OCI Card

I submitted my OCI application on Oct 24, 2019 at the Washington DC ckgs office.
My application's status is still UNDER-PROCESS.
I called emailed & several times, but no progress yet.
Any body else in the same boat ?

Status on CKGS
Mar 25, 2020 - Wednesday 11:48 am OCI Card picked up by FedEx.
Mar 25, 2020 - Wednesday 11:30 am OCI Card ‘Received’ at the CKGS application centre and is at the ‘Sorting Facility’ where it is being processed for delivery.
Mar 25, 2020 - Wednesday 11:29 am OCI Card 'Reviewed' by Consulate and ‘In Transit’ to CKGS Application Centre.
Feb 21, 2020 - Friday 11:43 am Passport picked up by FedEx.
Feb 21, 2020 - Friday 11:15 am Original Passport ‘Received’ at the CKGS application centre and is at the ‘Sorting Facility’ where it is being processed for delivery.
Feb 21, 2020 - Friday 11:09 am Passport 'Reviewed' by Consulate and is ‘In Transit’ to CKGS Application Centre.
Feb 21, 2020 - Friday 09:44 am Application is 'Under Process' at Consulate for decision making.
Feb 20, 2020 - Thursday 05:22 pm Application is 'In Transit' to the Consulate.
Feb 20, 2020 - Thursday 02:45 pm Application is ‘Under Process’ at CKGS.
Feb 19, 2020 - Wednesday 01:25 pm Application Verification is ‘Complete’. Processing of your application will continue.
Feb 19, 2020 - Wednesday 01:14 pm Application ‘Received’ by CKGS and 'Not Verified'.

Stus on Indian Government website
21-FEB-2020 Date Of Acknowledgment
20-MAR-2020 Documents Printing Status PROCESSED
20-MAR-2020 Dispatched From MEA (OCI ) NEW DELHI
20-MAR-2020 Document received At NEW YORK CGI

I am an US citizen and I am planning on applying for OCI for India from Atlanta Centre. Has anyone applied for it recently? I am little afraid to apply for it due to coronavirus. Your experiences or suggestions will be appreciated.

This is my timeline for kids OCI re-issue for renewed [email protected] Houston Consulate.

Feb 24, 2020- Monday
Application Received by CKGS
Application Verification is Complete

Feb 25, 2020- Tuesday
Application is ‘Under Process’ at CKGS.

Feb 26, 2020 - Wednesday


Application is 'In Transit' to the Consulate.
Application is 'Under Process' at Consulate for decision making.

Mar 12, 2020 - Thursday
Application 'Reviewed' by Consulate and ‘In Transit’ to CKGS Application Centre.
OCI Card ‘Received’ at the CKGS application centre and is at the ‘Sorting Facility’ where it is being processed for delivery.
OCI Card picked up by FedEx.

Mar 13, 2020 Friday
Delivered by Fedex

Couple of questions on applying for New OCI card for Minor.

1. Do i have to send both the copy and original passport of kid together with all the initial documents?
2. Do we(any parent) has to sign as the bearer on the passport.
3. If any body has filled the Money order form few details on how to fill will be of great help and where can we get the MoneyOrder?

Regards,
Vasanth

Hello Friends,

Has anybody applied for new OCI this week? Especially after this Coronavirus outbreak becoming serious?
My application is ready and I was going to submit it today to DC but having second thoughts now after India suspends all visas and US banning all travel from Europe.

Not sure if all this in any way affect the timeline of OCI. Also do not want my US passport to get stuck with CKGS or Embassy for long if there is a shutdown.

Anyone applied for new oci card in the mid of January 2020 at SFO jurisdiction and received the oci card?

New OCI Application applied for my daughter in Oct 2019 but have not received any update since Nov 1st.

Anyone else waiting since last 3-4 months? I raised issue with CKGS but got standard reply that OCI application is under process at Embassy.

Below are the timelines for OCI application:
Oct 25, 2019 - Friday
Application ‘Received’ by CKGS and 'Not Verified'.
You will receive an E-mail advising you of the outcome of the verification process.

Oct 29, 2019 - Tuesday
Application Verification is ‘Complete’. Processing of your application will continue.
Full payment received and payment receipt sent to your registered email ID.
The Embassy may request for further documents over and above those already submitted as per the Document Checklist.

Oct 29, 2019 - Tuesday
Application is ‘Under Process’ at CKGS.

Oct 30, 2019 - Wednesday
Application is 'In Transit' to the Embassy.

Oct 30, 2019 - Wednesday
Application is 'Under Process' at Embassy for decision making.

Oct 31, 2019 - Thursday
Passport 'Reviewed' by Embassy and is ‘In Transit’ to CKGS Application Centre.

Nov 01, 2019 - Friday
Original Passport ‘Received’ at the CKGS application centre and is at the ‘Sorting Facility’ where it is being processed for delivery.
Your OCI Application will continue and take the pre-defined processing time.

OCI Reissue - for Renewed US Passport (Last year). Here is my OCI Application timeline so far at Washington DC CKGS and Indian Embassy.

I’ll keep this updated along my journey, as it progresses.

If you have any questions, please ask. I try to answer along the way with my experience.

