OCI - New York Tracker

waiting_0102 said:
ginnu, just mailed everyone on your list describing the mess at CGNY...hopefully it has some effect.
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Find your Friends Who are still INDIAN CITIZEN (NRI) Let them also wrote Email and They should write that" They are Indian Citizen" in the Email and Inform the Ministers that how US consulate NYC is created mess for Indian who got US citizenship, NYC has no clear guide lines on website and They first created Backlog of about 8000 OCI application and now when OCI booklets are printed and reached NY Consulate they started this surrender certificate requirements and one is not able to get Approved OCI in hand and it will take 2 months just to get the OCI. Does the Indian government want to harass our own people who are contributing to the Indian economy and sending funds to India for Parents who are old? Do they deserve this kind of treatment from Indian consulate NYC? These IFS officers have created Mess in NYC India consulate all should be transferred or called back to India.
Write your matter in details and give it to Indian Citizens so that they can also send Email to all the above. Change the language slightly or write your own language. Let everyday all Ministers and Secretaries, Private Secretaries get 20-30 email each day and don’t stop keep on sending the emails. Also send Emails to Editor Times of India, Indian Express, Hindustan times and all the leading news papers in DELHI Edition Editors and Mumbai Editions.
HALLA BOLE!!!!
 
arjundutta said:
Dear Mr. Dutta,



You may please let us know regarding your specific case which, as per your assessment, has not been given due attention by the Consulate.

Requirement of Surrender Certificate is a stipulation of Government of India and the Consulate is bound to implement it as per the directives of the Government.



While the Consulate is neither short on manpower nor will power, you may appreciate that the new requirement has greatly increased Consulate’s workload. Despite this, we are extremely sensitive to any hardship that may be faced by the applicants on account of this requirement. We have opened special counters to receive SC applications for the applicants facing emergency travel. We are also exploring the options of holding special camps to expedite processing of these documents.



I agree with you that the Consulate has a space constraint in the public area and that is why we are encouraging applicants to send their documents by mail (with only emergency cases submitting their documents at the Consulate).



The form has been modified keeping in mind the local situation and Consulate’s requirements in order to comply with Ministry’s instructions. May I inform you, however, that no applications have been rejected for submitting outdated forms. Applicants, therefore, have not been inconvenienced in any way on account of modifications in the form.



Your statement ‘hundreds of US passports lying around on the floor’ is not true. We do receive US passports for OCI and visa stamping but the Consulate accounts for each and every passport which is submitted for service. So far, not a single case of misplaced US passport has been reported at the Consulate.



We need a copy of naturalization certificate as a proof of when the applicant acquired US citizenship. There is a legally prescribed way to get a duplicate copy of the NC. Applicants are encouraged to contact the US immigration authorities to get a copy of this document. We do not require the certificate to be notarized.



I presume you made your career choice keeping your best interests in mind.



Dr. Anju Kumar




Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 12:37 PM
To: Ambassador Office E/I Washington
Cc: DCM_Office E/I Washington
Subject: CGI-NY



Dear Madam Ambassador,



I would like to bring to your attention the very dismal and stressful situation at the NY consulate. We expatriates are being given the run-around. The home ministry makes a sudden decision about surrender certificates. They should allow some phase in period. The NY consulate either short on manpower or will power is simply unable to respond to us expatriates.



The scenario within the consulate is dismal, just few people with no answers, a pathetic lack of common sense, with abject conditions. Hundreds of US passports lying around on the floor.



The consulate has since last week put 3 different versions of the same form. No consideration for people who have to travel urgently on whom this was suddenly sprung. A lack of knowledge of what can be copied or cannot (e.g. the naturalization certificate cannot be notarized by a notary).



What is this Indian fascination for notary, I do not see USCIS asking for this. Learn to change " when in Rome..."



I am loosing my confidence in the IFS system. Maybe we should have stayed back to lead the country instead of the current officers.



