Standard US passport pictures are acceptable for OCI - any place like Costco, Walgreens, AAA would be OK.
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OCI - New York Tracker
- Thread starter mpotturi
- Start date
Standard US passport pictures are acceptable for OCI - any place like Costco, Walgreens, AAA would be OK.
OCI card from NYC embassy
One comment on my OCI card's final step:
I applied for the OCI card (me and my wife) around October 2008. The cards were approved and arrived at NYC embassy in Dec. 1st week. We asked for our OCI cards by mail, and we mailed our US + Indian passports. We had earlier sent $20 for this.
We did NOT send a self-addressed envelope. The U.S passports + OCI cards came within 1 week via USPS Mail in a cardboard envelope (Express (?) Mail)- no problems.
The NYC Indian Embassy website does not ask for a self-addressed envelope, and so we did not send one. A friend of mine did the same thing.
Just wanted to share this with others. I do wish the Embassy website would clearly state whether they do/do not need a self-addressed envelope. My feeling is that since they use USPS, they will use the standard USPS envelope. This was my experience, and is not the last word on this.
Lastly, I'd like to thank Rajiv Khanna for maintaining this forum which I have browsed since my I-140 days (and found immensely helpful at many stages, right up to N-400 & OCI).
One comment on my OCI card's final step:
I applied for the OCI card (me and my wife) around October 2008. The cards were approved and arrived at NYC embassy in Dec. 1st week. We asked for our OCI cards by mail, and we mailed our US + Indian passports. We had earlier sent $20 for this.
We did NOT send a self-addressed envelope. The U.S passports + OCI cards came within 1 week via USPS Mail in a cardboard envelope (Express (?) Mail)- no problems.
The NYC Indian Embassy website does not ask for a self-addressed envelope, and so we did not send one. A friend of mine did the same thing.
Just wanted to share this with others. I do wish the Embassy website would clearly state whether they do/do not need a self-addressed envelope. My feeling is that since they use USPS, they will use the standard USPS envelope. This was my experience, and is not the last word on this.
Lastly, I'd like to thank Rajiv Khanna for maintaining this forum which I have browsed since my I-140 days (and found immensely helpful at many stages, right up to N-400 & OCI).
Last edited by a moderator:
ImmiPortalUser
Registered Users (C)
Hi JJJET... did you submit passpport size pictures or 35mm pictures as requested by OCI?
I am trying to recall now but I am sure that I got my photo taken at a regular CVS pharmacy shop. I am reasonably sure I went in for the standard US passport size photo. In fact, I was not aware of the 35 to 40 mm size rule until just now.Hi JJJET... did you submit passpport size pictures or 35mm pictures as requested by OCI?
2 inches = 50.8 mm. I looked at my OCI card and I see that the photo is much smaller than 2" x 2". It seems to have been i) cut down a bit, ii) scanned and shrunk. But I did not have any problems. My OCI card took the standard 2 months time....
(Sorry this may not be very helpful but......for what it is worth).
Last edited by a moderator:
ImmiPortalUser
Registered Users (C)
Thank you JJJET.
Liberty4All
New Member
I used black ink for my son and daughter. It was not an issue for us.
Liberty4All
New Member
Summary of our OCI Process
He is a short summary of our OCI process.
We applied as a group (family of 4). Please read the instructions at individual Consulate for specifics about photos. Even though the application goes to the same place in India, the instructions are not uniform among different consulates. Following are what I submitted to NY CGI.
First, I filled the application online through http://ociindia.nic.in/ociindia/OnlineOCIRegistrationG.jsp. Once done filling the application, when I tried to save it, it printed Form A and Form B. Separate Form A had to be sent for each of us and only one Form B was required for the whole family.
I included the following documents:
1) For me - Form A (with photograph pasted), my US Passport Copy (only the 2 pages that have particulars), my Indian Passport Copy (all the relevant pages other than visa pages)
2) Same for my wife
3) For my son (had PIO) - Form A (with photograph pasted), his US Passport Copy (only the 2 pages that have particulars), his PIO Copy, his Birth Certificate, my Indian Passport Copy (I included only the first 2 pages)
4) For my daughter (did not have PIO) - Form A (with photograph pasted), her US Passport Copy (only the 2 pages that have particulars), her Birth Certificate, my Indian Passport Copy (I included only the first 2 pages)
5) Form B - One for all 4 of us
+ One more set of all of the above.
