OCI - San Francisco Tracker

My status now says:

Sent: April 20th (3 applications - H+W+1C)
Received at CGI SFO: April 21st
Acknowledged (File numbers generated) May 11th for all
Photos Scanned (May 12th) for all
Registration Granted May 13th for all
Documents Printing Status NOT PRINTED
Documents Despatched From Delhi On NOT DISPATCHED

OCISUG, I took picture against the wall which is off-white color. The pictures came out pretty good. I used the same method for photos in N-400 and US passports. I took the pictures with the subject at arms length and no flash with a 3.3MP camera in good daylight.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Indian passport already canceled

My Indian passport is already canceled by CGI San Francisco. Do I need to sent it again?
 
nkm-oct23 said:
My Indian passport is already canceled by CGI San Francisco. Do I need to sent it again?
Click to expand...

I take it that you did not send your Indian passports with the original application? If I were you I will send them again knowing how our beauraucracies work.
 
ocisug said:
I take it that you did not send your Indian passports with the original application? If I were you I will send them again knowing how our beauraucracies work.
Click to expand...

I confirmed with CGI SF that if Indian passport is already cancelled one need not send it again. I received an email from them today with this confirmation.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Question on timing

Does anyone know how long it takes for the documents to reach San Francisco after they are mailed from Delhi? And how long does the SFO office take to mail them to the applicant? My son's OCI was dispatched from Delhi today (May 15th). When should I expect the OCI to be in my hand? I sent prepaid Express Mail envelope with the application. Thanks for any info!
 
Update on status of OCI application:

Sent: April 20th (Family of 3, 2A+1C)
Received at CGI SFO: April 21st
Acknowledged (File numbers generated) May 11th for all
Photos Scanned (May 12th) for all
Registration Granted May 13th for all
Documents Printed on May 13th for all
Documents Despatched From Delhi On May 15th for all

I plan to send my passports next week.
 
OCI Update at SFO

Update on status of OCI application:

Sent: April 20th (Family of 3, 2Adults+1Child)
Received at CGI SFO: April 21st
Acknowledged (File numbers generated) May 11th for all of us
Photos Scanned (May 12th) for all of us
Registration Granted May 13th for all of us
Documents Printed on May 13th for all of us
Documents Despatched From Delhi On May 15th for all of us
Documents received by CGI San Francisco May 21st for all of us
I plan to send passports tomorrow.
 
nkm-oct23 said:
Update on status of OCI application:

Sent: April 20th (Family of 3, 2Adults+1Child)
Received at CGI SFO: April 21st
Acknowledged (File numbers generated) May 11th for all of us
Photos Scanned (May 12th) for all of us
Registration Granted May 13th for all of us
Documents Printed on May 13th for all of us
Documents Despatched From Delhi On May 15th for all of us
Documents received by CGI San Francisco May 21st for all of us
I plan to send passports tomorrow.
Click to expand...

congrats, nkm! I just sent my application again yesterday this time putting right photographs (I also sent the images to OCI Cell and they approved the quality this time). Since I am 30 days behind you I expect my OCI to be received by SF around 21st June.

Now I will be traveling to India in early July. Can I send my passports a bit ahead of time, say after they are dispatched from Delhi, and save some time? Or do you think it will confuse the hell out of them if I send them before the OCI docs are received by them? In my case all my family members have tourist visa/PIO cards so we don't really need the OCI for the travel.
 
Sent: May 13th
Received at CGI SFO: May 14th
Acknowledged (File numbers generated) May 26th
Photos Scanned (May 26th)
Registration Granted May 26th
Documents Printing Status May 26th
Documents Despatched From Delhi On NOT DISPATCHED
 
minawala said:
Sent: May 13th
Received at CGI SFO: May 14th
Acknowledged (File numbers generated) May 26th
Photos Scanned (May 26th)
Registration Granted May 26th
Documents Printing Status May 26th
Documents Despatched From Delhi On NOT DISPATCHED
Click to expand...

Wow! That is a very fast turnaround! Congrats. I hope mine will get processed faster too. Have you already sent your passport to them for stamping? If not, are you going to wait until the cards arrive at SF or are you going to send them right away?
 
ocisug said:
Wow! That is a very fast turnaround! Congrats. I hope mine will get processed faster too. Have you already sent your passport to them for stamping? If not, are you going to wait until the cards arrive at SF or are you going to send them right away?
Click to expand...


I am not in hurry, so I will send my US passport once OCI reaches San Francisco.
 
Update..

