OCI Reissue - Urgent question - Any latest experience?

[goodguy]

Hello,
We are booked to travel next weekend to Delhi and on Friday I learnt that OCI need to be reissued if the passport is renewed. This is for my minor daughter. Wanted to check if anyone travelled recently and faced issues if we go with old passport (with U sticker), OCI booklet and new passport. My travel is very important and am feeling being on a dead end if this happens to be a requirement.

When we got OCI, the impression was that its maintenance free and I didn't even bother to read anything (why would I).

Thanks in advance.

[immihelp]

That is a requirement and they can hold her at the airport and may refuse the entry into India.

[Cooker04]

OCI Reissue - Urgent question - Any latest experience?

I have read on several other threads that people in similar situations did not have any problems.
But please do post ur experience once you reach India.

[goodguy]

response from Travisa

This is what I heard back from Travisa finally:

It is always recommended to have the OCI re-issued to a new passport, but there is no hard rule about it. There is also the option of applying for a short term visa for this trip and applying for re-issue later.

[Cooker04]

OCI Reissue - Urgent question - Any latest experience?

@Goodguy.
Great! Thx for posting update!

[Cooker04]

OCI Reissue - Urgent question - Any latest experience?

Goodguy, did you have any problems at immigration regarding the OCI?
I am in the same situation and Traveling next week to India, getting anxious.

[buddyboy]

Information from Indian Consulate at SF

I went to the Indian Consulate in San Francisco today to get this confirmed and explore any other options (like tourist visa etc.). The official at the counter called some higher official and then asked me to travel with old+new passport and OCI card, if I didn't have enough time to get it transferred. He instructed me to get it done after my return. Hope this sets your mind at rest.

[buddyboy]

One of my neighbors had their kid on the same boat. They left for India a couple of weeks back (second week of June 2013) and texted me yesterday that they did not have any problems at the Chennai airport with their kid's U visa on the old passport.

[Cooker04]

OCI Reissue - Urgent question - Any latest experience?

Thanks buddyboy. I landed at Mumbai airport last week and also had no problem. They did not even bring up the issue.
Do remember to carry ur oci booklet, old passport with OCI visa and new passport with u though.

[aaaaa]

old US passport are not returned but required to reissue OCI

I need to apply for reissuing the OCI of a minor kid because he has new/renewed passport. The OCI agency in SF requires old/expired US passport with OCI sticker but US passport agency does not return the old passport of kids. Any ideas?

[vivah]

very poor rules and guidelines, such a bad effort by the govt.

very poor rules and guidelines, such a bad effort by the govt.
i am about to cry in next few months, bang my head on indian consulate wall for my daughters oci re-issuance.
the crazy thing is, they will again ask all the docs.

[kool_maverik]

Hello,
We are booked to travel next weekend to Delhi and on Friday I learnt that OCI need to be reissued if the passport is renewed. This is for my minor daughter. Wanted to check if anyone travelled recently and faced issues if we go with old passport (with U sticker), OCI booklet and new passport. My travel is very important and am feeling being on a dead end if this happens to be a requirement.

When we got OCI, the impression was that its maintenance free and I didn't even bother to read anything (why would I).

Thanks in advance.

From what I have read, as long as you carry the old expired passport with the U sticker and OCI booklet and new passport, you should be ok.

[india2013]

From what I have read, as long as you carry the old expired passport with the U sticker and OCI booklet and new passport, you should be ok.

I have the same question. Can someone please please please let me know if i can travel with U sticker on expired US passport with OCI booklet. I just received new US passport but i'm traveling to india within week so i can't start this process. OCI website states that age 50+ should get reissue OCI on new passport. Please somebody provide any information or experience on this matter. Thank You...

[nopm]

Hello,

Several posts here were helpful to me, so thought I would share my experience. Thanks to all the previous posters as well as to whoever is keeping this forum alive. Warning - very long post.

Application was for new OCI card and passport stamp for children because their US passports were renewed.

Mailed application – September 21, 2013, Saturday; mail carrier – USPS.
Received new OCI and stamped passports in hand from BLS – November 20, 2013, Wednesday; mail carrier – USPS.
Mailed to - BLS Hosuton

For my 2 kids, here’s what I had included in each envelope when I sent the application to BLS:

Page 1 = Order Form printed out after filling in online; this has a bar code, tracking no., Houston address of BLS, application type (Postal), Shipping method (tracking no. of the mail, the USPS tracking no. in my case), name of applicant, phone no. of applicant (that would be mine as parent), e-mail of applicant (that would be mine as parent), passport no. of applicant (i.e. the child’s), service details (consular fee = $25, ICWF = $3, BLS service fee = $4.70)

Page 2 = Money Order; this is technically not a full page, but was in order the 2nd item in the package. I made the MO payable to “BLS International USA” for $32.70.

