Urgent Situation with OCI renewal and TLF overstay

M

melodynbeats

New Member
We have an urgent situation.
My wife and kids travelled to India a week ago and landed in Bangalore. My 2 kids' were travelling with their new US passports since the old ones had expired.
However the OCI stamps were on the old one and they did not carry it at that time.
The officials at the airport however gave a TLF (temporary landing facility) to stay for 15 days on the condition that we'll have the old passports with the OCI stamp shipped from US and taken to an FRO office.
I shipped their old passports (since I'm still in US).
My wife went to the FRO office today and was asked to apply for the OCI (u-visa) transfer to the new passports which she did.

However now my question is, since she's produced the old passports with the OCI stamps and also applied for the OCI transfer to the new passports, can she stay beyond the 15 day TLF period?
Between the 2 employees working at the FRO they seemed to have an argument, one saying it's OK to stay and the other disagreeing with it.
Now we're in a fix on what to believe.

The 15 day TLF period has been given upto June 1st.

If anyone has been through this situation or know about it, please respond.

Thanks.
 
Your question might be out of bounds, for most individuals actively participating in this forum

Try sending a private message to sanjoseaug20. The other individual who might be able to help is ginnu, who is presently active on the forum.
 
I am in the same situation. The entire family is leaving for India tomorrow with Old and New US Passports and OCI Card for my daughter. The U Visa is on the old passport. Melodynbeats can you tell me what eventually happened? The duration of our stay there is 3 weeks.
 
baniruddha said:
I am in the same situation. The entire family is leaving for India tomorrow with Old and New US Passports and OCI Card for my daughter. The U Visa is on the old passport. Melodynbeats can you tell me what eventually happened? The duration of our stay there is 3 weeks.
Click to expand...

melodynbeats has not updated this thread and he does not seem to be helpful to others. I replied to his PM and his child problem was solved and then he sent PM to me. I requested him to update the thread but he has not updated.
if you have got new Passports and U visa is in Expired passport then take both the Passport AND OCI Card.

Please update after your trip.
Good Luck!!
 
@baniruddha: Take everything with you, hopefully they do not raise a stink. If they do, try to negotiate / explain. Last resort, get temporary landing visa and file the OCI update paperwork while in India.
 
Thanks guys for your replies. I am taking everything with me. I am now mentally prepared for TLF. Not sure if they will give her a TLF valid for 3 weeks but will try.
 
No problem at all when I landed in India with my 10 yr old daughter's Old US Passport, New US Passport and OCI Card. 15 seconds max. No questions asked. Did not even see the OCI Card even though I had it handy. He just looked at the U Visa stamp in the old passport and that was enough for him.

However I was required to show the OCI Card while connecting to Jet Airways flight at London.
 
Great to hear that. Your update will also help others in future.
I believe that overall they are trying to do positive things, but like in any bureaucracy things percolate down in a weird way. Best to be prepared for worst, but many times things work out ok.
 
baniruddha said:
No problem at all when I landed in India with my 10 yr old daughter's Old US Passport, New US Passport and OCI Card. 15 seconds max. No questions asked. Did not even see the OCI Card even though I had it handy. He just looked at the U Visa stamp in the old passport and that was enough for him.

However I was required to show the OCI Card while connecting to Jet Airways flight at London.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the update.
Post the Airport name in India where you landed from US or faced Immigration.
 
Urgent travel plans

I have a 6 yr old who has a new passport with the OCI sticker on the old passport. When I first applied for his OCI the rules stated it was lifelong and I did not have to re-apply. I have a trip coming up in the next couple weeks and only recently noticed the new rules which require that I re-apply for the new sticker. I do not have the time to apply for a new sticker. Has anyone recently traveled to Bangalore with the old and new passports and the OCI card and / encountered any challenges? I also wrote to the NY consulate with the same query and waiting to hear from them.
 
ahansu,
Best bet is to take the old U.S.A passport, and new U.S.A passport along with O.C.I booklet or O.C.I cards.

Another route is you might try, and it just be ten times safer, if you call one of the professional licensed immigration lawyer in your area, and ask him or her about the situation you are in, and see what they say. Make sure you get the lawyer that is of Indian decent and ask whether or not they know the immigration laws of India, and if they are able to help with the situation you are currently in right now. Choose a lawyer that is well versed in Hindi and English language as well as Indian Laws and American Laws. Make sure he or she has the current license to practice Law from the State to which you currently reside in.

Forget about the consulate, as they have a very bad reputation regarding this kinds of issues.

When you do come back from India, make sure you get the entire family's O.C.I cards updated along with new fresh visa, so you do not have to worry about it for another 10 years.

Fee is much less than what you initially have to pay for the Brand New O.C.I cards/booklet and Visa. I think it is around thirty ( 30 ) United States dollars [$ 30] per person. But, I could be wrong. So, please check it out for your self. Do not take my word on the price as consulate and TRAVISA keeps changing prices.

you are going to have to apply through Miscellaneous service.
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Here is Indian Government Website for this:

http://www.mha.nic.in/uniquepage.asp?id_pk=553
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Here is the Indian Government Website where you are to apply for the service you are seeking:

you might be interested in reading on what the actual Indian government has to say regarding your case. Please make informed decision. Go ahead and click on the website below to read what the indian government website has to say, and if need be go ahead and fill out the application, but make sure that you read the TRAVISA's website first as to how to actually apply for this service as Indian Consulate DO NOT accept the application straight for miscellaneous service, nor for O.C.I service. But I am sure you knew that.

https://passport.gov.in/oci/OnlineOCIMiscMain.jsp

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before I end this post, Please visit these other websites:
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http://ociindia.nic.in/index.html

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http://www.indiacgny.org/

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https://indiavisa.travisaoutsourcing.com/oci/homepage

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well, that is it.

Keep this forum updated as to what actions you took, and what were their results.

Someone will use your advice if they are in similar situations like you.

-Thanks.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thank you very much for the detailed response super_duper. I must have tried a dozen times to get someone at the Consulate respond to my query but with no luck. The ones who responded to the call redirected me to other people suggesting they were not the people who were responsible for responding to OCI related Qs. The people I was directed to were neither available to respond nor equipped to receive voicemails. I finally gave up in vain after trying the entire day to get a hold of someone from the consulate. At this point my only choice is to carry all my son's documents (old passport, new passport, OCI card). I will post if I hear anything new.
 
ahansu said:
Thank you very much for the detailed response super_duper. I must have tried a dozen times to get someone at the Consulate respond to my query but with no luck.
----Consulate is not going to reply and dont wait
The ones who responded to the call redirected me to other people suggesting they were not the people who were responsible for responding to OCI related Qs. The people I was directed to were neither available to respond nor equipped to receive voicemails. I finally gave up in vain after trying the entire day to get a hold of someone from the consulate. At this point my only choice is to carry all my son's documents (old passport, new passport, OCI card). I will post if I hear anything new.
Click to expand...
Just take your son New US passport, Expired US passport that has U Visa and OCI Card.

* update us once you land in India.
Good Luck!!
 
ahansu said:
Thank you very much for the detailed response super_duper. I must have tried a dozen times to get someone at the Consulate respond to my query but with no luck. The ones who responded to the call redirected me to other people suggesting they were not the people who were responsible for responding to OCI related Qs. The people I was directed to were neither available to respond nor equipped to receive voicemails. I finally gave up in vain after trying the entire day to get a hold of someone from the consulate. At this point my only choice is to carry all my son's documents (old passport, new passport, OCI card). I will post if I hear anything new.
Click to expand...

No Problem!!
 
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