OCI - New York Tracker

[usindus]

SC on the cheap!

Became USC in July 2010 and to avoid the confusion and mess at CGNY, decided to get SC first before applying for the OCI. Sent in the SC application with $175 MO as cancellation fee and $20 MO for return by Express Mail. On the 10th day after sending the application, I receive the canceled Indian Passport, SC, and the $175 MO by First Class mail! Despite mentioning clearly on the cover letter what each MO is for, for some strange reason they decided to charge me only $20 fee and kept the MO I sent for return mailing charges and returned the $175 MO sent for the cancellation charges. May be their way of lessening the pain and sufferings of us poor souls!

 

[JPBoston]

Became USC in July 2010 and to avoid the confusion and mess at CGNY, decided to get SC first before applying for the OCI. Sent in the SC application with $175 MO as cancellation fee and $20 MO for return by Express Mail. On the 10th day after sending the application, I receive the canceled Indian Passport, SC, and the $175 MO by First Class mail! Despite mentioning clearly on the cover letter what each MO is for, for some strange reason they decided to charge me only $20 fee and kept the MO I sent for return mailing charges and returned the $175 MO sent for the cancellation charges. May be their way of lessening the pain and sufferings of us poor souls!

Congratulations on the successful SC and that too, was processed within the stated timeframe! My suspicion is that you got very lucky because they must have thought you became a citizen before June 1st and so sent back the $175. Can you tell me when exactly (date) your SC application was received at the CGI-NY and when you got everything back? I am tracking my own SC and would like to get an idea how others are faring.

 

[soKrazzy4]

SC and OCI STATUS

Surrender Certificate

SC - CGNY Receipt Dt : 10th Jun
SC/Cancelled Passports received back : 30th Jun (3.5 weeks from receipt date)

OCI

OCI Receipt Date at CGNY: 10th Jul
OCI Acknowledged Date: 2nd Aug (3 weeks from receipt date)

 

[cafeconleche]

Good for you.

 

[usindus]

Congratulations on the successful SC and that too, was processed within the stated timeframe! My suspicion is that you got very lucky because they must have thought you became a citizen before June 1st and so sent back the $175. Can you tell me when exactly (date) your SC application was received at the CGI-NY and when you got everything back? I am tracking my own SC and would like to get an idea how others are faring.

I am reluctant to give exact dates for obvious reasons related to the payment, but it was received at the consulate during the week ending 24/07/2010 and the canceled PP and SC were mailed back exactly 7 days after that.

Yes, it is pretty obvious that they assumed I acquired USC before June 1st. But I had it pretty clear on my application form as well as cover letter that the USC was in July 2010.

 

[JPBoston]

I am reluctant to give exact dates for obvious reasons related to the payment, but it was received at the consulate during the week ending 24/07/2010 and the canceled PP and SC were mailed back exactly 7 days after that.

Yes, it is pretty obvious that they assumed I acquired USC before June 1st. But I had it pretty clear on my application form as well as cover letter that the USC was in July 2010.

Oh they are not going to come hunt you down or anything. They're too disorganized for that! Your basic timelines is good enough for me. Thanks for that info. My own SC application did reach them on the Friday of that same week that yours reached them. It will be good to at least compare service levels and see when my SC and canceled passport get back to me.

 

[Kat999]

I love Indian consulate New York

I shared my experience of OCI camp last week. The big guy of Indian consulate assured that I would get my SC in 3days and indeed he kept his words, today I received a voice mail from Indian consulate that they are returning my OCI application back as they have not received my SC certificate. These guys have no clue what they promise and what they do. I'm preparing the paper work and work plan to deal with these guys so in future my fellow Indians should not get troubled like me. I'm in process of looking for a good attorney and get his opinion about how to set these guys straight and also I would like to bring this up with news papers and media and see what happens, they are messing up with a wrong guy. I'm not sure if i can file a law suit against the Indian consulate. I'm planning to drive to NY this week before I proceed with my work plan.

Guys, we need to raise our voice and fight for our rights, these guys are not doing any favor as they are supposed to do service.

 

[JPBoston]

I shared my experience of OCI camp last week. The big guy of Indian consulate assured that I would get my SC in 3days and indeed he kept his words, today I received a voice mail from Indian consulate that they are returning my OCI application back as they have not received my SC certificate.