I attached 3 additional photos for each of us in Form A of the individual on the first set. I had conflicting information from the forum. So I attached 3 additional photographs to play it safe.
I attached a money order for $ 850.00 (275.00 each for me, my wife and daughter + $ 25.00 for my son since he already had PIO) to my Form A on the first set. There is an additional fee of $20.00 for the family that could have been included then or could be sent when the passports were mailed to NY CGI once the OCI is granted.
I took the photos at home, went to www.epassportphoto.com, sized it according to Indian Photo requirements, saved it, printed it at Costco and cut them to individual photos. The photo instructions are the most confusing. They need to be taken with a light background but not white. That is the main reason I took them myself. I made them off white. But, many people are doing them with a blue background. Some people were successful with a plain white background taken at Costco, CVS etc.
All photocopies (passports, PIO, Birth Certificate) had to be self attested as "True copy of the original" with our signature. I attested them for my son and daughter with my signature.
I mailed them using USPS Priority mail with Delivery confirmation. Then I started following the status using http://ociindia.nic.in/ociindia/OnlineOCIenquiry.jsp
Here is my timeline:
Mailed to NYCGI:1/09/2009
App Received by NYCGI:1/12/2009
Acknowledged: 1/23/2009
Photos Scanned: 1/29/2009
OCI Granted: 1/31/2009
Documents Printed: 2/03/2009
Dispatched to NYCGI: 2/04/2009
Received at NYCGI: 2/11/2009
OCI Received (in person): 2/16/2009
Once the OCI was received at the consulate, I went directly to get them stamped. I went to the consulate at around 9:00 AM. There was a line of may be 50 people. The doors opened at 9:10 AM. I Went in at 9:25 AM. The guy who was managing the line and directing people asked me to go to Counter # 3 for OCI. The gentleman who was in the counter looked like he was new to the job. I gave him print outs of the online status. He asked for the Indian passports and cancelled them right there and gave them back to me. Then, I gave him the US Passports and the PIO card for my son. He asked me to come back between 12:30 and 1:00 PM.
I went back around 12:30 PM. There was a line for collecting the OCI (actually a group of around 30 people gathered around the counter). The same guy opened the counter at 12:52 PM. Then one after another started going to the counter and got the passport and the OCI booklet after presenting the name. This process was so inefficient. He had dispatched only 8 or so in 15 minutes. Then we all suggested doing it the other way. Call the names on the passport and the respective person will collect it. Once this process started, it was dispatched to all of us in less than 3 minutes.
All in all, the process was smooth and took 5 weeks. This has been the smoothest of all my immigration dealings.
Thanks to all the members who passed along much needed information.
Good Luck to you all.
Note:
In addition to this wonderful site, I had gathered information from http://www.immihelp.com/nri/overseascitizenshipindia/oci-documents.html
He is a short summary of our OCI process.
We applied as a group (family of 4). Please read the instructions at individual Consulate for specifics about photos. Even though the application goes to the same place in India, the instructions are not uniform among different consulates. Following are what I submitted to NY CGI.
First, I filled the application online through http://ociindia.nic.in/ociindia/OnlineOCIRegistrationG.jsp. Once done filling the application, when I tried to save it, it printed Form A and Form B. Separate Form A had to be sent for each of us and only one Form B was required for the whole family.
I included the following documents:
1) For me - Form A (with photograph pasted), my US Passport Copy (only the 2 pages that have particulars), my Indian Passport Copy (all the relevant pages other than visa pages)
2) Same for my wife
3) For my son (had PIO) - Form A (with photograph pasted), his US Passport Copy (only the 2 pages that have particulars), his PIO Copy, his Birth Certificate, my Indian Passport Copy (I included only the first 2 pages)
4) For my daughter (did not have PIO) - Form A (with photograph pasted), her US Passport Copy (only the 2 pages that have particulars), her Birth Certificate, my Indian Passport Copy (I included only the first 2 pages)
5) Form B - One for all 4 of us
+ One more set of all of the above.
