OCI - Washington DC Tracker

Ok folks, just got back from the Embassy in Washington. Bottom line, as relayed to be my Mr. Nateshan, the officer who issues OCI cards/stamps: "We sent out the notifications in mid-January, but were not prepared for the sudden large influx of applications. We have received nearly 1800 in a week. The office only has 2 staff members to process all this. We processed nearly 220 yesterday alone. Please be patient. We will clear the backlog by this week or the next." He also acknowledged that he had gotten an email from me (more like 4! And several voice-mails!) and was very apologetic. He took down my application # (I basically gave him a printout of the email the Embassy had sent me on Jan. 17. @Emno: I gave him your case number as well.) and assured me that it will be processed soon. He did not have a way of looking anything up, because everything is processed manually and he pointed at various tubs of FedEx and UPS mailers of applications that had come in.

Other information: The OCI in-person inquiry is on the 1st floor of the Consular wing and opens promptly at 1230, and not a minute earlier. You ring the bell and the babu lets you in; you go in, sign a register and it's in a little office on the left. Of course, the fact that these are the hours and this is the procedure isn't written in anywhere on the website or in the Consular wing. I asked the babu fellow when I first arrived (speaking in Hindi) at 11:00 and he told me to return at 1230. It was only thanks to information from this forum that I had an idea of the 1230 time and where to go. There were 3 other gentlemen in line with me, all with the same issue, and it seems, also with travel coming up. All got the same assurance.

Here's the best part. I got back and what was in the mailbox? Yep! My passport and OCI card! Ha ha! It was mailed yesterday, so I guess mine was among the 220 that was processed yesterday. For the others still waiting, I hope yours arrives soon.

Thanks for inquiring about my case.
Hope I will mine soon.
thanks
 
Here's the best part. I got back and what was in the mailbox? Yep! My passport and OCI card! Ha ha! It was mailed yesterday, so I guess mine was among the 220 that was processed yesterday. For the others still waiting, I hope yours arrives soon.

Did you get the passport in US mail - delivered in post box. I thought they would send the passport in UPS so that it can be tracked .
 
Did you get the passport in US mail - delivered in post box. I thought they would send the passport in UPS so that it can be tracked .

As far as I know, the Indian embassy in DC uses UPS and not USPS (US mail). I could call FedEx and give them my home address to check if any pkt was coming my way on a particular day but could not do it with UPS. UPS needs a tracking # which we dont get from the US Embassy for packets they send us.
 
Did you get the passport in US mail - delivered in post box. I thought they would send the passport in UPS so that it can be tracked .

Oh it was UPS. I am currently in school ... so stuff from UPS and the post box ends up in our personal mail boxes.
 
Oh it was UPS. I am currently in school ... so stuff from UPS and the post box ends up in our personal mail boxes.
Successful CP 8/17/2005
--------------------------------------------
N400 TSC 6/3/2010
Interview letter sent 8/10/2010
Interview & Oath taken, ATL 9/16/2010
---------------------------------------------
OCI Application sent 10/28/2010
Documents stamped 12/25/2010
Docuements received in Washington 1/14/2010
US Passport sent 1/18/2010
US Passport delivered 1/20/2010
Passport/OCI returned 2/7/2010

GS, you are out of the loop now.
As per your dates, I should get mine any time soon.
Yours took 18 days to get back once they received your US PP.
Thanks
 
emno,

You can add me to the list of people anxiously checking the mailbox everyday for my US PP with OCI stamp. My timeline,which is similar to others, is below:

OCI Application Mailed: ~ 10/15/2010
Photo/Signature Scanned: 11/30/2010
Registration Granted: 12/09/2010
Documents Received at Washington: 12/29/2010
US Passport Mailed (USPS): 1/22/2011
US Passport Delivered at the Embassy: 1/24/2011
Passport/OCI Returned: Only God knows!

Of course, like others, I have been calling practically every day at the 5 phone numbers I have for the Indian Embassy. I either get no answer, go to a mailbox that is either full or not set up or a voicemail. I have left 4 messages, but nothing back. I have also sent 3 emails & nothing was acknowledged. I do feel a bit better from other people's experience. I just don't understand how difficult it would be to send a canned email to all the applicants (they do have that) paraphrasing what Mr Natesan mentioned to GS28 so we are no freaking out!
 
