OCI - Washington DC Tracker

[WorldTraveller]

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.

Well, I did finally resolve it. I went to the embassy at 4:05 PM on Monday (2/21) & rang the bell. The security guy told me to wait until 4:30 PM, but actually let me in at 4:25 PM. Got in, signed my name in the register & was told to go to the room on the left. I explained my situation to the lady who gave the 2 passports to "Chandra".

She told to wait & in less than 10 minutes I got the rectified passports (the stamp/sticker for OCI for myself & my daughter were on the correct passports!). I was pleasantly surprised how quickly they did it. I had actually gone in a bad mood, all ready to fight in case they asked me to come back or gave me the run around! I never got the chance!

I did ask them why they could not keep us informed via emails & why nobody answers phones. She just politely shrugged & said they have too many applications to process. I did notice they had hundreds of applications sitting in different boxes in shelves, but that is still no excuse. Now that travisa is handling it, I don't expect anything to change!

At least I confirmed that the OCI visiting hours are between 4:30 PM - 5:00 PM - sharp.

Lots of good luck to every one else waiting for their passports with OCI. As for me, I hope I NEVER EVER have to deal with the Indian embassy (or consulate) for any reason. Am I tempting fate here?

 

[emno]

Well, I did finally resolve it. I went to the embassy at 4:05 PM on Monday (2/21) & rang the bell. The security guy told me to wait until 4:30 PM, but actually let me in at 4:25 PM. Got in, signed my name in the register & was told to go to the room on the left. I explained my situation to the lady who gave the 2 passports to "Chandra".

She told to wait & in less than 10 minutes I got the rectified passports (the stamp/sticker for OCI for myself & my daughter were on the correct passports!). I was pleasantly surprised how quickly they did it. I had actually gone in a bad mood, all ready to fight in case they asked me to come back or gave me the run around! I never got the chance!

I did ask them why they could not keep us informed via emails & why nobody answers phones. She just politely shrugged & said they have too many applications to process. I did notice they had hundreds of applications sitting in different boxes in shelves, but that is still no excuse. Now that travisa is handling it, I don't expect anything to change!

At least I confirmed that the OCI visiting hours are between 4:30 PM - 5:00 PM - sharp.

Lots of good luck to every one else waiting for their passports with OCI. As for me, I hope I NEVER EVER have to deal with the Indian embassy (or consulate) for any reason. Am I tempting fate here?

I am very happy for you worldtraveller.
I am sure you do not have to deal with them any more. May be for your daughter when her PP gets renewed. So one more time.

I am not sure what to do to get the SC now after getting my OCI. They did not send my SC. wrote email to them and you know that there was no response.
I will send a letter in the mail and see what hapens else i will leave it and fce it in future if they ask to SC. At the most they will charge me another $195.

 

[ism]

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.

Hi N400,

Did you send the Original US passport along with the OCI application to Travisa?

 

[N400Guy]

Hi N400,

Did you send the Original US passport along with the OCI application to Travisa?

Yes, you do have to send your US passports along with the application. Let me know if you need help with anything. In the last 15 days, I made sure I read each requirement correctly across multiple web sites and forums and sent my package so that they don't reject it for some stupid reason. All the best with your OCI.

 

[N400Guy]

Looks like Travisa is really helping out the embassy speeden up things. Within 4 days of mailing, the OCI status has been granted and documents have been printed, just waiting to be dispatched from Delhi.

 

[ism]

Wow. OCI in One week. Thats the fastest I have ever heard. Congrats.

 

[user221]

N400Guy,
You have mentioned only the OCI status? What is the status on the renunciation process? Is that payment processed...............

 

[N400Guy]

N400Guy,
You have mentioned only the OCI status? What is the status on the renunciation process? Is that payment processed...............

Well, the Renunciation package along with Indian passports were sent along with the OCI package. Haven't got any notifications on that. When I go to track the application, it is still in "Service order form online completed". Hopefully once they receive the OCI in Washington, they'll process the renunciation.

By the way, where does the renunciation get approved? In India or Washington?

 

[techid]

Looks like Travisa is really helping out the embassy speeden up things. Within 4 days of mailing, the OCI status has been granted and documents have been printed, just waiting to be dispatched from Delhi.

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
02/22/2011 Documents prepared.
02/23/2011 Documents received by Consulate
02/24/2011 Photo scanned;Registration status granted
02/25/2011 Documents printed at Consulate

Wow, that was pretty quick. I sent the OCI application a couple of weeks before you did through Travisa. Mine indicates that it is Pending Approval from Govt of India. So looks like in your case the approval was done at the DC consulate itself while mine for some reason has to be approved in Delhi and that is taking much longer.

 

[N400Guy]

Wow, that was pretty quick. I sent the OCI application a couple of weeks before you did through Travisa. Mine indicates that it is Pending Approval from Govt of India. So looks like in your case the approval was done at the DC consulate itself while mine for some reason has to be approved in Delhi and that is taking much longer.

I agree with you. I don't believe that the OCI was sent to India for approval. This has all happened in DC.

 

[sertra2002]

Well, the Renunciation package along with Indian passports were sent along with the OCI package. Haven't got any notifications on that. When I go to track the application, it is still in "Service order form online completed". Hopefully once they receive the OCI in Washington, they'll process the renunciation.

