CKGS Houston - PIO update (July 2014)

[prabindh]

Wanted to share my (positive) experience with the CKGS Houston office:

- Applied in person for PIO in the month of July, obtained in 12 days (from submission to receipt of PIO book). Collected in person. Overall the Houston office looked very well organised and my appointment/collection process went smoothly. There is a (free) copying machine in the same office to take copies if you had not taken them already. I followed the document checklist at http://www.in.ckgs.us/pio/pio-catego...io-minor.shtml, and had no issues with the documents that were required. Note that original US birth certificate is not required, and only copy is required.

- If you are not familiar with Houston and following GPS route (not Google map), the Garmin GPS does not recognise Binz building or Texas Avenue, but takes you to Binz street which is at a completely different location. Note that the Map that is printed along with the Appointment letter also is wrong and shows Binz street. To get to the correct location, follow Memorial Drive and drive into Downtown, Memorial drive becomes Texas Avenue, and Binz building is on the left (after the Houston Chronicle building). I hope the map in the appointment letter gets corrected soon. I was late by an hour because of this, but luckily I went on a day without any queue.

Best of luck,/
ps

[Hubly]

Thank you so much for providing info! Your post helped me with question 5 below since I have never known of anyone being able to collect their PIO cards from CKGS. Would you be willing to answer my questions below, please?

1. My husband is a U.S. citizen by birth. I have an Indian OCI. Can my husband apply for a PIO on the basis of me having an OCI?

Questions from Document requirements (with actual questions pasted here for your convenience):

Photos:
Four recent passport size photos of the applicant should be provided. Photos are required to be recent, identical, stamp size, in color, depicting front pose against light background on photographic paper. Do not wear glasses in the photo.

2. What size do the photos need to be? Here it says "stamp size" but elsewhere it says passport 2" x 2" size. Please help?


Documents from Spouse (If Married):
If you are applying for PIO on the basis that your spouse is of Indian origin, then you must submit one of the following:

A copy of your spouse's original Indian passport and proof of renunciation
A copy of your spouse's original PIO card AND the following:
A notarized copy of your original marriage certificate AND
Notarized Letter stating Applicant is still married to the Person of Indian Origin

3. Our marriage certificate is from Wisconsin, U.S.A where we got married. Does it have to be an apostille or would it be enough to order it from the Registrar of Deeds?

4. Does my husband have to sign the notarized letter by himself or do we both write and sign the notarized letter that we're married? Can a notary from a bank who knows us sign it? Does anyone have an example of this letter?

5. We are going to submit his PIO application in person/walk-in at CKGS chicago. Would it be possible to also collect his PIO once it's been processed?

Thank you very much!

[prabindh]

I think I can answer 2 of the queries below:

(2) - CKGS takes 2x2 size photo. I had taken both sizes to be safe, but they took only the 2x2 and returned the other set.

(5), yes you should be able to collect it in person after it is processed.

[FinallyDone]

While your positive experience is a shock to most of us who have ever dealt with anything related to India, your line below just blew my mind...

There is a (free) copying machine in the same office to take copies if you had not taken them already.
ps

Glad you had a nice experience