Indian Passport

Friday, September 4 - Mailed out the application. 

3-day weekend. 

Tuesday, September 8 - Delivered at 10:14 am and CKGS website acknowledged receipt at 11:10 am. 

Wednesday, September 9 - CKGS sent me an e-mail saying that my payment was incomplete.  I found this strange because I had triple-checked the payment amount.  It turns out that my passport was beat up enough that they decided to change my application to "Lost & Damaged" of their own accord.  Replacing a damaged passport costs $75 more.  I got the money order made and sent it to CKGS within an hour of getting the email.

Thursday, September 10 - UPS tracker said the payment was delivered.

Friday, September 11 - CKGS website acknowledged that the payment was received at 3:09 pm. Application is complete and under process at CKGS at 5:03 pm. 

Monday, September 14 - Application in transit to Consulate at 9:17 am and under process at Consulate at 9:33 am. 

Monday, September 28 - At around 2:30 pm, I got a call from the Consulate asking for a notarized copy of my green card and they gave me an email address to send it to.  I sent them a colored copy less than an hour after the phone call.

Thursday, October 8 - The Consulate finished reviewing my application and sent it back to CKGS and CKGS processed it for delivery.  The label was created and at this point, CKGS's job was done. The status on their website said "Dispatch."  UPS's website said my new passport would be delivered Friday.

Friday, October 9 - I didn't get it Friday.  UPS's website said "shipped" but the delivery date was pushed back to Monday, October 12.  This made no sense to me.  I paid Next Day Air Saver, which guarantees 24-hour delivery.

Monday, October 12 - UPS's website pushed back my delivery date to Tuesday, October 13.  The status had changed from "Shipped" to "In Transit."  For future reference: In UPS language, "Shipped" does NOT mean shipped.  It means that it's waiting to be picked up. This happens a lot.  There is no explanation for this.  CKGS puts your new passport into this weird limbo where they have no more responsibility but UPS hasn't picked it up yet either.  It's just sitting somewhere for two days. So you can't call out either organization on this. UPS will pick it up when it's good and ready. "In transit" is when you know for sure your passport has actually started to move in your direction. 

Tuesday, October 13 - By this point, the UPS tracker was giving me very detailed updates, which confirmed that the passport had indeed been picked up on Monday and was moving in my direction.  It arrived by noon, as guaranteed by the shipping speed I had paid for. 

Overall, there was nothing unusual about the timeline of the application or the delivery.  I have read about all these experiences before on this website. There were two takeaways for me here: 

1. UPS sucks at English.  Shipped doesn't mean it's shipped and I have submitted many complaints that they use more accurate language to reflect where your sensitive documents actually are.  I doubt they will listen.  So don't get your hopes up just because the CKGS status says "Dispatch" or you see a few pickup scans on the UPS tracker.  Your passport has only started moving  when you see the words "In transit" on the UPS tracker.  

2. Buy a passport case.  Don't just stick it in your backpack, especially when you travel as much as I did before the pandemic.  A passport is not built to get jostled around by keys, books, and cables for ten years.  I completely understand why CKGS charged me more for a damaged passport.  $75 is not a huge amount but it added at least two or three days to the whole process.  You can do without both the additional cost and time.

Hi,

I have applied for Indian passport renewal to CKGS Houston and the application was delivered on 5th October by UPS but still the status is showing not received from CKGS website.

I sent multiple emails to CKGS but couldn't get any response from them.CKGS Customer support also closed.

Anybody having same issue?

- My passport application has been "Under Process" status since Sept 29th.
- Police verification was initiated on Oct10th
- In the email, they sent me passport application file number
- When I try to track status of this application using - https://portal1.passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/statusTracker/trackStatusInpNew, I get an error saying "The status of the entered File Number is not available in the system"

1. How do I track the status of my application using the file number?
2. Since CKGS is going to be closed after Oct 31, what happens when the passport is either complete/stuck due to issues.

Thanks for answering!

On the CKGS account, after been received, it is stuck at verification with an exclamation mark. Showing this for past 2 days. Does anybody have the same issue?

Hello,

I have sent my passport renewal application to CKGS. I received an email with below remarks

1. Photographs - The image in the photograph is too big. The photo should be close of head and top of shoulders so that face takes up 70%-80% of the photo.You can get the complete photo specifications from https://passport.in.ckgs.us/mpleDocs/passport-photo-specifications.pdfShip the required number of photographs as per your document checklist to the Passport Application Center.
2. Photographs - The photograph provided is not recent. Please provide a new photograph. You need to ship the document to the Passport Application Center.or send it with your own Prepaid label.
3. Photographs - Attire should be in darker color and the background should be clear white without shadow. You can get the complete photo specifications from https://passport.in.ckgs.us/sampleDocs/passport-photo-specifications.pdfShip the required number of photographs as per your document checklist to the Passport Application Center.

My question is do I just need to send two photos or should also send the two forms again - Passport Application form and Change of Appearance form where we affix the photos?

Thanks in advance

Sharing my passport renewal experience in Atlanta, Georgia.

I posted all the required documents on Thursday October 1st, CKGS received my application on Monday October 5th. I got back my renewed passport on 10th October. The whole process was extremely fast.

On Friday, Oct 9th, I got an email saying that Police verification has been initiated. My mom also received a message on her phone that a police officer has been assigned to verify. I was really worried because the address I put in the application was an old address (same address which was in my previous passport) and my family is not living there anymore. I put the old address because my Adhaar card also has old address and I didn't have any proof for the new address. On Friday afternoon around 1, I got another email saying that my passport is in transit to CKGS from Consulate. When I checked my status in https://portal4.passportindia.gov.in, it said that "Passport is printed and ready". I was really confused as to why I got a Police verification email when my Passport was already printed. When I checked online, I found that there are 2 types of verification - Pre verification(Passport would not be issued without Police verification) and Post-verifictaion( Verification happens after issuing the passport which usually is the case for Tatkal). No where I could find what would happen if the verification fails after issuing the passport.