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emno,

You can add me to the list of people anxiously checking the mailbox everyday for my US PP with OCI stamp. My timeline,which is similar to others, is below:

OCI Application Mailed: ~ 10/15/2010
Photo/Signature Scanned: 11/30/2010
Registration Granted: 12/09/2010
Documents Received at Washington: 12/29/2010
US Passport Mailed (USPS): 1/22/2011
US Passport Delivered at the Embassy: 1/24/2011
Passport/OCI Returned: Only God knows!

Of course, like others, I have been calling practically every day at the 5 phone numbers I have for the Indian Embassy. I either get no answer, go to a mailbox that is either full or not set up or a voicemail. I have left 4 messages, but nothing back. I have also sent 3 emails & nothing was acknowledged. I do feel a bit better from other people's experience. I just don't understand how difficult it would be to send a canned email to all the applicants (they do have that) paraphrasing what Mr Natesan mentioned to GS28 so we are no freaking out!

Or may be post on there website the date of receipt, they are stamping the pp.
Hope to listen something next week for sure.
I am in the same boat.
 
02/05/2011 Order form and supporting documents received, payment processed
02/05/2011 Outsourcing office has received OCI application, but cannot process further. Application is on hold.
02/09/2011 Documents prepared to go to Embassy.
02/09/2011 Documents dispatched from Travisa Outsourcing Office to Consulate
02/09/2011 Documents received by Consulate
02/14/2011 Pending approval of the Government of India
 
02/05/2011 Order form and supporting documents received, payment processed
02/05/2011 Outsourcing office has received OCI application, but cannot process further. Application is on hold.
02/09/2011 Documents prepared to go to Embassy.
02/09/2011 Documents dispatched from Travisa Outsourcing Office to Consulate
02/09/2011 Documents received by Consulate
02/14/2011 Pending approval of the Government of India

All the best.

Any one recently received back the OCI and US pp stamped back from the embassy.
Embassay received my US pp on 1/24 and still I have not received back.
any one in the same time frame.
 
All the best.

Any one recently received back the OCI and US pp stamped back from the embassy.
Embassay received my US pp on 1/24 and still I have not received back.
any one in the same time frame.

Iam in the same boat. thinking of visiting DC dont know if it would help.

No response by making phone call, it is amazing how an embassy is not reachable by phone.
 
emno,

You can add me to the list of people anxiously checking the mailbox everyday for my US PP with OCI stamp. My timeline,which is similar to others, is below:

OCI Application Mailed: ~ 10/15/2010
Photo/Signature Scanned: 11/30/2010
Registration Granted: 12/09/2010
Documents Received at Washington: 12/29/2010
US Passport Mailed (USPS): 1/22/2011
US Passport Delivered at the Embassy: 1/24/2011
Passport/OCI Returned to me: 2/17/2011

Of course, like others, I have been calling practically every day at the 5 phone numbers I have for the Indian Embassy. I either get no answer, go to a mailbox that is either full or not set up or a voicemail. I have left 4 messages, but nothing back. I have also sent 3 emails & nothing was acknowledged. I do feel a bit better from other people's experience. I just don't understand how difficult it would be to send a canned email to all the applicants (they do have that) paraphrasing what Mr Natesan mentioned to GS28 so we are no freaking out!

The good news is my passports came via UPS yesterday. I was so excited, I decided to go to Chantilly UPS to pick it up instead of waiting for a redelivery since it required signature. It had the OCI Certificate Of registration cards for my daughter & myself as well as our US passports with OCI sticker.

The bad news is, the geniuses at the embassy had swapped the stamps - my passport had my daughter's stamp and vice versa! Now I have to go to the Embassy, which I had been steadfastly avoiding! I hope they can fix this quickly. I guess the good news they are making progress with getting the OCI back to us, slowly but surely...
 
The good news is my passports came via UPS yesterday. I was so excited, I decided to go to Chantilly UPS to pick it up instead of waiting for a redelivery since it required signature. It had the OCI Certificate Of registration cards for my daughter & myself as well as our US passports with OCI sticker.

