OCI - India tracker

B

bangaloreboy123

New Member
> A Canadian Citizen currently based in Karnataka
> Hold a PIO card from Canada
> Applied online on 19-June-2007.
> Sent the documents and the demand draft (in Indian Rupees) by Registered Post to FRRO Chennai on 20-Jun-2007.

> I regularly checked online at the MHA website and got the following information:

QUOTE:
"Application Status
- Date Of Acknowledgment 22-JUN-2007
- Photo/Signature Scanned on 22-JUN-2007

Registration Status
- Granted On 03-AUG-2007
- Documents Printing Status PRINTED
- Documents Printed On 03-AUG-2007
- Documents Despatched From Delhi On 03-AUG-2007
- Documents Received at FRRO CHENNAI NOT YET"
---UNQUOTE---

The whole process was a very smooth one for me as I made sure all the documents and submissions met the specifications.

My advice for those who have applied at one of the FRROs in India and had their OCI granted is,
1) please call up the FRRO, where you have applied, a week after the documents being depatched from New Delhi. (For some reason the Chennai FRRO did not update online the recieving of my OCI from Delhi)
2) when you call, keep in hand the four digit file number on the acknowledgement letter sent to you by that FRRO as reference for them to pull up your file and inform you whether they have recieved your OCI from Delhi. (They can't seem to provide information if you provide the online application / reference numbers)
3) It took the lady in Chennai just 10 minutes to put the OCI sticker on my foreign passport and hand over my OCI card after taking my PIO card for surrender. The office opened at 9:30 AM and I was out by 10:30 AM.

Good luck,

Ahmed,
Bangalore
2nd Sep 2007
 
Can u plz tell me after u inquired on phone as to whether they recieved it from delhi,after that in how many days u got the stamp on ur passport?
 
Here is my OCI application info (4 applicants - my self, spouse and kids). US citizen, living in Bangalore.
 
Can anyone tell how many days you need to stay in India before the person can apply for Oci in India? What proof to show that person is resident of India? Where do you start the application for someone in Mumbai?
 
rayg said:
Here is my OCI application info (4 applicants - my self, spouse and kids). US citizen, living in Bangalore.
Click to expand...

rayg,

Thanks for including your OCI application timeline. It is nice to see that your application is moving along quickly.

I mailed my application directly to MHA in late February, but haven't yet received an acknowledgment. You seemed to have received your acknowledgment just a week after your applying. In what form did you receive the acknowledgment? Did you call them, receive a mail, or did you just see the status on the inquiry page?

Thanks.
 
smurthy said:
rayg,

Thanks for including your OCI application timeline. It is nice to see that your application is moving along quickly.

I mailed my application directly to MHA in late February, but haven't yet received an acknowledgment. You seemed to have received your acknowledgment just a week after your applying. In what form did you receive the acknowledgment? Did you call them, receive a mail, or did you just see the status on the inquiry page?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I checked following online OCI enquiry form

http://ociindia.nic.in/ociindia/OnlineOCIenquiry.jsp

Type in your online registration number (given when you fill part A of OCI application online. It is printed on your application also) in the above link to see if it is acked.

I also received a letter from chennai FRRO with ack number. This is roughly after 2 weeks after my online ack was available.
 
rayg said:
I checked following online OCI enquiry form

http://ociindia.nic.in/ociindia/OnlineOCIenquiry.jsp
...
I also received a letter from chennai FRRO with ack number. This is roughly after 2 weeks after my online ack was available.
Click to expand...

rayg,

Interesting that you sent your application to FRRO Chennai though you live in Bangalore.

I sent my application to MHA Delhi because I interpreted the instruction "Send application to an FRRO in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkota, Chennai, or Amritsar if you live in these cities", to mean that I must apply to one of these offices only if I live in its jurisdiction. Because FRRO Bangalore is not one of the FRROs listed, I applied to MHA. :(

To any one applying to MHA Delhi directly: I was told by an MHA staff that applications should not be sent by courier because couriers do not have access to the OCI (or any other) MHA office. Couriers are required to drop off packets with security and the security then sends packets to the right office, in their spare time.

I sent my application by courier. It was delivered in Delhi on March 3rd, but it is yet to be received at the OCI office.:mad:
 
smurthy said:
rayg,

Interesting that you sent your application to FRRO Chennai though you live in Bangalore.

I sent my application to MHA Delhi because I interpreted the instruction "Send application to an FRRO in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkota, Chennai, or Amritsar if you live in these cities", to mean that I must apply to one of these offices only if I live in its jurisdiction. Because FRRO Bangalore is not one of the FRROs listed, I applied to MHA. :(

To any one applying to MHA Delhi directly: I was told by an MHA staff that applications should not be sent by courier because couriers do not have access to the OCI (or any other) MHA office. Couriers are required to drop off packets with security and the security then sends packets to the right office, in their spare time.

I sent my application by courier. It was delivered in Delhi on March 3rd, but it is yet to be received at the OCI office.:mad:
Click to expand...