Arjun Dutta, Ph.D.
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Mr Dutta Thank you

ALL should also fin/contact your Friends Who are still INDIAN CITIZEN (NRI) Let them also wrote Email and They should write that" They are Indian Citizen" in the Email and Inform the Ministers that how US consulate NYC is created mess for Indian who got US citizenship, NYC has no clear guide lines on website and They first created Backlog of about 8000 OCI application and now when OCI booklets are printed and reached NY Consulate they started this surrender certificate requirements and one is not able to get Approved OCI in hand and it will take 2 months just to get the OCI. Does the Indian government want to harass our own people who are contributing to the Indian economy and sending funds to India for Parents who are old? Do they deserve this kind of treatment from Indian consulate NYC? These IFS officers have created Mess in NYC India consulate all should be transferred or called back to India.
Write your matter in details and give it to Indian Citizens so that they can also send Email to all the above. Change the language slightly or write your own language. Let everyday all Ministers and Secretaries, Private Secretaries get 20-30 email each day and don’t stop keep on sending the emails. Also send Emails to Editor Times of India, Indian Express, Hindustan times and all the leading news papers in DELHI Edition Editors and Mumbai Editions
HALLA BOL!!!!
 
ginnu said:
We all Need to send Email to All Minister of External Affairs and, Minister of State for External Affairs (She is very Active) all the Secretaries, Private Secretaries that includes PM Personal Sec
S.M. Krishna
External Affairs Minister


Email:eam@mea.gov.in
Phone:23011127 / 23011165
Fax23013254 / 23011463
---
K.A. Appaiah (Dr.)
Addl. PS to EAM
addlpseam@mea.gov.in
-----------
Smt. Preneet Kaur (she is very Active)

Minister of State for External Affairs
Email:mospk@mea.gov.in
Phone:23011141 / 23014070 / 23794337
Fax:23011425

K.A.P. Sinha
PS to MOS
Email: psmospk@mea.gov.in
---------

Secretaries

Smt. Nirupama Rao (she is also good)
Foreign Secretary
Email: dirfs@mea.gov.in
Email: psfs@mea.gov.in
---------------

Protocol Division

Sunil Kumar Lal
Email: jscop@mea.gov.in
---------------
Prime Minister's Office

Pankaj Saran
JS (PMO)
Email: pankaj.saran@pmo.nic.in
---
Jaideep Sarkar
PS to PM
Email: jaideep.sarkar@pmo.nic.in

Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs(The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs is headed by Vayalar Ravi, who has the rank of a Cabinet Minister. On the administrative side, a Secretary to the Government of India heads the Ministry.)
9th Floor, Akbar Bhawan, Chankya Puri
New Delhi - 110 021, India
Phone Number: +91(11) 2419 7900
Email: contact@overseasindian.in

Ambassador
The Ambassador is the highest-ranking representative of the Government of India in the United States.
ambassadoroffice@indiagov.org
Deputy Chief of Mission
dcmoff@indiagov.org
Dr Anju Kumar
cg@indiacgny.org
cpv@indiacgny.org
passport@indiacgny.org

*** Send Email to ALL the Above and then on the Email of The Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission wrire CC to ( PM office or where you send the Email write the designation of person you sent email.

Find your Friends Who are still INDIAN CITIZEN (NRI) Let them also wrote Email and They should write that" They are Indian Citizen" in the Email and Inform the Ministers that how US consulate NYC is created mess for Indian who got US citizenship, NYC has no clear guide lines on website and They first created Backlog of about 8000 OCI application and now when OCI booklets are printed and reached NY Consulate they started this surrender certificate requirements and one is not able to get Approved OCI in hand and it will take 2 months just to get the OCI. Does the Indian government want to harass our own people who are contributing to the Indian economy and sending funds to India for Parents who are old? Do they deserve this kind of treatment from Indian consulate NYC? These IFS officers have created Mess in NYC India consulate all should be transferred or called back to India.
Write your matter in details and give it to Indian Citizens so that they can also send Email to all the above. Change the language slightly or write your own language. Let everyday all Ministers and Secretaries, Private Secretaries get 20-30 email each day and don’t stop keep on sending the emails. Also send Emails to Editor Times of India, Indian Express, Hindustan times and all the leading news papers in DELHI Edition Editors and Mumbai Editions.
HALLA BOL!!!!
Click to expand...
I will mail to all and will CC to Dr Anju Kumar, CC to Bajaj and Prabu Dayal all in NYC so that they know what we are doing.