I’ve applied for OCI Reissue with Miscellaneous Services for the following changes:
1. CHANGE OF PASSPORT PARTICULARS (US Passport Renewed last year)
2. CHANGE OF PERSONAL PARTICULARS (Country of Birth was not INDIA in the old OCI. It was City, State, INDIA. Want to match with US Passport which is INDIA)
3. CHANGE OF ADDRESS / OCCUPATION (Address Change. Also change in role to leadership and my company got merged and acquired in past couple of years)

OCI India Application Website – Documents Uploaded:
1. New Passport – 1-2, 24-27 Pages – PDF
2. Address Change Proof- Copy Electricity Bill (12/2019) – PDF
3. Occupation Change (Offer Letter, Employment History (my profile from company), Company Contact Info from website) – PDF

Here is the content of my FedEx Package to CKGS from their Checklist for OCI Renewal:
1) OCI application form
2) Passport size photo - 2 count – Off-white background Light Blue shirt
3) Money Order (OCI application fee, FedEx charges)
4) New Passport – 1-2, 24-27 Pages – Copy
5) Address Proof (Copy of Electricity bill 12/2019)
6) Affidavit signed by notary (US Passport Expired/old and New copies)
7) Original OCI card + Copy
8) Old Passport front 2 pages + U-Visa Sticker Pages – Copy
9) Occupation Change (Offer Letter, Employment History [my profile from company], Company Contact Info from website) – Copy

Timeline of my application as of today in chronological order:

Mar 1, 2020 10 AM – Mailed FedEx package with documents/ application to CKGS, Washington DC.
Mar 3, 2020 – Tuesday 2:59 PM FedEx package delivered to CKGS – Rep Signature.
Mar 4, 2020 – Wednesday 9:50 AM – CKGS Text & email: Payment acknowledged. Package received but contents to be verified. Verification outcome will be mailed.
Mar 6, 2020 – Friday 9:40 AM CKGS email - Application Verification is ‘Complete’. Processing of your application will continue.
Mar 6, 2020 – Friday 3:00 PM Status - Under Process Manifestation Application is ‘Under Process’ at CKGS.
Mar 9, 2020 – Monday 9:45 AM – CKGS email: Your Application has been ‘Processed’ at the CKGS Application Center and 'In Transit' to the Embassy for decision making.
Mar 8, 2020 – Monday 10:45 AM 0 CKGS email: Your Application is ‘Under Process’ at the Embassy.

Mar 9, 2020 – Monday 4:45 PM – Received email from OCI Department from Embassy @DC. Asking for my Job - Title, Description etc., and Company Name, Profile, Functions (they stated if they don’t receive this information in 21 days, my application will be returned back without processing).
Mar 9, 2020 – Monday 7:45 PM – Emailed a multi paragraph mail with my employment history, company website and contact info etc, along with the PDF I attached with my OCI application on Gov Website. (My company don’t produce work letters. Employment gets only verified via Equifax and their Work Number tool.)
Mar 10, 2020 – Tuesday 7:00 PM – As no communication received in response to my email to embassy, I got and curious. Got into OCI Status Inquiry website and put my information. Vola!! - Status is Application Acknowledged at about 5:30 EDT (3/11/2020 3:00 AM IST) and Under Process.

  
Hoping this will help someone, who is in the same boat ( with the new changes to OCI and deadline to renew OCI cards approaching soon in June 2020).

Through the application process, CKGS collects a ton of personally identifiable information (PII) that, if stolen and falls in the wrong hands, will wreak havoc in our lives. The PII includes date of birth, name, address, passport number, next of kin, our IP address, domain name of ISP, etc.

And we agree to this by way of using their website. Automatic agreement...

So just out of curiosity, I started digging around their security practices and privacy policy.

I found the privacy policy on its web site at https://www.in.ckgs.us/static/privacy-policy.shtml. There are multiple privacy policies. I only checked the one applicable for CKGS US site.

The good news is the CKGS appears to know and comply with GDPR. If you don't know what GDPR is, it is a law enacted by European Union to burden companies with specific responsibilities regarding handling of personal data they collect about EU citizens.

According to the CKGS's privacy policy, our personal data can be used by Embassy, CKGS, CKGS's Group IT Team, CKGS's external software team, courier services, and other recipients. They don't say who these other recipients are. For its US based web sites, the data can be stored in US or India.

The bad news, CKGS privacy disclosure says it is not liable for our personal information being stolen from its custody. You cannot sue them if your personal data is stolen due to their negligence.

"However, sometimes third parties may unlawfully intercept or access transmissions or private communications and other users may abuse or misuse a user's / users' personal information that they may collect from the website for which CKGS shall not be liable.

Therefore, although CKGS works very hard to protect Applicant’s privacy, it cannot guarantee that personal information or private communications will always remain private and secure. "

How about that!

In case of a breach, will they follow the same GDPR mandated protocol of breach notification to a non-European person? Who the heck knows? Those of us who live outside of the EU will probably never get to know that my data has been stolen. That is unless some newspaper releases that information.

So what can one do? Is there any hope to protect one's personal information?

The policy says that we have the right to opt out. I don't know what that means though. I am going to find out by emailing them.

With that kind of treasure trove of personal data, CKGS website is a ripe target for hackers. I have no idea how good they are at safeguarding the data. More importantly, if hackers get in, they will not be held liable.

So who protects our data?

Got any ideas? Please reply to this thread.

Ciao...