Page 3 = completed first page of application form, called OCI Registration Form. We pasted the picture of the applicant in the top right box, and had the applicant sign in the box right below it. This page says Page 1 of 2 at the bottom but in effect is the only one to be filled since Page 2 is just instructions.

Page 4 = copy of photo page and opposite page of my wife’s cancelled/renounced Indian passport; attested by me (“Certified true copy” – my signature, date).

Page 5 = copy of photo page and opposite page of my cancelled/renounced Indian passport; attested by me (“Certified true copy” – my signature, date).

Page 6 = copy of my wife’s naturalization certificate; attested by me (“Certified true copy” – my signature, date).

Page 7 = copy of my naturalization certificate; attested by me (“Certified true copy” – my signature, date).

Page 8 = copy of photo page and opposite page of applicant’s current/renewed US passport; attested by me (“Certified true copy” – my signature, date).

Page 9 = copy of Pages 24 and 25 of applicant’s current/renewed US passport; attested by me (“Certified true copy” – my signature, date).

Page 10 = copy of Pages 26 and 27 of applicant’s current/renewed US passport; attested by me (“Certified true copy” – my signature, date).

Page 11 = copy of photo page and opposite page of applicant’s old/expired US passport; attested by me (“Certified true copy” – my signature, date).
Page 12 = copy of U visa page and opposite page of applicant’s old/expired US passport; attested by me (“Certified true copy” – my signature, date).

Page 13 = copy of photo page and opposite page of applicant’s old/existing OCI booklet; attested by me (“Certified true copy” – my signature, date).

Page 14 = copy of last 2 pages of applicant’s old/existing OCI booklet; one page/side has CAUTION items in English and Hindi, the other page/side has child’s father’s name, child’s mother’s name, child’s address in US, child’s US passport no. which is expired now, etc.; attested by me (“Certified true copy” – my signature, date).

Page 15 = copy of driver’s license of my wife, front and back; attested by me (“Certified true copy” – my signature, date).

Page 16 = copy of my driver’s license, front and back; attested by me (“Certified true copy” – my signature, date).

Other item 1 = child’s existing OCI booklet.

Other item 2 = USPS Express Mail envelope with pre-paid USPS return Express Mail tracking label affixed on that envelope.

Envelope had – (2 copies of Pages 1 thru 16) + Other item 1 + Other item 2.

I kept a PDF copy of the entire thing as one file for each child, i.e. Pages 1 thru 16; plus BLS generated Shipping Label going out; plus USPS tracking label going out; plus USPS tracking label coming back to me.

One more thing to be printed and stuck on top of the mailing envelope going out to BLS – Shipping Label generated by BLS. This has BLS mailing address in Houston, bar code and tracking no. (same as described for Page 1 above), applicant’s name, tracking no. (yes, once again, same as described for Page 1 above), applicant’s passport no.

I sent 2 separate applications in 2 separate enveloped for my 2 kids.

I mailed the applications via USPS Express Mail on 9/21/2013, Saturday, for Overnight Delivery. So they were delivered on Monday, 9/23/13. Of course, I started checking their website starting 9/23 itself. One application showed up as received on 9/24, the other one on 9/25.