Thank you Ginnu for the good work and keep it up We all are going to do the needfull at this time.
 
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So here is my situation:
I need to travel to India on Fri, May 21. My OCI was approved and received by the consulate on May 12, so imagine my frustation when I read that they were now requesting a Surrender Certificate before they could issue the OCI booklet and that too by mail only. So I called the consulate and spoke to Mr. Bajaj (I was probably lucky since he picked up on my first try itself, I know others have tried and nobody answers the phones). Mr. Bajaj was very cordial and said to come down to the consulate with all the required documentation and they would take care of it the same day (both Surrender Certificate and OCI). So armed with that suggestion, I prepared my documentation in triplicate as follows:
1. Application form filled in and notarized (the old Microsoft Word form)
2. Copy of first 5 pages and last 2 pages on Indian passport
3. Copy of US passport
4. Copy of Naturalization Certificate
5. Money Order for $175
I made 3 sets of the above documents and took along my old Indian passport (for the cancellation) as well as the US Passport (for OCI sticker). I also took along with me a copy of my itinerary that showed I was booked to fly on May 21.

I reached the Consulate at 8:00am in the morning. There were maybe 10 people ahead of me. By 9:00am when the doors opened, there were atleast 60 or more people in the line behind me. There are two sets of windows, one on the left and one on the right. All visas and OCI matters are taken care of on the right. I went in to window 3 and gave the person my itinerary first, explained to him about my conversation with Mr. Bajaj and that I need to travel on Fri. He took my application for the Surrender Certificate along with the Indian Passport and gave me a receipt for the same. He explained that I would get the Surrender certificate at 4pm and then I could give him my US passport at that time and they would process the OCI then. Took maybe 2 mins and I was out of there.

Came back at 3pm and went up to the counter again. I was now told that it would be 4:30pm when they expected to give out the SCs. There was a bunch of people waiting for it. Finally around 5:00pm I got the Surrender Certificate. I rushed out to get some copies of it, came back immediately and gave him my US passport along with a copy of the SC. At about 5:30pm, I got my passport back with the OCI sticker and the OCI booklet.

The situation at the counters is a real mess. People were screaming at the folks behind the counter regarding their situations. There was a guy who had been coming for 3 days straight to get a visa processed and he could not get the SC, even though he had an emergency and had a death certificate to show. Another lady had driven down all the way from Ohio to get her SC, since she had to fly the next day and could not get her visa without the SC. I could tell you guys atleast another 10 stories of people who had been coming for 4 to 5 days now, all of them victims of this sudden change in the process requiring a Surrender Certificate. Apparently one guy threatened to commit suicide there :) the day before and he still could not get the SC, he had to come in again today.

All throung the conversations with the guys behind the counter I was very cordial, even when waiting for the SC. In my opinion, the guys behind the counter are trying to do the best they can given the huge influx of applications. They are dealing with the same problem that we are, somebody higher up decided to change the rule all of a sudden and now the counter guys have to put up with people like us who will come in a shout because we are frustrated. All in all - a bad situation.

If you are travelling in the next few days, go into the consulate personally and get the Surrender Certificate done. They will take care of emergency situations. Hope this helps you folks out there.
 
Thanks for the detailed update. I am getting ready to mail in my application for Surrender Certificate. You prepared everything in triplicate. Did the Consulate insist on that or was it more a "good to have" and just helped the staff avoid photocopying.
 