I attached 3 additional photos for each of us in Form A of the individual on the first set. I had conflicting information from the forum. So I attached 3 additional photographs to play it safe.
I attached a money order for $ 850.00 (275.00 each for me, my wife and daughter + $ 25.00 for my son since he already had PIO) to my Form A on the first set. There is an additional fee of $20.00 for the family that could have been included then or could be sent when the passports were mailed to NY CGI once the OCI is granted.
I took the photos at home, went to www.epassportphoto.com, sized it according to Indian Photo requirements, saved it, printed it at Costco and cut them to individual photos. The photo instructions are the most confusing. They need to be taken with a light background but not white. That is the main reason I took them myself. I made them off white. But, many people are doing them with a blue background. Some people were successful with a plain white background taken at Costco, CVS etc.
All photocopies (passports, PIO, Birth Certificate) had to be self attested as "True copy of the original" with our signature. I attested them for my son and daughter with my signature.
I mailed them using USPS Priority mail with Delivery confirmation. Then I started following the status using http://ociindia.nic.in/ociindia/OnlineOCIenquiry.jsp
Here is my timeline:
Mailed to NYCGI:1/09/2009
App Received by NYCGI:1/12/2009
Acknowledged: 1/23/2009
Photos Scanned: 1/29/2009
OCI Granted: 1/31/2009
Documents Printed: 2/03/2009
Dispatched to NYCGI: 2/04/2009
Received at NYCGI: 2/11/2009
OCI Received (in person): 2/16/2009
Once the OCI was received at the consulate, I went directly to get them stamped. I went to the consulate at around 9:00 AM. There was a line of may be 50 people. The doors opened at 9:10 AM. I Went in at 9:25 AM. The guy who was managing the line and directing people asked me to go to Counter # 3 for OCI. The gentleman who was in the counter looked like he was new to the job. I gave him print outs of the online status. He asked for the Indian passports and cancelled them right there and gave them back to me. Then, I gave him the US Passports and the PIO card for my son. He asked me to come back between 12:30 and 1:00 PM.
I went back around 12:30 PM. There was a line for collecting the OCI (actually a group of around 30 people gathered around the counter). The same guy opened the counter at 12:52 PM. Then one after another started going to the counter and got the passport and the OCI booklet after presenting the name. This process was so inefficient. He had dispatched only 8 or so in 15 minutes. Then we all suggested doing it the other way. Call the names on the passport and the respective person will collect it. Once this process started, it was dispatched to all of us in less than 3 minutes.
All in all, the process was smooth and took 5 weeks. This has been the smoothest of all my immigration dealings.
Thanks to all the members who passed along much needed information.
Good Luck to you all.
Note:
In addition to this wonderful site, I had gathered information from http://www.immihelp.com/nri/overseascitizenshipindia/oci-documents.html
Today I received my daughter's (7 years old) OCI registration card from NY CGI. The signature box below the picture on the card is left empty- they have failed to scan her signature. But all other three OCI cards in my family have the signatures scanned to the box. She had signed the Form-A when we sent the application. Has any one seen like this before? I am not sure if this card is valid without a signature or thumb impression.
Thanks
Thanks
I sent my OCI appl. 2 weeks back. Still no response from NY Consulate & no staus online. Anyone knows when my case status will come up online?
Thanks
I mailed my application on 2/23 and was received by NY on 2/25. My status just showed up online when I checked it.
I mailed my application on 2/23 and was received by NY on 2/25. My status just showed up online when I checked it.
When u check in the OCI equiry form, do u enter USANI***** in the file ack number or Online registration number?
My search gives a Wrong File Number Please check it message.
When u check in the OCI equiry form, do u enter USANI***** in the file ack number or Online registration number?
My search gives a Wrong File Number Please check it message.
USANI*** number should be entered in the Online Registration # box.
