I wanted to start this thread to post my Walk-In experience at CKGS NY Application Center for submission of my parents' OCI + Renunciation applications today. I was looking for walk-in experience on forums to get an idea, but could not find any. I had tons of questions before my visit today, and I hope by updating this thread, anyone wanting to do a Walk-in at CKGS NY would find some information shared here useful. This is going to be very detailed as I like to see details shared on the forum, so feel free to skip sections that are not relevant to you. I will also update this thread with the status changes and timeline.
Even though I started the online application process in Dec 2016, due to holidays and vacations and tons of questions that kept coming back (honestly, after the I-485/I-130 process that I went through for my parents, this OCI thing was the most rigorous appln process) I could only gather everything I wanted this week. I chose to do walk-in (with appointment) for 2 reasons :
1) Get the US PP back in person from CKGS, without relying on courier
2) The courier fee per person for OCI + R(Renunciation) = $15*5 = $75.
You pay for these:
1 package for sending OCI application
1 package for sending Renunciation application
1 package for delivery of US PP after verification
1 package for delivery of Indian PP + Renunciation Certificate
1 package for delivery of OCI card
So, for both parents it was going to be $150 just for courier! I wanted to see if this cost could be minimized.
To get to CKGS NY from Port Authority Bus Terminal or Penn Station, NYC:
I took the bus to NYC Port Authority from NJ. Right below the Port Authority building is the subway A,C,E downtown local (not express) and the 2nd stop is 23rd st. (1st stop is Penn station @ 34rd Street. So, if you are taking the train to NYC from NJ, then 23rd street Subway stop is only 1 stop from Penn). Once you get off the subway @ 23rd and 8th avenue, just walk towards 7th ave. In less than 2 mins, you will see the building 235, West 23rd st, somewhat diagonally across from the cinema hall. There is some construction happening in front of the building and so the entrance is somewhat obscure. But google image shows the pic of the building's front, so it was easy for me to recognize the building from across the street. If you decide to walk from either Port Authority or Penn station, it is only a 10-15 min walk and is probably a good idea to do so if the weather is not too bad, and that's what I did when I was finished with the submission process.
Once inside the Building:
Once you are in the building you have to punch in the code to get into the building (instructions are there) and take the elevator to go to the 2nd floor. Once you step out of the elevator, you can see the whole office, and the person manning the reception. I went in 20 minutes ahead of my appt time early afternoon and there were 3 people ahead of me in line at the reception. This is your first stop. For one person on the line, the Reception guy took nearly 15 mins talking and walking back and forth into the back office, making the rest of us lose our patience waiting. Right behind this receptionist is the ticket machine with options listed as: OCI submission, Visa, Renunciation, Pick-Up etc. For those with appointments, all he had to do was select the appropriate option on the screen (OCI, Pick up etc) and a ticket will print with a number and after that you can sit in one of the many chairs, waiting for your number to be called. So all we were waiting for, more than 15 mins in line, was to get a ticket! If there is anything CKGS can do better, they can put this machine out (instead of behind the reception) so anyone with a set appt, can get a ticket themselves and go ahead to the sitting area, without waiting in line, standing. When it was about 1:00 PM or so, the receptionist announced loudly to those in line that anyone there without an appt should actually leave and come back on Monday between 9:00 and 11:00 AM. Maybe 1:00 PM was their cut-off for walk-ins without appts. Once he gave a few of us our tickets from the machine, he disappeared for lunch and those who came afterwards for their PM appointments, were waiting in front of the reception for a really, really long time, without anybody from CKGS even acknowledging them. Because I saw how the ticket can be printed, I actually printed the tickets for a few of those waiting. As long as the receptionist is not there, we can access the ticket machine I guess : )
Even though I started the online application process in Dec 2016, due to holidays and vacations and tons of questions that kept coming back (honestly, after the I-485/I-130 process that I went through for my parents, this OCI thing was the most rigorous appln process) I could only gather everything I wanted this week. I chose to do walk-in (with appointment) for 2 reasons :
1) Get the US PP back in person from CKGS, without relying on courier
2) The courier fee per person for OCI + R(Renunciation) = $15*5 = $75.
You pay for these:
1 package for sending OCI application
1 package for sending Renunciation application
1 package for delivery of US PP after verification
1 package for delivery of Indian PP + Renunciation Certificate
1 package for delivery of OCI card
So, for both parents it was going to be $150 just for courier! I wanted to see if this cost could be minimized.
To get to CKGS NY from Port Authority Bus Terminal or Penn Station, NYC:
I took the bus to NYC Port Authority from NJ. Right below the Port Authority building is the subway A,C,E downtown local (not express) and the 2nd stop is 23rd st. (1st stop is Penn station @ 34rd Street. So, if you are taking the train to NYC from NJ, then 23rd street Subway stop is only 1 stop from Penn). Once you get off the subway @ 23rd and 8th avenue, just walk towards 7th ave. In less than 2 mins, you will see the building 235, West 23rd st, somewhat diagonally across from the cinema hall. There is some construction happening in front of the building and so the entrance is somewhat obscure. But google image shows the pic of the building's front, so it was easy for me to recognize the building from across the street. If you decide to walk from either Port Authority or Penn station, it is only a 10-15 min walk and is probably a good idea to do so if the weather is not too bad, and that's what I did when I was finished with the submission process.
Once inside the Building:
Once you are in the building you have to punch in the code to get into the building (instructions are there) and take the elevator to go to the 2nd floor. Once you step out of the elevator, you can see the whole office, and the person manning the reception. I went in 20 minutes ahead of my appt time early afternoon and there were 3 people ahead of me in line at the reception. This is your first stop. For one person on the line, the Reception guy took nearly 15 mins talking and walking back and forth into the back office, making the rest of us lose our patience waiting. Right behind this receptionist is the ticket machine with options listed as: OCI submission, Visa, Renunciation, Pick-Up etc. For those with appointments, all he had to do was select the appropriate option on the screen (OCI, Pick up etc) and a ticket will print with a number and after that you can sit in one of the many chairs, waiting for your number to be called. So all we were waiting for, more than 15 mins in line, was to get a ticket! If there is anything CKGS can do better, they can put this machine out (instead of behind the reception) so anyone with a set appt, can get a ticket themselves and go ahead to the sitting area, without waiting in line, standing. When it was about 1:00 PM or so, the receptionist announced loudly to those in line that anyone there without an appt should actually leave and come back on Monday between 9:00 and 11:00 AM. Maybe 1:00 PM was their cut-off for walk-ins without appts. Once he gave a few of us our tickets from the machine, he disappeared for lunch and those who came afterwards for their PM appointments, were waiting in front of the reception for a really, really long time, without anybody from CKGS even acknowledging them. Because I saw how the ticket can be printed, I actually printed the tickets for a few of those waiting. As long as the receptionist is not there, we can access the ticket machine I guess : )
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