BITS_IIMB said:
Thanks for the detailed update. I am getting ready to mail in my application for Surrender Certificate. You prepared everything in triplicate. Did the Consulate insist on that or was it more a "good to have" and just helped the staff avoid photocopying.
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At the Consulate counters, they have a notice up there that says the form should be submitted in triplicate. It does not say if the other copies are required in triplicate. I just played it safe and made triplicates of all the copies (3 sets of every document). I spent an extra buck for the extra copies - no big deal.
 
jss7 said:
At the Consulate counters, they have a notice up there that says the form should be submitted in triplicate. It does not say if the other copies are required in triplicate. I just played it safe and made triplicates of all the copies (3 sets of every document). I spent an extra buck for the extra copies - no big deal.
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Does the notice say forms submitted in trpiclate should be original (each copy should have original signature
of Notary) or photo copies of a original notarized form.Your information is appreciated
 
dkagc said:
Does the notice say forms submitted in trpiclate should be original (each copy should have original signature
of Notary) or photo copies of a original notarized form.Your information is appreciated
Click to expand...

I am going to submit 3 notarized forms.

Btw anyone who is filling out the PDF version of the form, are you filling out the bottom portion (box) as well ? - the one that says Surrender Certificate.
 
Am going with 1 notarized and 3 copies. I am filling out the name portion of the bottom as well.
pb74 said:
I am going to submit 3 notarized forms.

Btw anyone who is filling out the PDF version of the form, are you filling out the bottom portion (box) as well ? - the one that says Surrender Certificate.
Click to expand...
 
OK. Some more confusion from CGI-NY. I had sent an email to the consulate on the number of copies required and they came back with the answer" One Set".

The email in its entirety below. BTW, ignore my choice of words. I tried to use language typically used in officialdom in India and not what you would read in the US.


From: passport@indiacgny.org [mailto:passport@indiacgny.org]
Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2010 5:26 PM
Subject: RE: How many copies required for applying for Renunciation/Surrender Certificate

One set

________________________________________
Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 2:55 PM
To: passport@indiacgny.org
Subject: How many copies required for applying for Renunciation/Surrender Certificate

Dear Sir/Madam:

Thank you for your time. I plan to apply for Renunciation/Surrender Certificate for me and my family. I have seen the instructions for the same on the CGI-NY website.

Can you please confirm for each applicant how many copies I have to send? While the website mentions only one application set, I have heard from friends that I need to apply in triplicate.

I would request you to kindly clarify.

Thanks for your time and attention to this matter.

Yours sincerely,
 
Hi everyone,

I am a US born citizen, age 23, applying for an OCI. My parents were born in India, so included a copy of their birth certificates, proving they were indian citizens. I recieved an email from Ms. Kumar on May3rd letting me know that my OCI application had been recieved, but since then, it is still not acknowledged. Do i have to submit a surrender certificate for my parents (they are now US citizens)?? I can't see that being the case since i only have to prove that my parents were Indian-born.

I'm in the same boat as everyone else - unanswered calls and emails, so any help would be appreciated. I am traveling to India in early July. so there is still time, but I'd rather just get a visa than deal with this fiasco.

Thanks.
 
kdkx125 said:
Hi everyone,

I am a US born citizen, age 23, applying for an OCI. My parents were born in India, so included a copy of their birth certificates, proving they were indian citizens. I recieved an email from Ms. Kumar on May3rd letting me know that my OCI application had been recieved, but since then, it is still not acknowledged. Do i have to submit a surrender certificate for my parents (they are now US citizens)?? I can't see that being the case since i only have to prove that my parents were Indian-born.