Picking up OCI in NYC
I have a friend of the family who is going to the Consulate Generals of India in NYC to pick up his wife and children's OCI cards. I was wondering if I where to give him my file numbers (print out of the status online from http://ociindia.nic.in/ociindia/OnlineOCIenquiry.jsp ) can he pick up my family's OCI cards as well?
I have a friend of the family who is going to the Consulate Generals of India in NYC to pick up his wife and children's OCI cards. I was wondering if I where to give him my file numbers (print out of the status online from http://ociindia.nic.in/ociindia/OnlineOCIenquiry.jsp ) can he pick up my family's OCI cards as well?
USANI*** number should be entered in the Online Registration # box.
When I query on Online Reg box I get the message:
Application with this number not yet Acknowledged.
What do i do now? Should I call the consulate? Do we get any ack. from consulate after the form has been submitted?
Any guidance on this will be greatly helpful.
[B[/B]
When I query on Online Reg box I get the message:
Application with this number not yet Acknowledged.
What do i do now? Should I call the consulate? Do we get any ack. from consulate after the form has been submitted?
Any guidance on this will be greatly helpful.
[B[/B]
No, consulate doesn't acknowledge anything. If you mailed your application with a tracking #, that's all the proof you have that it was delivered to them. The online status change kicks in after your application starts getting worked on in Delhi - that's when they assign a file/ack#. Give it a few days/weeks for it to happen.
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OCI Received 4/7/2009.
Sent docu to NY 3/30/3009
Documents received in NY 3/28/2009
OCI approved 03/23/2009
OCI Ack 03/18/2009
OCI applied 02/23/2009
Registration Status says UnderProcess today.
Ack is march 16th.
Thanks everyone for their help. Will update status changes.
Sent docu to NY 3/30/3009
Documents received in NY 3/28/2009
OCI approved 03/23/2009
OCI Ack 03/18/2009
OCI applied 02/23/2009
No, consulate doesn't acknowledge anything. If you mailed your application with a tracking #, that's all the proof you have that it was delivered to them. The online status change kicks in after your application starts getting worked on in Delhi - that's when they assign a file/ack#. Give it a few days/weeks for it to happen.
Registration Status says UnderProcess today.
Ack is march 16th.
Thanks everyone for their help. Will update status changes.
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Picked up OCI at CGINY.
Submitted the US passports at 10 AM. Indian passport was stamped as CANCELLED and return immediately. Was advised to collect the OCI at the same counter at 12.30 PM.
The counter was opened only after 12.50 PM. Collected the passports/OCI after standing in queue.
Submitted the US passports at 10 AM. Indian passport was stamped as CANCELLED and return immediately. Was advised to collect the OCI at the same counter at 12.30 PM.
The counter was opened only after 12.50 PM. Collected the passports/OCI after standing in queue.
Yes you can....
Make sure you print the OCI online status the link given by you. They need both the number listed on the inquiry screen.
I picked the OCI for my friend's family. He didn't print the OCI online status page, so had to plead with the person at the counter to excuse him. Better to have an authorisation letter from the person whose OCI is being picked up.
Make sure you print the OCI online status the link given by you. They need both the number listed on the inquiry screen.
I picked the OCI for my friend's family. He didn't print the OCI online status page, so had to plead with the person at the counter to excuse him. Better to have an authorisation letter from the person whose OCI is being picked up.
Hi Guys,
I had sent my application in first week of March. The acknowledgment date is March 17 and photos scanned on 20 March.
I am planning for a travel to India in first week of April. Is there a chance that my documents can be reached to NY in first week of April?
If my application is approved, Can I travel to India without getting a visa even though I don't have OCI card yet? Can I pick my approved OCI in India then?
Thanks.
I had sent my application in first week of March. The acknowledgment date is March 17 and photos scanned on 20 March.
I am planning for a travel to India in first week of April. Is there a chance that my documents can be reached to NY in first week of April?
If my application is approved, Can I travel to India without getting a visa even though I don't have OCI card yet? Can I pick my approved OCI in India then?
Thanks.