The bad news is, the geniuses at the embassy had swapped the stamps - my passport had my daughter's stamp and vice versa! Now I have to go to the Embassy, which I had been steadfastly avoiding! I hope they can fix this quickly. I guess the good news they are making progress with getting the OCI back to us, slowly but surely...

Oh, this is horrible.
I do not feel like commentin on teh way embassy work.
if you forget to sign one photo copy page of your passport they will reject the application even if they had original passport with the application. but they can paste the visa on the wrong passport.

it is horrible.
Hope other (me included) do not have this issue.
finger crossed.
 
Oh, this is horrible.
I do not feel like commentin on teh way embassy work.
if you forget to sign one photo copy page of your passport they will reject the application even if they had original passport with the application. but they can paste the visa on the wrong passport.

it is horrible.
Hope other (me included) do not have this issue.
finger crossed.

Ugh ... I'm really sorry to see that the Embassy is being so annoying, and incompetent to boot! Worldtraveller: please note the OCI visiting hours that I had mentioned earlier, from my visit last week: arrive just before 1230 and go to the 1st floor and ring the bell. Emno and the rest: I hope y'all's passports arrive soon! Does anyone have any contacts in the MEA or the Embassy itself? Some people need to have their knuckles rapped.
 
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Ugh ... I'm really sorry to see that the Embassy is being so annoying, and incompetent to boot! Worldtraveller: please note the OCI visiting hours that I had mentioned earlier, from my visit last week: arrive just before 1230 and go to the 1st floor and ring the bell. Emno and the rest: I hope y'all's passports arrive soon! Does anyone have any contacts in the MEA or the Embassy itself? Some people need to have their knuckles rapped.

emno, GS28 & others,

My story only gets worse. Today I went to the Indian embassy around 12:45 PM & rang the bell on the 1st floor & was rudely told by some guy that OCI consulting is only between 4:30 PM & 5:00 PM! When I mentioned that I was told it opened at 12:30 PM, he asked me "who told you that?". I wonder if I had been there at 12:30 I would have been let in?

In any case, I gave up that approach, thanked him & went to the basement office where the visa & passport work is done to see if I could get any more info or at least corroboration of what I had just been told. Of course, the door was locked until 4:30 PM. I snuck in when one of the people came out. I went to the counter & asked about OCI. An exasperated looking woman (looked like she carried the troubles of the whole world on her shoulders), yes you guessed it, rudely told me that she knew nothing about OCI & closed the shutter on my face!

I tried going back to the 1st floor guy & got confirmed that they will see people between 4:30-5:00 PM. He even told me they are open Monday (President's day). I hope he is right as I plan to go next Monday. This is my only choice after wasting half a day already since I carpool & is practically impossible for me to go to the embassy at 4:30PM on any working day.

I will come back and post back here after my trek to Washington DC on Monday, all the way from Ashburn. Whoever plans on going to the embassy next week might want to wait to hear my experience! I feel like Our Indian Embassy is the most disorganized Organization on this planet. This simple thing has caused so much trouble & no end is in sight!

Sorry about this long message and my ranting...
 
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emno, GS28 & others,

My story only gets worse. Today I went to the Indian embassy around 12:45 PM & rang the bell on the 1st floor & was rudely told by some guy that OCI consulting is only between 4:30 PM & 5:00 PM! When I mentioned that I was told it opened at 12:30 PM, he asked me "who told you that?". I wonder if I had been there at 12:30 I would have been let in?

In any case, I gave up that approach, thanked him & went to the basement office where the visa & passport work is done to see if I could get any more info or at least corroboration of what I had just been told. Of course, the door was locked until 4:30 PM. I snuck in when one of the people came out. I went to the counter & asked about OCI. An exasperated looking woman (looked like she carried the troubles of the whole world on her shoulders), yes you guessed it, rudely told me that she knew nothing about OCI & closed the shutter on my face!

I tried going back to the 1st floor guy & got confirmed that they will see people between 4:30-5:00 PM. He even told me they are open Monday (President's day). I hope he is right as I plan to go next Monday. This is my only choice after wasting half a day already since I carpool & is practically impossible for me to go to the embassy at 4:30PM on any working day.

I will come back and post back here after my trek to Washington DC on Monday, all the way from Ashburn. Whoever plans on going to the embassy next week might want to wait to hear my experience! I feel like Our Indian Embassy is the most disorganized Organization on this planet. This simple thing has caused so much trouble & no end is in sight!

