OCI - New York Tracker

Did you guys notice that on the website, they now say that they issue SC the same day? The wording about 2 weeks processing time by mail has been removed. I sent in my SC form by mail a couple of weeks back. I hope I get it back this week. I could have just waited and applied in person.

From the consulate website:

Processing time:
For applications complete in all respects received at the Consulate, the Renunciation/Surrender Certificate would be delivered the same day after 4.30 pm. In certain cases (especially where passports have been reported lost/misplaced), it may take longer to process the application.
 
amazing1672 said:
Hi folks,

I became a US citizen on March 4th, 2010, got my US passport on March 8th and got a visa for India on March 12th from the NY consulate (applied in person) as I needed to go to India for some urgent business. As part of the visa application, I gave them a form for renunciation of my Indian citizenship and got a cancelled stamp on my US Passport.
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When you got your Visa in March-2010, did the cancellation stamp state that your Indian PP is cancelled due to your acquiring US citizenshipt (something to that effect)?
You might want to check the CGI NY FAQ # 3. http://www.indiacgny.org/php/showHighLightDet.php?h_id=143&key=
That sounds like a section applicable to you.... and best would be to go in person, if feasibe....

Good luck,
V!
 
Yes PennUSC. I did go there on 29th and got my OCI.....

I reached there 9:15AM. There were so many people and i was standing in Madison Ave... while joining the line./..

By the time i reach the counters.. it is 3:15 PM.... Yeap it is 3:15PM.... literally...
it should have been much earlier.. but... few (about houndred) of our "GREAT INDIAN PEOPLE"..... joined the line in between and we got screwed up....

Finally,when i was there at the counter...just a step behind.. some consulate lady asked me to give way for a parent as their kid was giving trouble... so let them in...

In return i asked her for some favour... as
I sent my SC application through mail (USPS) on 19th May, i show her the "tracking" receipt and asked her to look into it. Initially, she said it might not be possible to locate the application in the big lot of applications.. i requrested her and told her that my OCI is received by CGI-NY and i need to travel in next couple of weeks.
She took my tracking receipt and told that, if she can not locate the application, she will provide for issueing my OCI... so nice of her

----- It seems you sent Indian passport by express mail to get SC with the fees, form and Indian passport and you went to consulate on29 to get SC and OCI. you reached counter(OCI counter or SC counter?) and told the lady that you have mailed your Indian passport on 19th with Fees and you have Tracking reciept with you so she took the Tracking reciept and came back after with SC application and give you SC. is that correct info?
Yes ginnu. you are correct. By that time my application was stamped and ready to be handed over also they printed the postage slip to return my application back to me by mail.
On 29th What CGI-NY did was, they converted all counters (ground floor) to handle all cases. They opened up 5 counters + counter no 8 for some special cases like missing SCs, other documents, to resolve disputes like people arguing with penalties etc., to speed up the process.
All employees were working and employees at 5 counters were working on a rotation basis.. i.e. after collecting few applications, employee at a counter goes in for completing the further process, meanwhile some other employee service at the same counter.. good idea... :)

She went in, and returned in couple of minutes.... and SHE HAD MY SC APPLICATION IN HER HAND....
ALL SIGNED FINISHED.......
---She came with SC and Indian passport with Cancelled stamp?
Correct.. my (including my wife) SCs were stamped, signed.. passports stamped with the standard wording
She gave it to me with a big smile and asked me to go to first floor... and get my OCI.
--Please explain what is first floor do you mean you can go to first floor from the window you met lady for SC?
Yes ginnu. They opened up all floors just to handle the load.
Gound floor.. where we generally go to a counter... accepting applications, resolving issues.. etc
Once all the issues were resolved, they took application and gave a receipt and asking people to come back after an hour or so.. to collect the SC... on the first floor.. that is the big door we see on the street level.
the person at the big door checks your receipt and let you in...
the you go to second floor.. :) where there was a hall kind of a thing (it looks like a small auditorium.. )
an employee come up to the dias and keep calling names.. to collect their SCs..

