Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)

[papiaroy]

London HCI OCI processing is way way faster than CGI Birmingham. Applied on 4th April in person in Birmingham and still it is under process. Whereas people applying in June in London have got their OCI already. Why is such a huge time gap?

Anyone who got OCI recently from Birmingham , can you please share your time line?
thanks

[ban.s]

UK residential address

[prabh]

Hi,

Please could someone post out a timeline of your OCI that would have been submitted at cgi Birmingham around 26/27 March 2013. Will be travelling to india at the end of july. Very anxious as nothing has changed since the acknowledgement. Shows as follows:

acknowledgement: 26 March 2013
Underprocess
etc....

Nothing.

[prabh]

London HCI OCI processing is way way faster than CGI Birmingham. Applied on 4th April in person in Birmingham and still it is under process. Whereas people applying in June in London have got their OCI already. Why is such a huge time gap?

Anyone who got OCI recently from Birmingham , can you please share your time line?
thanks

we had applied on 26 March and as of today no reply and also travelling to india at the end of July. Have visited cgi birmingham, they just do not seem to have any current knowledge to inform or assist with any queries. very frustrating indeed [/b][/i]

[papiaroy]

Why don't you email Birmingham OCI again? Please inform us if there is any change in your status.
Thanks

[Showy]

Hi,

Please could someone post out a timeline of your OCI that would have been submitted at cgi Birmingham around 26/27 March 2013. Will be travelling to india at the end of july. Very anxious as nothing has changed since the acknowledgement. Shows as follows:

acknowledgement: 26 March 2013
Underprocess
etc....

Nothing.

Applicant Name S**********
File Acknowledgment Number GBRB******
Date Of Acknowledgment 12-MAR-2013
Registration Status at Mission BIRMINGHAM
OCI- Number A******
Documents Printing Status PROCESSED On 06-JUN-2013
Dispatched From MOIA (OCI ) NEW DELHI On 11-JUN-2013
Document received At BIRMINGHAM On 17-JUN-2013

[papiaroy]

Thanks for sharing your timeline. Your OCI was printed in just 12 weeks time. In that case ours should have been printed this week. Let us see.
Had it been London HCI we could have got in early May.

[eashkuma4]

I need one advice, my OCI will reach London in a day or two. I am thinking of collecting it in Post by sending a special delivery cover. Could you let me know if there are any chances for misplacement at their end? or should be fine to collect in post?

[eashkuma4]

can any one please advice?

need one advice, my OCI will reach London in a day or two. I am thinking of collecting it in Post by sending a special delivery cover. Could you let me know if there are any chances for misplacement at their end? or should be fine to collect in post?

[ban.s]

how can anyone tell whether it would be misplaced or not?

theoretically any postal delivery is prone to risk of misplacement either by the sender or by the delivery person. 99% nothing will happen but yes, 1% risk will always be there.

[eashkuma4]

Members, can any one share their OCI Collection time frame from london HCI in Post?

[papiaroy]

Hi,

Please could someone post out a timeline of your OCI that would have been submitted at cgi Birmingham around 26/27 March 2013. Will be travelling to india at the end of july. Very anxious as nothing has changed since the acknowledgement. Shows as follows:

acknowledgement: 26 March 2013
Underprocess
etc....

Nothing.

Hi
Is there any change in your OCI status?
Thanks

[nnn]

Application sent: 02-Apr -2013 (postal, London)
Application received: 03 -Apr -2013
Date Of Acknowledgment 29-MAY-2013
Documents Printing Status PROCESSED On 28-JUN-2013
Dispatched From MOIA (OCI ) NEW DELHI On 02-JUL-2013
Document received At LONDON On 05-JUL-2013

[Nadeshka]

Thanks to everyone for their advice and their timelines - it helps knowing you're not the only one waiting nervously! Here's my timeline, will pick it up sometime this week:

Application sent: 16-Apr-2013 (postal London)
Application received: 18-Apr-2013
Date Of Acknowledgement 07-June-2013
Documents Printing Status PROCESSED On 28-JUN-2013
Dispatched From MOIA (OCI ) NEW DELHI On 02-JUL-2013
Document received At LONDON On 05-JUL-2013

[destiniation_london]

Application sent: 10-June-2013 (postal London HCI)
Application received: 11-June-2013
Date Of Acknowledgement: 08-July-2013
Documents Printing Status UNDER PROCESS ON

Return of Original Surrender Certificate: 10-July-2013


Hopefully it will be issued soon , lets see

[Showy]

Hi

I am getting very worried now, the OCI was recieved at Birmingham around 3 weeks ago, I sent passports with relevant docs the very next day with a SDE for the return, 3 weeks now and still nothing, sent an e-mail last week and they said it was sent on the 03\07, no tracking at all on the Royal Mail (not recieved at the depot), sent e-mail yesterday and responded to wait another 2 days!!!!!

After all this waiting I just hope the passports and OCI have not been lost by them...if anyone else had similar issues with regards to getting their passports back from CGI please share...


Thanks

[Showy]

Update on my Passport\OCi fiasco...

I rang the embassy on the premium rate number given on the website, picked up by a lady who assured me that the passports are not lost but there is a delay in the process, they have to send them to the commissioner for a final signature before they can be released and this has not been done in a timely manner. I asked if she can check if my passports are still there, she took my details and said she will call me back...

