OCI Card

Here is my experience as an applicant for OCI card for foreign spouse of person of Indian origin.

15/02/2016 - Fedexed (via CKGS courier service) the following OCI application materials to CKGS in NY:
original documents:
  a) US Passport # 530909843 of applicant Zbigniew Fiedorowicz
  b) Marriage Certificate of applicant and spouse
  c) Last Indian passport of spouse
  d) Renunciation of Indian Citizenship Certificate of spouse stapled to (c).
forms and copies:
  1) Document checklist, signed, with enclosed items marked
  2) OCI Application Form Part A with photograph pasted.
  3) Additional photograph of applicant
  4) OCI Application Form Part B signed and dated.
  5) Additional Particulars Form signed and dated.
  6) Copy of information and endorsement pages of US passport of applicant - signed
  7) Copy of information and endorsement pages of US passport of spouse - signed & notarized
  8) Copy of birth certificate of applicant - signed & notarized
  9) Copy of applicant's Ohio driver's license - signed & notarized
  10) Copy of first three pages of last Indian passport of spouse - signed
  11) Copy of last three pages of last Indian passport of spouse - signed
  12) Copy of US naturalization certificate of applicant - signed & notarized
  13) Copy of Renunciation of Indian Citizenship of spouse - signed
  14) Copy of Marriage certificate - signed & notarized
  15) CKGS Disclaimer Form - signed
  16) Copy of US naturalization certificate of spouse - signed & notarized
  17) Proof of Payment of the CKGS Courier Service Charges in amount of $31.05
  18) Cashier's Check drawn on Huntington National Bank in amount of $295 for OCI registration fee and CKGS service charges
  19) Copy of spouse's OCI card - signed & notarized
  20) Joint Statement of Applicant & Spouse - Notarized Sworn Affidavit
  21) Screenshot of upload of scanned documents (passport, marriage certificate, spouse OCI card) to https://passport.gov.in/oci/verifyDoc

17/02/2016 - received email acknowledgment of receipt of application from CKGS
17/02/2016 - received email acknowledgment of payment of $295 application fee from CKGS
19/02/2016 - application sent by CKGS to Indian Consulate in NY
23/02/2016 - date of acknowledgment posted on http://passport.gov.in/oci/statusEnqury
25/02/2016 - document originals (a-d above) returned via Fedex
02/03/2016 - email from CKGS informing that application has been sent to Delhi

As there were no further updates by the beginning of May and I was due to travel to India in July, I made several unsuccessful attempts to determine the status of my application by telephone and email to CKGS. I then called the helpline at the Indian Consulate in NY and finally got an email reply from [email protected], informing me that the 42 day timeline on OCI applications does not apply to foreign spouse cases, for which no definite timeline is available. I then applied for a 10 year tourist visa in the middle of May and this was issued and my passport returned within 4 days. I used this to travel to India during July/August.

21/07/2016 - OCI card printing status updated to "processed" on http://passport.gov.in/oci/statusEnqury
29/07/2016 - OCI card arrived at Indian Consulate in NY

As I was still in India, I could not submit my passport for match-up until I returned to the US.

19/08/2016 - sent passport for match-up to CKGS/NY via their Fedex courier service
25/08/2016 - received email acknowledgment from CKGS
25/08/2016 - passport sent to Indian Consulate in NY for match-up
29/08/2016 - passport and OCI card sent back to CKGS
30/08/2016 - passport and OCI card sent by Fedex courier service from NY
31/08/2016 - passport and OCI in hand (finally!)