When I applied, I looked at following documents and these documents did not mention that you have to live in those cities to apply in those FRRO.

http://www.mha.nic.in/oci/faqs.pdf
http://www.mha.nic.in/oci/Instructions.pdf

I choose chennai as it is closer to Bangalore and also easier for me to go there personally to get OCI documents once it is granted.
 
Today (Apr 02), our OCI application registration status is changed to GRANTED. I am expecting OCI documents to arrive in chennai FRRO in a week or two.
 
smurthy said:
rayg,

Interesting that you sent your application to FRRO Chennai though you live in Bangalore.

I sent my application to MHA Delhi because I interpreted the instruction "Send application to an FRRO in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkota, Chennai, or Amritsar if you live in these cities", to mean that I must apply to one of these offices only if I live in its jurisdiction. Because FRRO Bangalore is not one of the FRROs listed, I applied to MHA. :(

To any one applying to MHA Delhi directly: I was told by an MHA staff that applications should not be sent by courier because couriers do not have access to the OCI (or any other) MHA office. Couriers are required to drop off packets with security and the security then sends packets to the right office, in their spare time.

I sent my application by courier. It was delivered in Delhi on March 3rd, but it is yet to be received at the OCI office.:mad:
Click to expand...


smurthy: Has your application now been delivered correctly? I looked up the instructions and I felt the same as you did - that one should apply to MHA New Delhi if one did not live in the listed few cities. I wish the published instructions were consistent and unambiguous!

RN
 
realnewbie said:
smurthy: Has your application now been delivered correctly? I looked up the instructions and I felt the same as you did - that one should apply to MHA New Delhi if one did not live in the listed few cities. I wish the published instructions were consistent and unambiguous!
Click to expand...

If you are applying to MHA Delhi directly, you should send the application by registered post or Speedpost. I recommend against using a courier service: A courier can only drop packages in a box at the gate, and the MHA staff collects these packages only when they feel like it. You will spend a considerable amount of time and money calling MHA to convince them to pick up your package from the box.

Once MHA Delhi receives the application, the processing is quite fast. However, you, or someone you authorize, would need to personally pick up the documents in Delhi (or at the FRRO you apply to), once they are printed. MHA (or your FRRO) will not mail you the documents.

From my research, the round-trip fare for flights between Bangalore and Delhi can be as high as Rs. 10,000. And then there is the overnight stay (guaranteed if you have cheap flights), taxi, meals, and so on. In all, the trip can set you back by Rs. 15,000.
 
Smurthy, I am confused. I live in Hyd'bad. So I mail to Delhi. Does it mean I have to travel to Delhi to pick my documents?
 
I called up chennai FRRO as online status was showing that the documents were not yet received by chennai FRRO.

The gentlemen who answered the call was courteous and asked for 4 digit number. This is the number handwritten on the acknowledgment letter sent by chennai FRRO (not the online ack/file number). I gave the number and he said the documents are received by them and I can come with passport to collect it. He also told me how much to give for autorikshwa guy from railway station to FRRO office.

rayg said:
Status updated today that our OCI documents were dispatched from Delhi.
Click to expand...
 
Went alone to chennai on 6th May and collected OCI documents of mine, my wife's and kids. The document are given between 9:30 to 12:30. I was there at 12:40. The lady at the counter said I was late but anyway obliged and gave OCI documents.

She put VISA sticker on our US passports and gave OCI passport type document.

rayg said:
I called up chennai FRRO as online status was showing that the documents were not yet received by chennai FRRO.

The gentlemen who answered the call was courteous and asked for 4 digit number. This is the number handwritten on the acknowledgment letter sent by chennai FRRO (not the online ack/file number). I gave the number and he said the documents are received by them and I can come with passport to collect it. He also told me how much to give for autorikshwa guy from railway station to FRRO office.
Click to expand...
 
From MHA website, you can apply either at any of the FRROs or MHA, Delhi. Language written there doesn't restrict you to any one of them. Even if you live in Chennai and decide to send to Delhi, I don't see any problem. (Multiple pages from MHA website shows that - FAQ, addresses, ..http://mha.nic.in/uniquepage.asp?Id_Pk=310)

Regarding travel to get get passport stamped, we don't seem to have a choice of mailing if applied in India. If you send your application to Delhi, you have to go there or to Chennai if you decide to send it to there. Only for people applied outside India, seem to have a choice to send passport by post. (http://mha.nic.in/pdfs/OCIForm.pdf - Bullet 16 on page 8)

I will be in Bangalore in few weeks and planning to send application to Chennai.

sriabap said:
Smurthy, I am confused. I live in Hyd'bad. So I mail to Delhi. Does it mean I have to travel to Delhi to pick my documents?
Click to expand...
 
Thanks serra142 for the detailed reply. Even though the OCI application is one of the easiest I have ever seen from the Government of India, some of the rules are ambiguous. For instance, the online instructions clearly say that "Please produce
your passport(s) and PIO Card, if applicable, in person/ through authorized person /by post for affixing OCI visa sticker".

One more question guys, can we combine the amount on the DD for the entire family?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top