20 minutes later....she calls me and confirms that she has found the passports and definitely be sent in today's post for (finger crossed) delivery tomorrow..

so apparantly them telling me they were sent last week was incorrect!!!!!....lets wait and see...

UPDATE : Finally I can see a status update "the item is going through our network..." on the Royal Mail website...so nearly there......

[physku]

All, am posting queries here as I did not receive response as a separate topic.

1.) Can anyone please help me understand how many copies of support documents (british passport, naturalization certificate, surrender certificate, and possibly cancelled indian passport) I should send. My understanding is just one self attested copy of all requested. My understanding is also that if I am sending copy of surrender certificate, I dont need to send copy of cancelled indian passport. The surrender certificate is proof of having had indian pp before.

2.) Also should I be sending original of naturalization and cancelled indian passport. My understanding is just original of surrender certificate.

3.) Is it just one special delivery return envelope. Someone was suggesting that I should send a first class envelope as well for acknowledgement (why should I if I am sending documents to consulate by special delivery which i can anyways track).

4.) Also do Visa pages on British passport count as observation pages. I got an urgent indian business visa when my surrender certificate was being processed. So should I send a photocopy of the visa page as well.

[kamal.gulati]

Hi

Though my OCI is due to be received in London but wanted to know the process on the day to pick it.

Is there too much crowd?
If I reach there around 9:30 am then also be able to submit my passport?

Please share your experience

Thanks
Kamal
_________________
KAMAL

[sruthiv]

hi
my oci is ready for collection in london.could anyone give exact address of the HCI office to go and collect.I am planning to collect my card n my families.do i need to take any documents to take my wife n daughter oci cards.
thank u in advance

[Showy]

....And today the passports with the OCI booklets have finally arrived... from applying on March 12th to receiving them today nearly 4 months journey..Thanks to everybody who gave advice...but I am starting it all again from tomorrow...

so I will be back to keep you updated...

All the best to everybody...

[papiaroy]

Thanks Showy for your update and congratulations for getting the OCI booklets finally.

[amit13]

Dear,
I will be travelling to India for a few months in August. I will just have enough time to apply for my British passport here in UK before I travel.

I am aware that one can travel on an Indian passport for a period up to 90 days from the day the foreign citizenship is acquired. Hence I can enter India as a British national on Indian passport.

So here is my precise question:
If one travels to India immediately after getting the British passport (taking advantage of 3 months grace period to travel on Indian passport) and uses his Indian passport to enter, can he surrender his Indian passport and apply for OCI in India as long as its all done within 3 months?

I guess part of the question also is whether 90 days grace period is allowed only for travel or also for stay in India.

I am sure that OCI can be applied at one of the FRRO offices in India. However not sure if one can also surrender the passport in India, hence the above questions. One obvious answer will be to surrender my passport here in London and then get a visa to travel to India. However I an really pressed for time and would barely have any time left to surrender and apply for the visa after I receives my British passport.

Thanks
amit.balaji13@gmail.com

[macgyver]

Hi there, the 3 months grace period is from the date of your naturalisation n not the passport.
Secondly I do not think it would be advisable to surrender your passport or apply for OCI in India. There are a few threads on the forum regarding that if I remember correctly.

Best to apply for an Indian Visa and travel after the passport.

HTH

Dear,
I will be travelling to India for a few months in August. I will just have enough time to apply for my British passport here in UK before I travel.

I am aware that one can travel on an Indian passport for a period up to 90 days from the day the foreign citizenship is acquired. Hence I can enter India as a British national on Indian passport.

So here is my precise question:
If one travels to India immediately after getting the British passport (taking advantage of 3 months grace period to travel on Indian passport) and uses his Indian passport to enter, can he surrender his Indian passport and apply for OCI in India as long as its all done within 3 months?

I guess part of the question also is whether 90 days grace period is allowed only for travel or also for stay in India.

I am sure that OCI can be applied at one of the FRRO offices in India. However not sure if one can also surrender the passport in India, hence the above questions. One obvious answer will be to surrender my passport here in London and then get a visa to travel to India. However I an really pressed for time and would barely have any time left to surrender and apply for the visa after I receives my British passport.

Thanks
amit.balaji13@gmail.com

[destiniation_london]

Dear,
I will be travelling to India for a few months in August. I will just have enough time to apply for my British passport here in UK before I travel.

I am aware that one can travel on an Indian passport for a period up to 90 days from the day the foreign citizenship is acquired. Hence I can enter India as a British national on Indian passport.

So here is my precise question:
If one travels to India immediately after getting the British passport (taking advantage of 3 months grace period to travel on Indian passport) and uses his Indian passport to enter, can he surrender his Indian passport and apply for OCI in India as long as its all done within 3 months?

I guess part of the question also is whether 90 days grace period is allowed only for travel or also for stay in India.

I am sure that OCI can be applied at one of the FRRO offices in India. However not sure if one can also surrender the passport in India, hence the above questions. One obvious answer will be to surrender my passport here in London and then get a visa to travel to India. However I an really pressed for time and would barely have any time left to surrender and apply for the visa after I receives my British passport.

Thanks
amit.balaji13@gmail.com

No, you'd have to return back to UK within the grace period to surrender, otherwise you'd be issued a penalty.