I thanked her and went to 1st floor and handed over my OCI received status page along with my USA Passport and showed my SC to the person there. He took my application and asked me come back after an hour and collect my OCI...
---do you mean first floor has many windows or you met ony only one person to collect OCI. did you gave him Copy of OCI online status page, +SC+US passport and cancelled Indian passport?
First and second floors does not have any windows. Once you collect your SC.. come done to first floor (the street level floor..) couple of employees were there to accept your OCI online status forms + US PP, and they were checking your SC and cancelled Indian PPs. They ddi not take anything other than your US PP and OCI online status form.
They ask you to come back after an hour to collect the OCI booklet and your US PP stamped with 'U' visa.
It is 3:30 PM and we are out and went to central park, had some "FOOD" relaxed for some time and came back to Consulate at 4:40PM.
Went in and waited for 10 minutes... Some other lady from OCI section came and enquired about ourselves as i said i am here to collect OCI and told her that i gave the application an hour back.
She looked into a big tray where there were few OCIs were there, she located our OCIs and gave them to us...
We are out by 5 PM.

Overallll there were hell a lot of people..... each at an average have 3 passports... so it is like at least couple of thousands of applications...



Good thing is CGI-NY processed all the applications and people were there in the line at 5PM. There were at least couple of hundreds. Consulate said they are going to process all the applications.



They opened up the entire office just to cater for additional space they need to handle the inflow. I do not think they will open it up for regular business days.
Pardon any mistakes/typos in this...
 
Thanks rmiriyala.

rmiriyala said:
Hi smodak,

You might receive your's shortly by mail, why i am saying this is....

When i went to CGI-NY on 29th (I sent my SC application via mail on 19th may and was received by cgi-ny on 20 may.. same as you), one of the consulate employee looked for it and it was all ready to be posted back to me... she even handed over the printed USPS mailing slip along with my application contents...

I am guessing basing on your application dates.... and my personal experiance at CGI-NY....
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Expat007 said:
Have you guys, who have already obtained OCI cards before the new rule (Surrender Certificate) started, applying for Surrender Certificate?
Do you guys think that because of the public outcry, Indian Government will grandfather (non-retroactive) this new policy? In which we could all save some money and adminstrative burden for not acting promptly to comply with this new requirement. i.e Does procastanating help us in this type of situation? :)
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It may help. SFO consulate just posted the following... I hope eligible folks would get a refund.

In supercession of previous rules, Government of India has decided that Persons of Indian origin who have already acquired foreign citizenship uptil 31 May 2010 will not be required to pay renunciation fees of USD 175.00, he/she will be required to pay Miscellaneous fees of USD 20.00 when getting the old Indian passport cancelled/surrendered.

In future those Indian citizens who acquire foreign citizenship on or after 01 June 2010 will have to submit declaration of renunciation of their Indian citizenship forms as given on website and fees of USD 175.00
 
Any one got OCI after the new SC rule became effective?
Here is my detail:
Applied for OCI for the family (2 adults + 2 kids) on April 7, 2010 and received by CGNY on April 8, 2010
Till today, there is no status update for my OCI application on the "Online OCI Enquiry" (I'm checking at passport.gov.in/oci/OnlineOCIenquiry and the message is still "Application with this number not yet Acknowledged")
I applied for SC on May 19th (with $175/- for each memebr) along with OCI Ref# on each SC application, received by CGNY on MAy 20th but I have not received the SC yet.

There no response from CGNY whether they have started processing OCI or any other update. (I don't even know whether they have started processing before SC rule became effective)

Is there anyone with similar situation & suggest a way to get any OCI update?

Thanks

- Rakesh
 
pb74 said:
It may help. SFO consulate just posted the following... I hope eligible folks would get a refund.

