PIO Card

OMG....
Wow!
PIO adult card finally on the way after submitting to Embassy on 11/20 !!!
I almost started crying .. of joy. Traveling to India next Friday 01/30 can you believe...
Canadian citizen living in USA married to indian spouse.
Welcome to India! :)

Your application has been collected from the Embassy/Consulate and is being sorted. Your application will be ready for collection from our Application Centre within one business day. 01/23/2015
Your application has been submitted at The Indian Embassy/Consulate for further processing. 11/20/2014
Your application is in process. Your tracking id is YYYY X 11/20/2014
Your application has been received and will be submitted subject to verification. 11/20/2014

Got the tracking in the email 1hr later. Weekday delivery but hoping for tomorrow worst case Monday.
0.5lbs so hopefully PIO + passport like all of you guys.

Thanks so much everybody for sharing updates and statuses it really helped since CKGS helpline was so useless.

PIO For the Win!

Finally I received PIO card issued date @01/05

Application Status Remarks Date of Status
Passport sent by post/courier number $$$$$$$ 01/22/2015
Your application has been collected from the Embassy/Consulate and is being sorted. Your application will be ready for collection from our Application Centre within one business day. 01/22/2015
Your application has been submitted at The Indian Embassy/Consulate for further processing. 12/30/2014
Your application is in process. Your tracking id is USAS$$$$$ 12/30/2014
Your application has been received and will be submitted subject to verification. 12/30/2014

After full cycle of this application i came to below conclusion.

1. Don't book ticket before valid pio/oci/visa in hand . Unless it was emergency. (My case i booked ticket and daily checked CKGS site,gmail and immihelp to find the status which is very big pain.)
2. Don't call or message to CKGS folks. Because they don't know anything about status moreover they are dumb folks.
3. Apply VISA/PIO/OCI and forgot about it/Pray for god. :)

All the best to all CKGS's customers.

Thanks and Regards,
Sudheer.

I had submitted PIO application for my son on 12/23/14 and had been checking status regularly. Last week 1/15/15 had filed request with CKGS to provide update and they called to inform to wait.

On 19th Monday, when checking for status, got the surprise news about PIO discontinued.. Feeling nervous since then as there was no update whether PIO approved or have to apply for OCI.

Finally got email message yesterday, 22nd Thursday at 5.30pm, that "Your completed application has been recieved from the Indian Embassy/Consulate and is being sorted.
Your application will be ready for collection from our Application Centre on next working day"

And got another email 2 hrs later saying "Your application has been despatched by post/courier on 1/22/2015 10:09:21 PM. with AWB #. Checked the courier weight as 0.5lb.. so was sure PIO is in there..

Today morning got courier at 9.30 and `find PIO alongwith PP. Phew.. what a relief. And btw, the PIO issue date is 05th Jan 2015. I think for Minor, those who have submitted their PIO before the notification issue date (1/19/15) should get it unless it is rejected.

Passport sent by post/courier number 772######### 01/22/2015
Your application has been collected from the Embassy/Consulate and is being sorted. Your application will be ready for collection from our Application Centre within one business day. 01/22/2015
Your application has been submitted at The Indian Embassy/Consulate for further processing. 12/30/2014
Your application is in process. Your tracking id is USAS70584014 12/30/2014
Your application has been received and will be submitted subject to verification. 12/30/2014

Any one who has applied PIO at Chicago after 09th Jan and received their PIO ? Please let me know

I applied for my son's PIO which was submitted to NY embassy on Jan 15th.
As everybody i was expecting to get the application returned and be advised to apply for OCI.
But as a surprise, i received his PIO this afternoon.

tracking info from CKGS website:

Passport sent by post/courier number 772######## 01/22/2015
Your application has been collected from the Embassy/Consulate and is being sorted. Your application will be ready for collection from our Application Centre within one business day. 01/21/2015
Your application has been submitted at The Indian Embassy/Consulate for further processing. 01/15/2015
Your application is in process. Your tracking id is USAN####### 01/15/2015
Your application has been received and will be submitted subject to verification. 01/15/2015

* My dauther's PIO application reached SFO center on Jan 16, 2015
* Jan 19th found PIO has been discontinued
* Called CKGS to check the status & requested to send back USA passport, so that i can start OCI process
* CKGS representative asked about my visa status, when i say H1B - he said, i am not eligible to apply for OCI either
* I told him that i have a travel plan on Apr 2015, then he suggest to apply for Entry Visa

GOT EMAIL FROM CKGS PLEASE SEND SCANNED OCI APPLICATION AND FEES PAID TOWARD PIO
WILL BE USED FOR OCI. SIX TO EIGHT WEEKS OF PROCESSING TIME. EMBASSY DECISION.

PIO application reached CKGS on Jan/16th. Later found out that PIO has been discontinued. Called/emailed CKGS on 01/19 to send back the docs and original USA passports. They have the same answer "please be patient for 2 days and you will receive the documents". Not received as of 1/22. Got a call from CKGS on 1/21 notifying that the documents will be sent to me in "2 days(magic number)". Will update all once I receive the docs.

Guys,
Applied for PIO on Jan 5th 2015 and PIO submitted to consulate on Jan 7th 2015.
Your application has been collected from the Embassy/Consulate and is being sorted. Your application will be ready for collection from our Application Centre within one business day. Jan 16th 2015

Got call on Jan 21st 2015 from CKGS that my PIO is not issued and that they will return the passport to my address.
I have itinerary to travel to India by Feb 15th 2015, so I told them to retain the passport and applied for Visa application (Processing time is 5 business days).
Your application has been submitted at The Indian Embassy/Consulate for further processing. Jan 22nd.
Contacted CKGS twice through phone and email to check if they got the passport from my PIO application and attached it Visa application. CKGS customer care have no Idea, but they told me to wait for couple of days and if the application have issues then they told they will contact me in 24 to 48 hours. Jan 26th 2015 is holiday for CKGS/Consulate. so expecting Visa process to be completed by Jan 30th 2015 and receive the passport with VISA by Jan 31st 2015 if I am lucky enough.

Guys, my package is dispatched this afternoon. Wait for one more days. I will post as soon as I will get my package.

Please see below tracking details. The last package dispatch update I got through mail. Still not updated on website.

Your application has been collected from the Embassy/Consulate and is being sorted. Your application will be ready for collection from our Application Centre within one business day. 01/21/2015
Your application has been submitted at The Indian Embassy/Consulate for further processing. 01/13/2015
Your application is in process. Your tracking id is USAN YYYY YYYY 01/13/2015
Your application has been received and will be submitted subject to verification. 01/13/2015