Sorry about this long message and my ranting...

thanks worldtraveller sharing your bad experience.
your case seems to be much worst amoung all of us.
As I told I got my OCI/US PP everything si OK but Sc is missing. Not a big problem but how can they do charge $195 and not provide the service.
I am planning to send them the request by mail and see what do they do.
It is amazing what lavel of customer service is provided by indian embassy provide.
Hope things short put well for you and me and others.
This is teh last oportunity for us guys to enjoy the indian govt system.
 
thanks worldtraveller sharing your bad experience.
your case seems to be much worst amoung all of us.
As I told I got my OCI/US PP everything si OK but Sc is missing. Not a big problem but how can they do charge $195 and not provide the service.
I am planning to send them the request by mail and see what do they do.
It is amazing what lavel of customer service is provided by indian embassy provide.
Hope things short put well for you and me and others.
This is teh last oportunity for us guys to enjoy the indian govt system.

I agree with emno: I hope this is the last time we have to deal with their babugiri. I was there last week, and was told 1230 pm, and actually did go in at 1230 pm! Of course, I knew this only because I had looked stuff up in the forums. There is no information anywhere about what the proper hours are. And of course, they never return emails or phone calls. And then they change their times at a whim! This is pathetic, absolutely pathetic.

I do hope you resolve your situation soon worldtraveller. And emno, glad that at least your passports are back. If you scroll up, there was a gentleman who had a similar issue as yours: got the passports, without SC. He, I think, went to the Embassy and got that resolved in person.
 
I agree with emno: I hope this is the last time we have to deal with their babugiri. I was there last week, and was told 1230 pm, and actually did go in at 1230 pm! Of course, I knew this only because I had looked stuff up in the forums. There is no information anywhere about what the proper hours are. And of course, they never return emails or phone calls. And then they change their times at a whim! This is pathetic, absolutely pathetic.

I do hope you resolve your situation soon worldtraveller. And emno, glad that at least your passports are back. If you scroll up, there was a gentleman who had a similar issue as yours: got the passports, without SC. He, I think, went to the Embassy and got that resolved in person.

thanks GS
I am not close to DC, so It is not easy to go in person. I will follow it up with mail/phone/emails. And I think at last if nothing happens, I will just take it as it is and surrender to the suitation. I will see in future how SC may affects dealing with them. Most likely I do not have to deal with them as at temost I have to cary my old passport if I get a new US pp.
 
Got the OCI.

Finally got my OCI delivered by UPS today morning :eek:

15-Dec-2010 - OCI Applied
21-Dec-2010 - Acknowledged
03-JAN-2011 - Scanned
06-JAN-2011 - Granted
06-JAN-2011 - Printed
10-JAN-2011 - Dispatched.
22-JAN-2011 - OCI Received in washington.
27-JAN-2011 - us passport delivered to washington.
21-FEB-2011 - Received OCI card and sticker / US passport .

I already have my SC and Indian passport cancelled which I applied separately before the OCI .
 
Finally got my OCI delivered by UPS today morning :eek:

15-Dec-2010 - OCI Applied
21-Dec-2010 - Acknowledged
03-JAN-2011 - Scanned
06-JAN-2011 - Granted
06-JAN-2011 - Printed
10-JAN-2011 - Dispatched.
22-JAN-2011 - OCI Received in washington.
27-JAN-2011 - us passport delivered to washington.
21-FEB-2011 - Received OCI card and sticker / US passport .

I already have my SC and Indian passport cancelled which I applied separately before the OCI .

congrats.
It is good that you applied for SC and OCI seperately.
 
OCI application finally mailed out

After 15 days of struggle in assembling all the paper work for OCI & Indian citizenship renunciation, I finally sent my OCI packet to Travisa office. Here is the status:

02/08/2011 Service order form completed online
02/21/2011 OCI application arrived in the mail at Travisa Outsoucing
02/21/2011 Application assigned for processing
02/21/2011 Order form and supporting documents received, payment processed


Will keep updating. I'm hoping, Travisa Outsourcing will help ease out the burden of the Indian embassy. Keeping my fingers crossed
 
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