I recall, I had sent 2 applications - me and my wife's together. Along with the application fee, we both had enclosed $15 for each application. That sums up to $30. Since I had mailed both passports (me & my wife) together, CGI mailed them back as one packet. Since they already had $30 with them, they would have saved $10 on the return mailing cost. I wonder what they would have done had they only received $15 fom me.

Please mention in your cover letter the extra fee that you are sending them.

Good luck to you.
 
Pump said:
Hi sailakfan,
I think it is smart thing to send $5 additional charge. Now that I recall, I had sent 2 applications - me and my wife's together. Along with the application fee, we both had enclosed $15 for each application. That sums up to $30. Since I had mailed both passports (me & my wife) together, CGI mailed them back as one packet. Since they already had $30 with them, they would have saved $10 on the return mailing cost. I wonder what they would have done had they only received $15 fom me.

Please mention in your cover letter the extra fee that you are sending them.

Good luck to you.
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Hello Pump,

We did send $15 for each, one for each applicant, but anyways I will send the extra $5.00 to be on the safer side.

Thank you.
 
I know I am being impatient. But when I did some research on the oci inquiry website I noticed they have not granted any since Dec 06 2007 and since then no one have been granted. Is it normal or some kind of holiday hibernation?
Thank you
 
All Done

At last I am done with all my immigration stuff. My journey started in 1996 applying for green card and ended with getting my OCI in 2007. :)
Thanks to all the help I got in this forum.

Good luck to all.
 
Hi , how long it will take for OCI stamping at Houston by mail?
I sent my passport on Dec7th 2007.
So far not heard anything from them. No one answers the phone.

Dec 5th 2007- OCI approved.
Dec 7th 2007- Passport sent my mail.

thanks in advance.
 
GC mama said:
Hi , how long it will take for OCI stamping at Houston by mail?
I sent my passport on Dec7th 2007.
So far not heard anything from them. No one answers the phone.

Dec 5th 2007- OCI approved.
Dec 7th 2007- Passport sent my mail.

thanks in advance.
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2-3 weeks. Could you please post your timeline? Thank you
 
Guys, I got my OCI by fedex today.
thanks all for your help. here is my time line.
Center: Houston
06/11/2007 Date of Acknowledgement
11/11/2007 Granted
15/11/2007 Dispatched
29/11/2007 Received at Huston
30/11/2007 Email received from Houston to send PP.
05/12/2007 PP sent
27/12/2007 Recieved OCI and PP by fedex.

-----The End-------

thanks for Immi portal and all of you.
sree
 
GC mama said:
Guys, I got my OCI by fedex today.
thanks all for your help. here is my time line.
Center: Houston
06/11/2007 Date of Acknowledgement
11/11/2007 Granted
15/11/2007 Dispatched
29/11/2007 Received at Huston
30/11/2007 Email received from Houston to send PP.
05/12/2007 PP sent
27/12/2007 Recieved OCI and PP by fedex.

-----The End-------

thanks for Immi portal and all of you.
sree
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Congrats and Thank you
 
OCI Timeline

Was trying to post for longtime but could not due to password problems.Resolved now..Here is my Info:-

1.Received at CGI 11/23/07
2.Date of ack 12/21/07
3.Photos/Signature Scanned 12/28/07
4.Registration status ??????
 
No Answer

Hey guys,

I have applied for OCI for my wife and myself but have received no Ack from Houston. When I call the PBX they tell me they don't send out Ack's and I just have to track my FedEx.

When I call the 713-871-1727 between 2 - 4 Houston time I get no answer. Can you please advise?

I sent the applications back in November.
 
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EB3_kp said:
Hey guys,

I have applied for OCI for my wife and myself but have received no Ack from Houston. When I call the PBX they tell me they don't send out Ack's and I just have to track my FedEx.

When I call the 713-871-1727 between 2 - 4 Houston time I get no answer. Can you please advise?

I sent the applications back in November.
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Why would you call them.Just go online and put in the confirmation you got when you filled A online.That should give you the status.

https://passport.gov.in/oci/OnlineOCIenquiry.jsp
 
I tried

Sorry but yea I tried, when I enter the USA number from my app it keeps saying "Application with this number not yet Acknowledged".

It's been a couple of months now .... any ideas?

I'm entering the USA number into the Online reg number
 
EB3_kp said:
Sorry but yea I tried, when I enter the USA number from my app it keeps saying "Application with this number not yet Acknowledged".

It's been a couple of months now .... any ideas?

I'm entering the USA number into the Online reg number
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Hi,

You are checking the correct way and I know it is frustrating to see it has not been acknowledged yet. Hang in there and eventually it will be acked. I had sent our app in September and we received a letter in November asking us to send a copy of our Indian passports. I am 100% sure we sent it because I had a copy of everything we sent. Still we sent the copies and eventually in Dec it was acked. From other people's posts our case was rare.

So just hang in there and yours should be fine and will be acked any day now.

Good luck.
 
Thank you :)
Once OCI is done and then hopefully GC comes thru my immigration woes come to an end !
 
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