After reading all the experiences here at Immihelp, I ignored the Police verification email thinking that it's a glitch and Police won't verify. But on Saturday when my mom was at her office working, the Police indeed called her asking about the address, she said the old address to the police and she said that she is currently not at home and is at her office working and that she would reach home soon. Shortly after, she called back the police saying that she is very busy in the office and to please meet her at her office since the office is also on the way. Luckily, the Police was ok with that and he met her at her office. She provided him my Adhaar card along with my old passport xerox copies and Rs.500. Police verified and left. On Saturday in the afternoon, I got my passport in hand.

Although I got lucky with the police verification, I would suggest to those who are applying now to first update your Aadhar with new address and then apply for passport renewal with new address as police verification could happen. Please don't apply with your old address if your family is not living there anymore as it could lead to unnecessary worry and hassle to deal with.

The following are the status messages I got.

Oct 06, 2020 - Tuesday
04:18 pm
Application ‘Received’ by CKGS and 'Not Verified'.

Oct 07, 2020 - Wednesday
05:09 pm
Application Verification is ‘Complete’. Processing of your application will continue.

Full payment received and payment receipt sent to your registered email ID.

The Consulate may request for further documents over and above those already submitted as per the Document Checklist.

Oct 07, 2020 - Wednesday
05:53 pm
Application is ‘Under Process’ at CKGS.

Oct 08, 2020 - Thursday
09:07 am
Application is 'In Transit' to the Consulate.

Oct 08, 2020 - Thursday
09:15 am
Application is 'Under Process' at Consulate for decision making.

Oct 09, 2020 - Friday
12:51 pm
Application 'Reviewed' by Consulate and ‘In Transit’ to CKGS Application Centre.

Oct 09, 2020 - Friday
12:52 pm
Passport ‘Received’ at the CKGS application centre and is at the ‘Sorting Facility’ where it is being processed for delivery.

Oct 09, 2020 - Friday
01:40 pm
Passport picked up by UPS.

I am trying to renew passport for my son, I was able to go till the shipping through CKGS section , however I am unable to select an option to ship via CKGS.
The drop down menu in that section just has one option i.e I will use my own airway bill .
Did anyone faced this problem ? Or is the shipping through ckgs option is stopped ?

FYI: October 14th is the last day you can use CKGS's website to fill out a new application. When the clock strikes 5 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, on the 14th of this month, the window has officially closed TO USE CKGS WEBSITE.

However, October 16th is the last day they will accept physical passport applications BY MAIL.

This means that if you can manage to print out all the necessary documents on the 14th and get them to CKGS by the 16th, your application will still be processed. I strongly advise you not to wait. Start now! It always takes me a few days to gather all the necessary documentation for my clients.

You only have four more days.

My passport has expired and I started an application sometime back and tried to reuse it but I discovered that the passport number is wrong, I'm stuck on the payment page and unable to go back and edit the passport number.
I tried to do a new application with the correct passport number but CKGS website keeps popping up "Application currently in process". I'm completely blocked on applying for renewal.
Called up multiple phone numbers, sent emails but none of it gets answered, even the emergency helplines in the consulate. Does anyone know how to overcome this? Can I just go ahead and submit with the wrong passport number and then after submission send a correction?

Sharing my first passport renewal experience in US at the Chicago consulate. Opted for regular processing, and the whole process took 21 business days. Service opted: change of appearance. Got notarization done from local UPS store and opted CKGS UPS shipping.

Had to get a police verification done even though I didn't have change of address. Received the police verification email late night on Sep 09. Family had to go in person to the local police station in India for verification of additional documents, and that took time (~2 weeks).

I was starting to get anxious because the status was stuck at 'Under Process' at Consulate for 3 weeks, but immediately once 3 weeks were over the passport was printed and shipped within 3 days.

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Oct 08, 2020 - Thursday
Received passport.

Oct 07, 2020 - Wednesday
Passport picked up by UPS.

Your AWB Number is ZZZYYYZZZZZZYYYZZZ

To track the ‘Progress of Your Shipment’, log onto the site of UPS and enter your AWB Number.

Oct 07, 2020 - Wednesday
Passport ‘Received’ at the CKGS application centre and is at the ‘Sorting Facility’ where it is being processed for delivery. Please continue tracking your application status online.

Oct 07, 2020 - Wednesday
Application 'Reviewed' by Consulate and ‘In Transit’ to CKGS Application Centre. Please continue tracking your application status online.

Sep 11, 2020 - Friday
Application is 'Under Process' at Consulate for decision making. Please continue tracking your application status online.

Sep 11, 2020 - Friday
Application is 'In Transit' to the Consulate. Please continue tracking your application status online.

Sep 10, 2020 - Thursday
Application is ‘Under Process’ at CKGS. Please continue tracking your application status online.

Sep 10, 2020 - Thursday
Application Verification is ‘Complete’. Processing of your application will continue. Full payment received and payment receipt sent to your registered email ID. The Consulate may request for further documents over and above those already submitted as per the Document Checklist. Please continue tracking your application status online.

Sep 10, 2020 - Thursday
Application ‘Received’ by CKGS and 'Not Verified'. You will receive an E-mail advising you of the outcome of the verification process.

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Good luck!