I'm in the same boat as everyone else - unanswered calls and emails, so any help would be appreciated. I am traveling to India in early July. so there is still time, but I'd rather just get a visa than deal with this fiasco.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I have been to Consulate today to apply SC. People with similar situation came and the they have been told
to get the SC for the parents and then only you can get the OCI for children who are US born but parents are
Indian origin. This could be different if the children is major meaning above 18 years. This needs to be verified.
 
kdkx125 said:
Hi everyone,

I am a US born citizen, age 23, applying for an OCI. My parents were born in India, so included a copy of their birth certificates, proving they were indian citizens. I recieved an email from Ms. Kumar on May3rd letting me know that my OCI application had been recieved, but since then, it is still not acknowledged.
----- they take 25-30 days to acknowledge.
Do i have to submit a surrender certificate for my parents (they are now US citizens)??
------if you ask the consulate the NYC consulate will say "YES" but if you inform them your parents are living in India with OCI then you will not get any info from hese IFS officers posted at NY Consulate.

I can't see that being the case since i only have to prove that my parents were Indian-born.
----- You were only needed to provide the Proof or Evidence that your Parents Or grand Parents were Indian Citizen.

I'm in the same boat as everyone else - unanswered calls and emails, so any help would be appreciated. I am traveling to India in early July.
------
If your OCI application gets acknowledged in 8-10 days then they take another 5-10 days to Scan Signature Photo and then 5-10 days to GRANT the OCI then Delhi will take 5-6 days after GRANTED to Print OCI Card then it takes 5-7 days to reach the documents at NYC and they update RECIVED after 12-13 days from DESPATCH date on OCI status page and then you need to Collect the OCI if traveling and have ticket from Consulate or mail the passport for U visa sticker and OCI card it will take 10-15 days to get OCI in hand. If you are traveling to India in First week of July I don’t think you will get OCI in hand.
You should apply for Visa through Travisa ASAP so that you can travel to India in first week.
so there is still time, but I'd rather just get a visa than deal with this fiasco.
-----Get Visa
Thanks.
Click to expand...
---------------
 
SFO is not that better even - please fight for uniformity

new Innovative and very creative rule from SFO office
"Copies of documents like Green Card/EAD/I-130 and the last held Indian passport at the time of naturalization required in support of our applications can be obtained by request from USCIS under the freedom of Information ACT."

Ginnu and others
I 'am posting emails to every body from your list and requesting them to create one common rule
atleast for US Citzens and this way stuff can streamlined and be even done in India
 
BostonCool said:
new Innovative and very creative rule from SFO office
"Copies of documents like Green Card/EAD/I-130 and the last held Indian passport at the time of naturalization required in support of our applications can be obtained by request from USCIS under the freedom of Information ACT."

Ginnu and others
I 'am posting emails to every body from your list and requesting them to create one common rule
atleast for US Citzens and this way stuff can streamlined and be even done in India
Click to expand...

also read the threds posted by many and collect the questions for Diffrent situations and ask the answer for each Situation.

Like OCI recieved at NYC and one has to send Indian passport for surrender certificate by mail then one get surrender certificate in 15-20 days and then why again one need to send surrender certificate + indian passport and US passport? dont they have records? why they dont ask in this situation send surrender certificate Application, Indian passportand US passport for OCI?
Why they dont ask to send Indian passport, Form and application for surrender certificate when one apply for OCI so that one it can take less time?
if one apply for Child who was never Indian Citizen/ never had Indian Citizen and born in US and child sent OCI on the base of parents being Indian Citizen in Past why the child need to submit Parents surrender certificate? Eligibilty of Child OCI application is only Child being born to Parents of Indian Citizen or his/her Grand parents being Indian Citizen. Why they ask the surrender certificate from Child who got OCI approved and at the time of application for OCI child has attached the required documents on Online registration form ?
Why they dont create FAQ for the diffrent situations?
Good Luck!!
 
to my email response

Email response copy that I got from MC ==> mc.sharma@nic.in

Dear Mission,
This is regarding email sent by Shri <>> dated 13th May'2010 in connection with despatch of US Passport duly stamped OCI sticker.

2.Current status of despatch of US passport and OCI card in respect of Shri <<>> be intimated to this Ministry as well as applicant concerned.

with rgds,

Ever Ministry
 
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