PIO card timeline for US citizen spouse, Houston Consulate

[curtdfw]

Hi all,

I sent my docs to the Houston Consulate on 10 Oct 2008 (they arrived on 13 Oct), and I received my shiny new PIO card yesterday. That's pretty much in line with the four weeks processing time stated on the website. Here's what I included:

Documents included per the CGI-Houston website:
• Application in duplicate (both with original signatures)
• Notarized copies of:
-- My birth certificate
-- Wife’s Indian passport (all pages)
-- My US passport (all pages)
-- Marriage certificate
• Four passport sized photographs
• Money order for $385 ($365 fee + $20 courier charge)

Additional documents (not notarized):
• For validation of my wife’s current address:
-- Copy of bank passbook main page
-- Copy of credit card bill
-- If needed, her mobile number in India is +91 ***** *****

• For validation of my current address:
-- Copy of driver’s license
-- Copy of electric bill
-- Copy of cable TV/broadband bill


I sent a cover letter including the above with the intention of making it as simple as possible for the person processing the package -- who knows if it helped, but it made me feel better about it...

My wife is in India (we're still doing the US visa stuff), and they did call her to confirm some details, but they didn't call the two references I provided on the application. I started the process just after our one-year anniversary, as they turned us down when we tried last fall just after the marriage.

Cheers,

Curt

[tchennakesh]

How do we take the notarized copies of the birth certificate?

[curtdfw]

I took my birth certificate and a copy to my local bank and they notarized it for me.