Anyone affected by Indian visa services being halted

[abbas.pasha]

Hi Community,
I have a question, I have india travel planned for Nov end, few details abt my situation
Me: Recent Canadian citizen, haven’t started OCI process
Kid: Canadian born, planning to apply for OCI this week

Me Question: Can I travel using both passports, use india passport to get to India and canada passport to get back, heard there is a 10000 ruppee fine for this, not sure please confirm if this is doable

kid question: Planning to apply for OCI, how long are the queues in Brampton?How early should I be in the line to get to the window before they close?

Don't travel using Indian passport because you will have to use the same passport at the Indian immigration on your way back.

• At the Indian immigration(at the time of departure) once you present your Indian passport, they will ask you for your status in Canada.
• Since you are no longer a Canadian PR you will not have the PR card to show.
• If you present the Canadian passport, which was not stamped at the time of entry to India they will flag and you will not be allowed to clear the immigration.

 

[MuzafferQA]

i have not received any response after the "Received application" email. did anyone hear anything about their application yet?

i don't think you can even apply now since they left out Canada from drop down list when filling out application. neither the status check option on website gives any details.

 

[Bani_sg]

i have not received any response after the "Received application" email. did anyone hear anything about their application yet?

i don't think you can even apply now since they left out Canada from drop down list when filling out application. neither the status check option on website gives any details.

I tried calling the helpline but it's impossible to get through to an actual agent!

 

[tom93]

https://x.com/AskKubeir/status/1706726052549013568?s=20

BLS may stop accepting new OCI applications as per the above link

 

[Bani_sg]

Spoke to an agent at BLS call center and was told they are only offering consular services for Indian citizens at this point. i.e., No OCI, Surrender application.

'All consular services, including OCI services, continue to be provided' - this is an email I got from the Indian Consulate in Vancouver today. Did they specifically mention no OCI?

 

[tom93]

'All consular services, including OCI services, continue to be provided' - this is an email I got from the Indian Consulate in Vancouver today. Did they specifically mention no OCI?

They did and stated services are for Indian nationals only. That is weird. I'll probably try doing a walk-in tomorrow to get a better idea.

 

[appar]

Spoke to an agent at BLS call center and was told they are only offering consular services for Indian citizens at this point. i.e., No OCI, Surrender application.

How can they not accept surrender certificate applications? People are still officially Indian citizens (though not effectively) till they get their surrender certificates. As usual this whole thing makes no sense.

 

[tom93]

How can they not accept surrender certificate applications? People are still officially Indian citizens (though not effectively) till they get their surrender certificates. As usual this whole thing makes no sense.

Looks like things are royally messed up rn. Imagine being blocked from travelling to India on all routes. It's gonna be extremely hard for a lot of people.

I do think that this is not going to end any time soon. People are in for a very tough ride.

 

[Bani_sg]

I just spoke to BLS and they also confirmed (along with Consulate) that OCI applications are being processed and they are accepting NEW OCI and SC applications as well. Please do not panic - It was probably just a miscommunication. @tom93 I would recommend deleting your post so as to avoid more panic.

 

[tom93]

I just spoke to BLS and they also confirmed (along with Consulate) that OCI applications are being processed and they are accepting NEW OCI and SC applications as well. Please do not panic - It was probably just a miscommunication. @tom93 I would recommend deleting your post so as to avoid more panic.

Sure! will do

 

[gandomgun1]

I just spoke to BLS and they also confirmed (along with Consulate) that OCI applications are being processed and they are accepting NEW OCI and SC applications as well. Please do not panic - It was probably just a miscommunication. @tom93 I would recommend deleting your post so as to avoid more panic.

Hey, how did you contact BLS? They do not answer my calls.

 

[PratikD]

Hey, how did you contact BLS? They do not answer my calls.

I called their Toronto jurisdiction number. I was on hhold for about 40 minutes before speaking to someone.

 

[Bani_sg]

Hey, how did you contact BLS? They do not answer my calls.

I think I got lucky - I called Vancouver and was on hold for only 5 minutes before they spoke to me!

 

[RuchiWalia]

Hi I applied for EVISA on September 19th and online status shows processed but no details nothing and I have not received any mail. Any idea on will they be processing evisa applications submitted before Sep 21? I am flying on Oct 27th and its really urgent.. Will this work? Also submitted OCI application at BLS Edmonton on Sep 27th.. What you all think? Will my plans for India will still work?

 

[RuchiWalia]

I Applied for India e-VISA on Tuesday, before the whole drama played out. I am wondering if they will accept/approve e-VISA applications that was submitted online before the embassy fiasco. Usually in the past, how long does it take to get e-VISA after applying? 3-5 days? I dont have my OCI yet, so need a visa to travel to India in November. If anyone could shed some light on this, it would be helpful.

P.S: A friend of mine is going to apply for OCI, are they accepting applications for it?

I am in same boat.. Have you heard anything on your evisa?