Here’s the timeline:
Mailed application – 9/21/13, Saturday
Application accepted by BLS – 9/25/13, Wednesday
Application Processed and Ready to be submitted to Consulate - 9/27/13, Friday (OK, that means first hurdle cleared)
Application sent to Consulate – around 9/30/13
Application sent to MOIA (India) – around 10/4/13 (2nd hurdle cleared!!!)
Documents printed/processed at MOIA (India) – 10/22/13, Tuesday (3rd hurdle cleared!!!)
Documents dispatched by MOIA (India) – 11/1/13, Friday
Documents received at Houston Consulate – 11/5/13, Tuesday; website also says – Pending Application. You have to go to a different tracking location where it says the same thing, but also provides a link to get a Confirmation Screen Print (** yes, the spelling of Enquiry is wrong on the URL); at that link you input some information, and it generates another page that gives OCI-Application Status Details (name, file no., date of acknowledgment, registration status at mission, OCI no., doc. Printing status, dispatched form MOIA (OCI) date, and Document received at Houston date). I believe I was supposed to get an e-mail from BLS informing me that docs were at Houston Consulate, so I need to send in original US passport and this Confirmation Screen Print. I never got that e-mail, wasted a few days, eventually found my way to this other page of tracking my application, which gave me the instructions. The toll free helpline goes to India, and they are completely useless. I called them on a Friday, the connection was extremely bad, the gentleman was very nice, he promised me that I will get an e-mail the next day (Saturday??), then said within a day or 2, then couldn’t answer why I have never received any e-mail throughout the process, and then just hung up. I e-mailed also, and the response was quite swift. My question was – I know docs are at Houston Consulate, somehow I was able to discover that I needed a Confirmation Screen Print and got that, but haven’t received any e-mail from BLS, so do I send the passport and Confirmation, or is there anything else I need to send that I have not discovered yet? E-mail response was quick, but not very confident – Yes, you may send in the passport, no talk of the Confirmation Screen Print.
Mailed new/current/renewed US passport of applicant plus Confirmation Screen Print plus copy of pre-paid USPS return Express Mail label to BLS – 11/9/13, Saturday. The 3rd item was not required, but I sent in anyway, with a hand written note that this was a copy, the original was sent with the application in September. I also pasted the original shipping label from September on the USPS envelope, with a hand written note on the label that this was “Passport Matchup for OCI Reissue.” Keeping a PDF of everything that went out helped in this case.
BLS receives package – 11/12/13, Tuesday (11/11 Monday was federal holiday)
BLS acknowledges package receipt on web site – around 11/13/13
BLS sends package to Consulate for OCI/Passport matchup – around 11/14/13 (4th hurdle cleared!!!)
Passport matchup done at Consulate – around 11/15/13
Passport and OCI dispatched from Consulate – around 11/15/13 (5th hurdle cleared!!!)
Application received at BLS Center – 11/18/13, Monday, 11:02 am
Application Dispatched to Applicant – 11/18/13, Monday, 18:04 pm (6th hurdle cleared!!!)
Passport and OCI received in hand – 11/20/13, Wednesday

Major inconvenience – have to enter mailing tracking nos. to generate (i) Order Form and (ii) Shipping Label. I brought several of the USPS Express Mail labels/forms and envelopes home when I was getting ready to mail things out. I invariably made mistakes on the Mailing label, and had to re-do the Order Form to reflect the new form’s/label’s tracking no. Having several of the envelopes and labels handy means you don’t have to run to the Post Office again if you make any mistakes just to get the supplies. I returned the unused extras to the PO when I mailed things out.

When you fill out the Order Form, you will get a tracking no., 12 digits in my case, that will be used in many places throughout.

Note – When you fill out the Order Form you are supposed to get an e-mail with the Shipping Label which you print and paste on top of the outgoing envelope. I never got any such e-mail. There is a place on their site where you can print the label by inputting the Order Form tracking no. This page also lets you print the Order Form again, i.e. your completed Order Form.

Note – When the docs reach Houston from India, send in new US passport plus Confirmation Screen Print. The instructions for sending in this second piece of paper are buried in their website somewhere. It is not in the usual tracking page, but try other ways of tracking, and you will eventually get to that page. Sorry, I didn’t keep a track of how to get there, but the URL is *** yes, the spelling of Enquiry is wrong on the URL.

I felt that keeping a PDF of everything going out was handy.

BLS Houston Phone no. 281-974-3929 – I was able to reach it on 1 occasions out of the many I tried. A lady answered, seemed to be American, professional, and just told me that they don’t have any more information than what the website says.

BLS Helpline no. 855-436-0725 – useless. Extremely bad connection. The gentleman was nice but had no idea of the process. Whatever he checked was actually lagging the information I could see online. When BLS website said my OCI was approved “Pending Application,” he said – no, it was not approved yet.

BTW, what’s the difference between a “Phone no.” and a “Helpline no.”?

Once OCI is approved in India and comes to Houston, the website will say “… Pending Application.” I didn’t know what this “Pending Application” meant. Eventually figured out that means we have to send in the US passport plus the Confirmation Screen Print; guess they consider that as an application.

The instructions said – 2 copies of each to be submitted. I did that. When the new OCI and stamped US passport came back, one of the copies of my entire application package was returned in the envelope also, with a hand written blue highlighter text in the back – “Extra.”

Overall impression – the system worked for me; the website updated regularly when things happened; initial application instructions are plentiful, wayyyyy too much detailed, and confusing; the last step of action from our end is not clear; during many steps I felt like I was taking a chance, but it worked out in the end; Travisa was wayyyyy better; it is scary to send these important pieces of paper out with practically no customer service access.

I was planning a trip to India in December, during kids’ winter break. But I didn’t buy tickets until I got the envelopes in hand, and actually checked in to make sure that they sent back the correct items. You can imagine how tough ticketing was on 11/20 for travel in about a month in the peak season.

This new rule of requiring minors to get new OCI-s every time they get a new passport is fairly new. I was planning to go with regular OCI, plus kids’s old/expired passport with OCI stamp in it, plus their new passports. This was ok until recently. But, the regulations were changed recently, I didn’t want to take a chance, so went through the process in September, and things came down to the wire.