Personally, I certainly hope that the OCI cell return my application package as well because I would rather resubmit my OCI application after I get my SC. I don't trust them enough to be able to reconcile my later submitted copy of my SC with my already received OCI application package over there.

 

[Kat999]

Personally, I certainly hope that the OCI cell return my application package as well because I would rather resubmit my OCI application after I get my SC. I don't trust them enough to be able to reconcile my later submitted copy of my SC with my already received OCI application package over there.

JPBoston, Hope for the best and be prepared for the worst. I'm driving to NY tomorrow with full preparation, I will update with a good news tomorrow and i'm very positive that things will workout with my action plan.

 

[dr_rks]

How long does it takes the documents to reach consulate from India ?
Online inquiry says they were sent on 7/23 ?

Anyway, I sent my US passport today with 20 dollars money order and copy of that online page. Question is, Will it complicate the matter?

 

[Kat999]

JPBoston, Hope for the best and be prepared for the worst. I'm driving to NY tomorrow with full preparation, I will update with a good news tomorrow and i'm very positive that things will workout with my action plan.

I went to CGNY and got my passport and SC today afternoon. Based on this experience i'm not going to send my US passport for OCI rather I would go personally to collect.

 

[JPBoston]

I went to CGNY and got my passport and SC today afternoon. Based on this experience i'm not going to send my US passport for OCI rather I would go personally to collect.

Hey Kat, can you explain a bit more about your SC and passport situation? They allowed you into the CGI to get your SC done there? What did you say to convince them about this? Also, your lost Indian passport was found in the end?

 

[Kat999]

Hey Kat, can you explain a bit more about your SC and passport situation? They allowed you into the CGI to get your SC done there? What did you say to convince them about this? Also, your lost Indian passport was found in the end?

JP Boston, I sent my passport and OCI application together and I got the response back from CGNY saying that I did not send my original passport and sent back my SC application. They treated me well, I was siting in a air conditioned room and they completed the work in 20 Min, as I said earlier they picked up a wrong person. Let me wait and see how my OCI process goes.

 

[JPBoston]

JP Boston, I sent my passport and OCI application together and I got the response back from CGNY saying that I did not send my original passport and sent back my SC application. They treated me well, I was siting in a air conditioned room and they completed the work in 20 Min, as I said earlier they picked up a wrong person. Let me wait and see how my OCI process goes.

I still haven't fully understood how your lost Indian passport issue was resolved. So in the end, did they find your passport somewhere amongst the other applications at the Renunciation Cell? So what you got done was the cancellation of your Indian passport and issuing of the SC.

 

[Kat999]

I still haven't fully understood how your lost Indian passport issue was resolved. So in the end, did they find your passport somewhere amongst the other applications at the Renunciation Cell? So what you got done was the cancellation of your Indian passport and issuing of the SC.

JP, They misplaced my Indian passport and keep saying that I did not send them. I called Mr. Dayal number directly and spoke to his secretary and mentioned that I would be proceeding legally ( I already filed a police complaint) and they told me to wait for an hour and found my passport, I went their personally and collected my passport and SC.

 

[JPBoston]

JP, They misplaced my Indian passport and keep saying that I did not send them. I called Mr. Dayal number directly and spoke to his secretary and mentioned that I would be proceeding legally ( I already filed a police complaint) and they told me to wait for an hour and found my passport, I went their personally and collected my passport and SC.

Ahhh, ok that explains it. Isn't it so sad that this is what we have to resort to in order to get these people to do their job properly? I'm happy that you at least got your old Indian passport back and the SC situation taken care of. Were you able to give a copy of your SC directly to the OCI people while you were there?

 

[Kat999]

Ahhh, ok that explains it. Isn't it so sad that this is what we have to resort to in order to get these people to do their job properly? I'm happy that you at least got your old Indian passport back and the SC situation taken care of. Were you able to give a copy of your SC directly to the OCI people while you were there?

Yeah, they said they will forward the SC copy to OCI cell, I noticed a different cashier check when the person was carrying the OCI application along with SC, I sent the cashier check from XXXX bank and the cashier check I saw was from yyyy bank. I really don't know how these guys work and sort these issue. Today I was talking to one of my friend and he had same experience but less painful as his uncle(some minister) called Prabhu Dayal directly from India to sort his issue. These guys will never change and I will check my OCI status after a week if i don't hear anything back then I need to start my fight again..

