OCI - San Francisco Tracker

Send return envelop/Fee again?

Thank you for the response. I have sent only USPS priority mail self addressed and stamped envelop with tracking confirmation. I sent the same when i had my passport renewed 1 year ago and there was no problem. Speed is not that important for me (it will take only one extra day). Do U think it will be ok?
 
rd070901 said:
Thank you for the response. I have sent only USPS priority mail self addressed and stamped envelop with tracking confirmation. I sent the same when i had my passport renewed 1 year ago and there was no problem. Speed is not that important for me (it will take only one extra day). Do U think it will be ok?
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CGISF asks for Express mail envelope and postage (which I myself used), but I don't know if they insist on it or also accept Priority mail envelope to return passports and OCI docs. Someone who has successfully used that option can better answer that question. Also, I don't know if the Priority mail rates have also gone up since May 12th, if so, you will have to cover that difference.
 
Need advice - Time for passports return

I had sent in the passports for OCI stamping which were received by CGISF on June 2nd. My family is due to travel out of the country on June 18th and I had stated that in the cover letter as well as sent a followup email request.

So, far I do not see the return express mail envelope tracking information on USPS website, nor a reply to the email which I sent to CGISF (an automated response did come for the email).

1) My understanding was that the return of the passport/OCI is still tracking to ~10 working days - is this correct ... any folks who have recently received their docs can confirm?

2) If I do not receive the passports by Monday June 16th - does anyone have suggestions on any recommended steps - phone/go to CGISF - any experiences that you can share will be helpful
 
Send an e-mail asking for status

Try to send an e-mail asking for the status. It looks like,they are very prompt in responding to the e-mails.
You can send an e-mail to both of the addresses mentioned below:
status@cgisf.org
OCI@cgisf.org


avg_joe1234 said:
I had sent in the passports for OCI stamping which were received by CGISF on June 2nd. My family is due to travel out of the country on June 18th and I had stated that in the cover letter as well as sent a followup email request.

So, far I do not see the return express mail envelope tracking information on USPS website, nor a reply to the email which I sent to CGISF (an automated response did come for the email).

1) My understanding was that the return of the passport/OCI is still tracking to ~10 working days - is this correct ... any folks who have recently received their docs can confirm?

2) If I do not receive the passports by Monday June 16th - does anyone have suggestions on any recommended steps - phone/go to CGISF - any experiences that you can share will be helpful
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Thanks... Yes, they took exactly 8 working days to process and mail the passports back - CGISF received the passports on June 2nd around 9AM and these were mailed back on June 11th by CGISF. However, the USPS tracking system does not get updated till late night/early morning the next day.

sho1997 said:
Congrats. So looks like the average period after they receive the passports is still ~10 days. Mine just reached CGISF today.
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Once OCIs are received at the US consulate, you have to send your US passports for stamping.

But what about the Indian passports, which are invalid now? Don't you have to send your Indian passports along with them as well so that they can be officially "invalidated" by the consulate? The instructions on the cgisf website say nothing about the Indian passport.

Secondly, I am planning to send my passports using fedex, just like I did with my application. However, the instructions say to use "MAIL". I am guessing fedex should be OK. Any comments/experience?
 
neon_lite said:
Once OCIs are received at the US consulate, you have to send your US passports for stamping.

But what about the Indian passports, which are invalid now? Don't you have to send your Indian passports along with them as well so that they can be officially "invalidated" by the consulate? The instructions on the cgisf website say nothing about the Indian passport.

Secondly, I am planning to send my passports using fedex, just like I did with my application. However, the instructions say to use "MAIL". I am guessing fedex should be OK. Any comments/experience?
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Just send your Indian passport and note in your cover letter that you are sending it for cancellation.

Sending anything to them via FedEx is not a problem. I think CGISF wants (requires?) that for returning your passports to you, they need a USPS stamped envelope, which I am sure you have done (or are doing).

Anyone have any success in using FedEx in getting your passports returned?
 
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05/30/2008 : OCI Application Online
06/02/2008 : OCI papers sent via regular mail
06/17/2008 : Acknowledged
06/18/2008 : Registration Granted
06/18/2008 : Photo/Signature Scanned
 
Received my stamped US passports, OCI booklets and cancelled Indian passports by mail today. Pretty fast. Whole process took exactly 6 weeks to the day. My timeline -

OCI applications mailed on 5/9, reached CGISF on 5/12.
Ack on 5/31.
Granted, Scanned & Printed on 6/3.
Dispatched on 6/4.
Reached CGISF on 6/12.
My passports mailed on 6/12, reached CGISF on 6/13.
Received all today - 6/20.

Good luck to all waiting at various stages !

=====
 
We received our stamped passports, OCI booklet, canceled Indian passports and extra photos yesterday. Interestingly enough, CGI, SF added certified mail postage to it (and paid $2.05 at their expense). They put 'certified mail' sticker on our tracking sticker on the return envelop; so we didn't know about the mailing status. We had used Priority Mail for sending and receiving our passports and ordinary mail for sending the application. Also, we had sent the return envelop with the passports and not with the application.

Anyways, the entire process took 6weeks and 2 days for us, which is not bad considering it was taking 3mo at the time we mailed our application to CGISF.

Details: (All dates in US pacific time)

5/07/08: OCI app mailed (regular mail, no return envelop)
5/30/08: Acked
6/02/08: Granted
6/03/08: Dispatched
6/11/08: Reached CGI,SF
6/11/08: Passports mailed (Priority mail, with return envelop)
6/20/08: Passports received (Certified mail added by CGISF)

Thanks akgarg, punk, sho1997, et al for all your help and sharing information and best luck to those waiting for their OCI. It is only getting faster from here on @CGISF ...
 
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Hi Folks,
I just got my US passport today. I'm planning to go to India mid July. Can someone advice what is the best option to apply for now? Visa, OCI or PIO - which one will be faster?

Thanks
 
jetsam said:
Hi Folks,
I just got my US passport today. I'm planning to go to India mid July. Can someone advice what is the best option to apply for now? Visa, OCI or PIO - which one will be faster?

Thanks
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My guess is a regular visa would be your best bet for now. Even with the recent speedy processings you definitely can't expect to receive an OCI visa by mid-July. Someone else can comment on PIO, although i suspect that may not be any sooner. You could probably check a similar PIO tracker for timelines, if one exists.

==
 
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jetsam said:
Hi Folks,
I just got my US passport today. I'm planning to go to India mid July. Can someone advice what is the best option to apply for now? Visa, OCI or PIO - which one will be faster?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Given that there are only 3 weeks remaining till mid-July, my advice would be to apply for a visa. OCI is definitely not possible, PIO is possible but, from what I have seen in terms of time lines, not certain.
 
Thank You

Thank you sho1997 & akgarg for your replies. Seems like visa is my only option. I was hoping they had some kind of expedited option for OCI.
 
05/30/2008 : OCI Application Online
06/02/2008 : OCI papers sent via regular mail
06/17/2008 : Acknowledged
06/18/2008 : Registration Granted
06/18/2008 : Photo/Signature Scanned
06/23/2008 : Printed
06/25/2008 : Despatched to San Francisco
 
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