Hello everyone,
I am in a big trouble. My mother is an India citizen, 73 years old.
She lives in India. My mother came to USA in 1997 on visitor visa and
she was given an I-94 for six months at the airport. We extended her
stay for another six months and she stayed for eleven months in 1997.
She applied for visitor visa in December 2003, but her visitor
visa application was rejected at Calcutta consulate and the visa officer
asked her why did she overstay in 1997. She wanted to show the extension
approval letter from Department of Justice, but the visa officer did
not look at the approval letter. She again applied for visitor visa in
December 2004 and she was given 10 year multiple entry visitor visa.
She came to USA in 2005 and she was given the I-94 for six months at
the airport. We applied for extenstion and her exetension was approved.
She stayed in USA for approximately eleven months in 2005. Her Indian
passport is about to expire in November 2006. Her passport was issued
at Gauhati Regional Passport Office in Assam. She mailed her renewal
Passport Appilication and other documents to Gauwahati Regional Passport
Office. My aunt also mailed her passport on same day. The Passport Office
returned my aunt's old passport and photographs after approximately three
weeks. The Passport Office did not cancel my aunt's old passport, they
did not return the bank draft. They did not say any reason why the
old passport is returned. But my mother's passport is not returned.
I called Guwahati Regional Passport Office. They could not find my mother and
aunt's name in their computer. I asked them why did they retun my aunt's
old passport and what is the status of her passport renewal application.
They told me that probably the application was not correct. My mother
and aunt do not live in Guwahati. But the people at Passport Office told me
that we have to go in person at their office with the Bank Draft number.
Unfortunately, we do not have the Bank Draft number. The problem here
is that we are not sure what happened with my mother's passport. The passport office do not have any information about my mother's passport.
It has been almost a month. Generally, passport renewal should not take
that long. My mother and aunt's passport renewal application was filled up
in exactly the same way. Since they rejected my aunt's application, I am
pretty sure my mother's application will also got rejected. Also, the passport
office do not have any information about her passport application in their
computer. Here are my questions to you all --
1. Does anyone of you have this kind of experience ?
2. How long do I have to wait before I can assume that the passport is lost ?
3. If the Indian passport is lost, whom should I inform ? Should I get any
written document from the authority regarding lost passport ?
4. Is it going to be a problem to get a new Indian passport ?
5. This is the most important question. The lost passport has 10 year multiple
entry US visa issued by Calcutta consulate. Do I need to inform
US consulate about the lost passport and visa ? What documents should
I send them ?
6. After my mother get a new passport, does she need to re-apply for visa or
can she just make a request for visa stamp on her new passport based on
the fact she already had a 10 year multiple entry visitor visa ? If we need
to re-apply visa for her, what document does she need to submit with her
new visa application regarding the lost passport and visa ? Can they
deny her application ? I am an US citizen and I can sponsor her. She also
gets government pension in India and she got properties in India.
I know this is a long email. But, I really appreciate your help and advice on this.
Thanks,
Binny
I am in a big trouble. My mother is an India citizen, 73 years old.
She lives in India. My mother came to USA in 1997 on visitor visa and
she was given an I-94 for six months at the airport. We extended her
stay for another six months and she stayed for eleven months in 1997.
She applied for visitor visa in December 2003, but her visitor
visa application was rejected at Calcutta consulate and the visa officer
asked her why did she overstay in 1997. She wanted to show the extension
approval letter from Department of Justice, but the visa officer did
not look at the approval letter. She again applied for visitor visa in
December 2004 and she was given 10 year multiple entry visitor visa.
She came to USA in 2005 and she was given the I-94 for six months at
the airport. We applied for extenstion and her exetension was approved.
She stayed in USA for approximately eleven months in 2005. Her Indian
passport is about to expire in November 2006. Her passport was issued
at Gauhati Regional Passport Office in Assam. She mailed her renewal
Passport Appilication and other documents to Gauwahati Regional Passport
Office. My aunt also mailed her passport on same day. The Passport Office
returned my aunt's old passport and photographs after approximately three
weeks. The Passport Office did not cancel my aunt's old passport, they
did not return the bank draft. They did not say any reason why the
old passport is returned. But my mother's passport is not returned.
I called Guwahati Regional Passport Office. They could not find my mother and
aunt's name in their computer. I asked them why did they retun my aunt's
old passport and what is the status of her passport renewal application.
They told me that probably the application was not correct. My mother
and aunt do not live in Guwahati. But the people at Passport Office told me
that we have to go in person at their office with the Bank Draft number.
Unfortunately, we do not have the Bank Draft number. The problem here
is that we are not sure what happened with my mother's passport. The passport office do not have any information about my mother's passport.
It has been almost a month. Generally, passport renewal should not take
that long. My mother and aunt's passport renewal application was filled up
in exactly the same way. Since they rejected my aunt's application, I am
pretty sure my mother's application will also got rejected. Also, the passport
office do not have any information about her passport application in their
computer. Here are my questions to you all --
1. Does anyone of you have this kind of experience ?
2. How long do I have to wait before I can assume that the passport is lost ?
3. If the Indian passport is lost, whom should I inform ? Should I get any
written document from the authority regarding lost passport ?
4. Is it going to be a problem to get a new Indian passport ?
5. This is the most important question. The lost passport has 10 year multiple
entry US visa issued by Calcutta consulate. Do I need to inform
US consulate about the lost passport and visa ? What documents should
I send them ?
6. After my mother get a new passport, does she need to re-apply for visa or
can she just make a request for visa stamp on her new passport based on
the fact she already had a 10 year multiple entry visitor visa ? If we need
to re-apply visa for her, what document does she need to submit with her
new visa application regarding the lost passport and visa ? Can they
deny her application ? I am an US citizen and I can sponsor her. She also
gets government pension in India and she got properties in India.
I know this is a long email. But, I really appreciate your help and advice on this.
Thanks,
Binny