By the way, where does the renunciation get approved? In India or Washington?

Did you submit a separate order for renunciation. Their FAQ section says this:

Question: Do I need to complete a separate Order Form for a Renunciation Certificate if I am also applying for an OCI card?
Answer: No, only one Order Form for an OCI card is required. You can submit your renunciation requirements together with your OCI card requirements.

 

[N400Guy]

Did you submit a separate order for renunciation. Their FAQ section says this:

Question: Do I need to complete a separate Order Form for a Renunciation Certificate if I am also applying for an OCI card?
Answer: No, only one Order Form for an OCI card is required. You can submit your renunciation requirements together with your OCI card requirements.

Yes, I created a separate order form for Renunciation using the Travisa site for me & my wife. Completed the Renunciation form from the Travisa site, added the required documents and mailed it along with the OCI package. I had confirmed with Travisa if the address on the package should say "OCI section" even though it had the renunciation stuff.

 

[N400Guy]

Wow, that was pretty quick. I sent the OCI application a couple of weeks before you did through Travisa. Mine indicates that it is Pending Approval from Govt of India. So looks like in your case the approval was done at the DC consulate itself while mine for some reason has to be approved in Delhi and that is taking much longer.

The status on Travisa for my OCI is the same as yours. Did you check the OCI status on Govt. Of India website. OCI Enquiry

Enter your passport number and registration number (maps to "Consulate ID" from Travisa OCI Order form). Click GO. That'll tell you the actual status. Travisa will update the status only when they receive the documents back from the consulate. That's my guess.

 

[techid]

The status on Travisa for my OCI is the same as yours. Did you check the OCI status on Govt. Of India website. OCI Enquiry

Enter your passport number and registration number (maps to "Consulate ID" from Travisa OCI Order form). Click GO. That'll tell you the actual status. Travisa will update the status only when they receive the documents back from the consulate. That's my guess.

Thanks. I see that my registration was approved on Feb 10th but on the same day the photo was rejected. So its stuck at the consulate and Travisa kept showing the same message, Pending approval from GoI. Need to figure out how to resolve this issue.

 

[techid]

The status on Travisa for my OCI is the same as yours. Did you check the OCI status on Govt. Of India website. OCI Enquiry

Enter your passport number and registration number (maps to "Consulate ID" from Travisa OCI Order form). Click GO. That'll tell you the actual status. Travisa will update the status only when they receive the documents back from the consulate. That's my guess.

Thanks. I see that my registration was approved on Feb 10th but on the same day the photo was rejected. So its stuck at the consulate and Travisa kept showing the same message, Pending approval from GoI. Need to figure out how to resolve this issue.

 

[techid]

Looks like Travisa has no clue about the rejected photo. So the application is just sitting there with the rejected status at GoI while Travisa is waiting for a status change from consulate. What a screwed up process.

 

[N400Guy]

Submit new photos

Looks like Travisa has no clue about the rejected photo. So the application is just sitting there with the rejected status at GoI while Travisa is waiting for a status change from consulate. What a screwed up process.

Sorry to hear about the rejected photos. The following is stated on the OCIOnlineEnquiry website:

Ordinarily, OCI Registration Certificate and Visa are available for delivery within 30 days from the date of acknowledgment. If there are any objections regarding Photographs/Signature/Thumb impression etc,the same should be cleared by the applicant by sending another copy of the document(s) to the concerned Mission/Office.

Call Travisa and tell them about the website status. They will tell you what the next step should be. All the best!!

 

[user221]

N400Guy / techid

Does this mean there is no rejection issues (Photos/ Sign).....since document is printed on my case. What's the waiting period after this?

Date Of Acknowledgment 01-MAR-2011
Application Status Photo/Signature Scanned on 01-MAR-2011
Registration Status Granted On 02-MAR-2011
Documents Printing Status PRINTED Documents Printed On 03-MAR-2011
Documents Dispatched to Concerned Mission/Office on NOT DISPATCHED
Documents Received at WASHINGTON NOT YET

 

[N400Guy]

N400Guy / techid

Does this mean there is no rejection issues (Photos/ Sign).....since document is printed on my case. What's the waiting period after this?

Date Of Acknowledgment 01-MAR-2011
Application Status Photo/Signature Scanned on 01-MAR-2011
Registration Status Granted On 02-MAR-2011
Documents Printing Status PRINTED Documents Printed On 03-MAR-2011
Documents Dispatched to Concerned Mission/Office on NOT DISPATCHED
Documents Received at WASHINGTON NOT YET

Document printing status means your application & photo have been accepted. Do not mean to discourage you but my Printing Status Date kept on changing from Feb 25 - Feb 28, don't know why that happened. Initially I thot , Feb 25th they printed it, then next day it said Feb 26th and so on until it got steady on and after Feb 28. Just keep checking.

 

[NovaCitizen]

N400guy / anyone ,

When we send OCI docs to DC,

1. Do we need to attach Prepaid label on a return envelope or simply send the label with other docs ?

2. I assume one money order that includes Travisa fee of $12 and oci fee.

Thanks!