In supercession of previous rules, Government of India has decided that Persons of Indian origin who have already acquired foreign citizenship uptil 31 May 2010 will not be required to pay renunciation fees of USD 175.00, he/she will be required to pay Miscellaneous fees of USD 20.00 when getting the old Indian passport cancelled/surrendered.

In future those Indian citizens who acquire foreign citizenship on or after 01 June 2010 will have to submit declaration of renunciation of their Indian citizenship forms as given on website and fees of USD 175.00
Click to expand...

Thank you very much. This certainly makes sense. I hope other consulates follow SFO and that the officers at the Port of Entry in India are well trained when to and when not to demand for Surrender Certificate. The situation certainly seems fluid.
 
Former Indian Nationals naturalized before June 1, 2010: US Citizens who received US citizenship before June 1, 2010 do not have to obtain a renunciation certificate. One of the following must be produced as proof:
Their cancelled Indian passport or,
If not cancelled, then please provide your Indian Passport and a money order for $20.00 payable to Consulate of India to cancel the Indian Passport.
Former Indian Nationals naturalized after May 31, 2010: Former Indian nationals applying for an Indian visa are required to surrender citizenship of India immediately if not done already. Same day processing time will not be available, and the overall processing time will be increased.

If the applicant has already renounced Indian citizenship, one of the following must be produced as proof:
A Certificate of Renunciation issued by a Consulate of India or,
An Indian Passport that contains a stamp that specifically renounces the citizenship.
 
So the people "Like me" who have paid the fee already (at DC consulate) for renunciation, are going to get the refund of extra money that we pay i.e. $175 - $20 = $155.

Or that goes in charity ... for babus?
 
Is the new fee structure posted on the NY Consulate website, or is it just the the SF office? I want to make sure I have all the documents ready when i go this week.
 
sam012007 said:
So the people "Like me" who have paid the fee already (at DC consulate) for renunciation, are going to get the refund of extra money that we pay i.e. $175 - $20 = $155.

Or that goes in charity ... for babus?
Click to expand...

I don’t think they will return $155 those who have paid $175 or sent check of $175 for SC. I think when they stated PIO card the fees was around $1000(others may correct) and many paid that fees and then fees for POI card was changed later to less fees and they never returned the extra fees to PIO holder and said that PIO card expires in 15 years and for the next PIO card they don’t have to fees. Later OCI was started and many PIO applied for OCI and paid the OCI fees and they never returned the extra fees to PIO holders.

** better to keep the copy of Fees Check /Money order of the $175. I dont expect they will return the money but nothing wrong keeping Copy of each document.
 
kdkx125 said:
Is the new fee structure posted on the NY Consulate website, or is it just the the SF office? I want to make sure I have all the documents ready when i go this week.
Click to expand...
it is on SF consulate site
http://www.cgisf.org/

LATEST NEWS: In supercession of previous rules, Government of India has decided that Persons of Indian origin who have already acquired foreign citizenship uptil 31 May 2010 will not be required to pay renunciation fees of USD 175.00, he/she will be required to pay Miscellaneous fees of USD 20.00 when getting the old Indian passport cancelled/surrendered.

In future those Indian citizens who acquire foreign citizenship on or after 01 June 2010 will have to submit declaration of renunciation of their Indian citizenship forms as given on website and fees of USD 175.00
 
nyoci_applicant said:
Former Indian Nationals naturalized before June 1, 2010: US Citizens who received US citizenship before June 1, 2010 do not have to obtain a renunciation certificate. One of the following must be produced as proof:
Their cancelled Indian passport or,
If not cancelled, then please provide your Indian Passport and a money order for $20.00 payable to Consulate of India to cancel the Indian Passport.
Former Indian Nationals naturalized after May 31, 2010: Former Indian nationals applying for an Indian visa are required to surrender citizenship of India immediately if not done already. Same day processing time will not be available, and the overall processing time will be increased.
Click to expand...

Now why didn't the GOI think things through and implement this policy from the beginning? Because they are clueless idiots who can't seem are incapable of seeing the ramifications of policy changes.