Update on status of OCI application:

Sent: April 20th (Family of 3, 2Adults+1Child)
Received at CGI SFO: April 21st
Acknowledged (File numbers generated) May 11th for all of us
Photos Scanned (May 12th) for all of us
Registration Granted May 13th for all of us
Documents Printed on May 13th for all of us
Documents Despatched From Delhi On May 15th for all of us
Documents received by CGI San Francisco May 21st for all of us
3 US passports sent to CGI SFO May 22nd, delivered to CGI May 26th.
(I did not send Indian passports as they were already canceled)
 
OCI received!

I received my OCI today, exactly 27 working days after I mailed application to CGI in San Francisco. CGI received OCI documents from New Delhi exactly 1 month after they received my application.

My time line is as follows:

Sent: April 20th (Family of 3, 2Adults+1Child)
Received at CGI SFO: April 21st
Acknowledged (File numbers generated) May 11th for all of us
Photos Scanned (May 12th) for all of us
Registration Granted May 13th for all of us
Documents Printed on May 13th for all of us
Documents Despatched From Delhi On May 15th for all of us
Documents received by CGI San Francisco May 21st for all of us
3 US passports sent to CGI SFO May 22nd, delivered to CGI May 26th.
CGI sent back stamped passports and OCI cards May 26th (same day they received passports from me).
I received OCI cards and passports May 27th.

Few points to make here:

1) I used Priority mail for all mailing (initial application, passport mailing and return envelope) with tracking. It costs $5.65 flat rate instead of $16.00 for express and is equally quick with 1 day turnaround. I think express mail is over-rated and for some unknown reason is promoted by the consulate.

2) All pictures were taken at home with my old 3.3MP camera and converted into passport size 2x2 inches. My son's photo was 35mmx35mm instead of 2x2 inches but there was no problem with any of the photos. Pictures in OCI card and U visa came out pretty OK. Looks like either size is acceptable. Only 2 photos per applicant were sent (pasted in the place indicated in Part A of the application).

3) I did not send Indian passports since they were already canceled by CGI SF and they confirmed by email that Indian passports are not required if already canceled.

I would be happy to answer any more questions.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Guess what, my application was returned again:confused::confused:. because of photographs. This time around, I took pictures at my home, used epassportphoto.com and got them to 35mmX35mm per the instructions for Part A and B. In fact, I emailed the jpegs to the OCI cell and they said they look fine. After all this, they return the application because the photographs are not acceptable! They say they are not acceptable but not why they are unacceptable and what I am supposed to do to correct them.

I guess I have been out of touch with Indian government too long and just getting a taste of it.
 
Sent: May 13th
Received at CGI SFO: May 14th
Acknowledged (File numbers generated) May 26th
Photos Scanned (May 26th)
Registration Granted May 26th
Documents Printing Status May 26th
Documents Despatched From Delhi May 27th
Documents Received at San Francisco June 2nd
US passport sent June 4th
CGI received passport June 5th
OCI received June 6th

I asked to cancel my Indian passports that were returned cancelled.
I took photos at home with digital camera and used epassportphoto.com
 
ocisug said:
Guess what, my application was returned again:confused::confused:. because of photographs. This time around, I took pictures at my home, used epassportphoto.com and got them to 35mmX35mm per the instructions for Part A and B. In fact, I emailed the jpegs to the OCI cell and they said they look fine. After all this, they return the application because the photographs are not acceptable! They say they are not acceptable but not why they are unacceptable and what I am supposed to do to correct them.

I guess I have been out of touch with Indian government too long and just getting a taste of it.
Click to expand...

Did you print the epassportphotos at home or at the nearby drug store/walmart/costco?
 
That might be the problem. I used Walgreens and it cost 22 cents per 4"x6" sheet with 6 photos per sheet. I think your home photo printer is not good enough quality.
 
I tried to use E Passport and Was not satisfied with the results.

Even on the screen, I was able to see that the 5 pictures had all different shading. Even though it is just one picture - the shading on all 5 ws different.

Assuming that it was my screen, I had it printed at Costco. Even here the pictures came out all different.
 
OCI Reissue after US Passport Renewal

I just got my OCI reissued after getting a new US passport. Here is the time line:

18-May-2009 - application mailed (with passports and OCI card)
20-May-2009 - application received by CGI SFO (USPS Priority)
27-May-2009 - date of acknowledgment
28-May-2009 - photo/Signature scanned
28-May-2009 - registration status granted
28-May-2009 - documents printed
01-Jun-2009 - documents dispatched from Delhi
06-Jun-2009 - documents received at CGI SFO (actually 05-Jun in USA)
08-Jun-2009 - passports mailed from CGI SFO (USPS Express)
09-Jun-2009 - passports received with U visa sticker and new OCI card

Fairly straightforward process... start here http://www.cgisf.org/oc/oci_misc.html. Let me know if you have any questions.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top