 

[usindus]

..... I noticed a different cashier check when the person was carrying the OCI application along with SC, I sent the cashier check from XXXX bank and the cashier check I saw was from yyyy bank.

May be that explains why I got my $175 cancellation fee back. May be they used some other poor soul's money order and mistook that I had sent two $175 fee instead of one!

 

[soKrazzy4]

SC and OCI STATUS

Surrender Certificate

SC - CGNY Receipt Dt : 10th Jun
SC/Cancelled Passports received back : 30th Jun (3.5 weeks from receipt date)

OCI

OCI Receipt Date at CGNY: 10th Jul
OCI Acknowledged Date: 2nd Aug (3 weeks from receipt date)

UPDATE AS OF 9th AUG'10

Date Of Acknowledgment 02-AUG-2010
Application Status
Registration Status UnderProcess
Photo/Signature Scanned On 09-AUG-2010
Documents Printing Status NOT PRINTED
Documents Dispatched to Concerned Mission/Office on NOT DISPATCHED
Documents Received at NEW YORK CGI NOT YET

 

[USCZN]

I applied for myself and my son as combined application. This is what our complete submission package that consisted of two application sets contained:

1. First application set:
- cover letter
- combined certified check for $550 (total for both me and my son)
- envelope with 2 additional passport photos of me (labeled the envelope with my name and USANI number)
- envelope with 2 additional passport photos of my son (labeled the envelope with my son's name and his USANI number)
- the completed application in original with photos stuck on them, my signature and son's thumbprint. This was four pages that I stapled together and this consisted of Part A for me+Part A for son+ Part B common for both of us.
- copy of my Indian passport pages (first three pages and last two pages with my parents' names on them)
- copy of my Naturalization Certificate.
- copy of my US passport picture/info page.
- copy of my US driver's license (proof of address).
- copy of my utility bill (as an additional proof of address because this was apparently a problem earlier ... they wanted two proofs of address. Go figure)
- copy of my son's US passport picture/info page.
- copy of my son's US birth certificate for proof of my son's relationship to me.
- second copy of my Indian passport pages as above for proof of my son's OCI eligibility through me.


2. Second application set:
- the completed application in original with photos stuck on them, my signature and son's thumbprint. (Again, Part A for me+Part A for son+ Part B common for both of us).
- copy of my Indian passport pages (first three pages and last two pages with my parents' names on them).
- copy of my Naturalization Certificate.
- copy of my US passport picture/info page.
- copy of my US driver's license (proof of address).
- copy of my utility bill (as an additional address proof).
- copy of my son's US passport picture/info page.
- copy of my son's US birth certificate for proof of my son's relationship to me.
- second copy of my Indian passport pages for proof of my son's OCI eligibility through me.


Things to note:
1. I did not include the Surrender Certificate because I don't have it. I had applied for SC/Indian passport cancellation simultaneously with this OCI application mailing as is permitted by the CGI-NY website info that hasn't changed for the last several weeks. I assume they have worked out some system between the two cells. Anyway, I just mentioned in the cover letter that I had done this and if they needed this info, to contact the Renunciation Cell. Let's see what happens with this.
2. I attached the cover letter, combined certified check and the two envelopes containing the extra passport photos to the first application set only. The second application set just had the completed application and supporting docs.
3. I self attested every single supporting document (i.e., photocopies) you attach. It is a pain but a necessity.
4. Also, I labeled all supporting docs that were for me with my name and the reason for it. Similarly I labeled supporting docs for my son with his name and the reason for it. So each of the two application sets had two separate copies of my Indian passport pages, one was labeled for me and the other labeled for my son. This was the only example where I submitted four copies of the same supporting document. All other supporting docs had just two copies (one copy for each application set)

Hope this helps.

JP

Hi JP,

Thanks for your advice. I had filed my SC. Received my cancelled passports and SC yesterday. Now, I am looking to file for my OCI.
I just looked at the list of documents you sent -
Did you send 4 copies of your Indian passport? Do you really need 4 or 2 will suffice or is this just another thing we need to do to ensure that we do not get stuck for any weird rule CG NY may have?

Regards