On another front, I just noticed this gem of a disclaimer from website of the local zoo a.k.a. the CGI-NY:

Disclaimer: Consulate General of India, New York does not guarantee the accuracy and assumes no responsibility for the use of information available at this World Wide Web (WWW) site. Links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.
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:confused: If they can't take ownership of their own content, who can?!! I guess they have truly lived up to this disclaimer in the last few weeks! :D
 
Even if they have Disclaimer: Consulate General of India, New York does not guarantee the accuracy and assumes no responsibility for the use of information available at this World Wide Web (WWW) site. Links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein one should take the Prinouts. Nobody went to NY consulate to pay $175 by own will and nobody posted Camp for SC it was NYC and collected the money.. Many who got $175 Reciepts from NYC it is proof that they posted the information and took the money. If no rule of collection $175 then why did the consulate took $175 for SC. They cant stand in the court if one goes to Court and US citizens can file complaints agains NYC if they dont return the money collected according to new rule Posted at SF consulate site and NYC will also have that Info from Indian Government but they have not updated the site and hiding that info to collect more money.
For future reference ALL should take the printout from Indian consulate New York site that still says on this date that one need to get surrender certificate and pay the Fees $175 or Penalties. Take the Print out so that in future one can prove that is was Indian consulate that wanted RENUNCIATION OF INDIAN CITIZENSHIP and one must get SURRUNDER CERTIFICATE by paying $175. All who applied US citizenship and applied OCI/ PIO/ Visa were forced by Indian consulate New York to fill up the Form and pay the Fees. Keep those printouts to prove that.
 
LATEST NEWS FROM New York Consulate web site :

Fees for Obtaining Surrender / Renunciation Certificate Waived

In view of a large number of representations received from Persons of Indian Origin, it has been decided that the fees for obtaining Renunciation/Surrender Certificate from applicants who have acquired US citizenships before June 1, 2010 will be waived. However, a miscellaneous service fee of US$ 20/- will be charged for surrender of passport for cancellation. No penalties will be charged. Already decided cases will, however, not be reopened.

Indian passport holders who acquire US/foreign citizenships on or after June 1, 2010 will, however, be required to pay the fees of US$ 175/- for obtaining Renunciation/Surrender certificate.

Why CGI-NY returned OCI form last week. Already lost one month time + $175.00 + another one month wait for OCI acknowledgement.

My Dear Ginnu, we need further step to take action for New york consulte.

Any sugession Please...........
 
I agree with csekar. Why did the OCI cell return the applications?

They have NOT updated the OCI requirements page yet ...still says they need "Renunciation Certificate"
 
Hi Rakesh,

My OCI applications were received by NY on April 07 (mailed on April 4 for family and 2 kids). Finally on May 19, they acknowledged and it shows on the website. Within 2 days i.e May 21, all the 4 applicants' Photos were scanned. I sent Renunciation forms, fee, Indian passport for SC on May 11, received by CGI NY on May 12. Cashier's check cashed on May 19. No response yet. I couldn't go to NY last week because I am in the midwest. I am even trying to get an Entry Visa through Travisa but they have to wait for my Surrender Certificate copy. So right now just waiting. I plan to go to India on June 15 for a month. I suggest you check with your bank to see when the cashier's check was cleared. Sometimes that helps.
 
Already decided cases will, however, not be reopened. - SC waived

In view of a large number of representations received from Persons of Indian Origin, it has been decided that the fees for obtaining Renunciation/Surrender Certificate from applicants who have acquired US citizenships before June 1, 2010 will be waived. However, a miscellaneous service fee of US$ 20/- will be charged for surrender of passport for cancellation. No penalties will be charged. Already decided cases will, however, not be reopened.

Indian passport holders who acquire US/foreign citizenships on or after June 1, 2010 will, however, be required to pay the fees of US$ 175/- for obtaining Renunciation/Surrender certificate.
 
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