OCI process

[Raj24]

Hello Everyone,

Can someone suggest me how to get a USA marriage certificate notarized in Toronto.

I got married in USA and now i am applying for my OCI as i am a Canadian citizen, so BLS need my marriage certificate to be notarized by US Consulate and then attested by Indian CGI. I searched US Consulate website but they don't have any appointments for the notaries. Does anyone have this kind of experience and what is the best approach to be taken to get over it??

Appreciate your recommendation.

Thanks.

 

[phlove]

I am not too sure, but it looks like the processing is complete. Did you opt for pick up or courier?

Did you check the status in Indian Govt OCI page (check post# 1406 for details.)

I googled your status and got hits for a few people who had posted the same status in this thread. Check out page 84 (Posts 1254 and 1255).

You could probably PM them to check what happened next. Good luck!

thank you so much for your help ..

i opt for courier .. so waiting msg form bls regards tracking number ... if my process is complete and they are sending my OCI book.

 

[Sharma1010]

Hello all,

I just received my OCI card after a month of waiting. There is a lot of confusion going on in terms of timelines, status updates and documents required so I thought I will post my experience that may help others with their application for a single and unmarried person applying for both the surrender certificate and OCI together. It may differ for people in different situations but it will give everyone a fair bit of idea. Here it is:

General Instructions:

First of all, you can apply for both the surrender certificate and OCI together. The photo used for Canadian passport can be same as for OCI. I read somewhere that it needs to be different. That is not the case. I got it from the same photographer and at the same time wearing the same shirt. Of course the pic size should be according to specifications which are different for Canada passport and OCI. Just ensure the Digital copy and physical copy of the pic is same.

Please follow the instructions on BLS website for application form, documents required and photo specifications. I only followed this website for documents for both surrender certificate and OCI and there were no issues at all. You do not have to look at other websites for instructions.

At the BLS centre they will check all your forms and collect originals for Indian passport, COPR and Citizenship certificate and give you two tracking numbers. One starts with "CANT*******" - that is for the surrender India passport and another with "OCIT*******"- that is for OCI.

BLS charges about 100 dollars for 3 couriers (Surrender certificate, original documents return and OCI card) and they insist upon it. But I think you can opt for pick up as well. Read lot of posts where people picked it up, so if you want to avoid 100 dollars and can go to BLS office thrice, tell them strongly that you will pick it up.

Timelines and status updates:

It generally takes about 40-50 days to complete the process. My timelines:

Jan 25 - Submitted application for both Surrender Certificate and OCI

'Start tracking your application on the BLS website with the tracking number "CANT****". When processed, it will show "Passport dispatched via courier" and give you the Airway tracking number'

Feb 1 - Received Surrender Certificate and cancelled India passport

'Start tracking your application on the BLS website with the tracking number "OCIT****". When processed, it will show "Original Documents dispatched via courier" and give you the Airway tracking number'

Feb 7 - Received COPR and Citizenship certificate

"With the COPR and citizenship certificate, they will send you another tracking number starting with "CANT****". Start tracking with this on the OCI website. There will be no change on the BLS website till it shows processed on the OCI website.

Mar 4 - OCI website status changed to "Processed" providing the OCI number and the date processed and the date dispatched from Delhi and received at Toronto.

"Note that for applications processed in Toronto generally all the three dates are same and the OCI card is received in Toronto same day it is dispatched from India, whereas for other locations it takes a few days longer"

"At this point start tracking at the BLS website again with the tracking number "OCIT*******". Below the line "Original Documents dispatched...." there will be another line added in brackets (Counter Delivery to BLS Centre after OCI stamping) which after one day will change to (Passport Dispatch after OCI stamping) and the last update to (Passport Dispatched via courier). At this point a new tracking number will be provided as "additional comments".

Mar 7 - Received OCI Card at home

In all it took 42 days (30 working days) to get Surrender certificate and OCI card which generally is similar to what I read in most posts.

Hope this helps future applicants. It just feels great to complete the full cycle that started with a Canada study permit back in 2012. Good luck to everyone and stay blessed.

 

[wolfpack27616]

Hello all,

I just received my OCI card after a month of waiting. There is a lot of confusion going on in terms of timelines, status updates and documents required so I thought I will post my experience that may help others with their application for a single and unmarried person applying for both the surrender certificate and OCI together. It may differ for people in different situations but it will give everyone a fair bit of idea. Here it is:

Nicely written, and it would undoubtedly help future applicants.

 

[KRP]

Hello all,

I just received my OCI card after a month of waiting. There is a lot of confusion going on in terms of timelines, status updates and documents required so I thought I will post my experience that may help others with their application for a single and unmarried person applying for both the surrender certificate and OCI together. It may differ for people in different situations but it will give everyone a fair bit of idea. Here it is:

General Instructions:

First of all, you can apply for both the surrender certificate and OCI together. The photo used for Canadian passport can be same as for OCI. I read somewhere that it needs to be different. That is not the case. I got it from the same photographer and at the same time wearing the same shirt. Of course the pic size should be according to specifications which are different for Canada passport and OCI. Just ensure the Digital copy and physical copy of the pic is same.

Please follow the instructions on BLS website for application form, documents required and photo specifications. I only followed this website for documents for both surrender certificate and OCI and there were no issues at all. You do not have to look at other websites for instructions.

At the BLS centre they will check all your forms and collect originals for Indian passport, COPR and Citizenship certificate and give you two tracking numbers. One starts with "CANT*******" - that is for the surrender India passport and another with "OCIT*******"- that is for OCI.

BLS charges about 100 dollars for 3 couriers (Surrender certificate, original documents return and OCI card) and they insist upon it. But I think you can opt for pick up as well. Read lot of posts where people picked it up, so if you want to avoid 100 dollars and can go to BLS office thrice, tell them strongly that you will pick it up.

Timelines and status updates:

It generally takes about 40-50 days to complete the process. My timelines:

Jan 25 - Submitted application for both Surrender Certificate and OCI

'Start tracking your application on the BLS website with the tracking number "CANT****". When processed, it will show "Passport dispatched via courier" and give you the Airway tracking number'

Feb 1 - Received Surrender Certificate and cancelled India passport

'Start tracking your application on the BLS website with the tracking number "OCIT****". When processed, it will show "Original Documents dispatched via courier" and give you the Airway tracking number'

Feb 7 - Received COPR and Citizenship certificate

"With the COPR and citizenship certificate, they will send you another tracking number starting with "CANT****". Start tracking with this on the OCI website. There will be no change on the BLS website till it shows processed on the OCI website.

Mar 4 - OCI website status changed to "Processed" providing the OCI number and the date processed and the date dispatched from Delhi and received at Toronto.

"Note that for applications processed in Toronto generally all the three dates are same and the OCI card is received in Toronto same day it is dispatched from India, whereas for other locations it takes a few days longer"

"At this point start tracking at the BLS website again with the tracking number "OCIT*******". Below the line "Original Documents dispatched...." there will be another line added in brackets (Counter Delivery to BLS Centre after OCI stamping) which after one day will change to (Passport Dispatch after OCI stamping) and the last update to (Passport Dispatched via courier). At this point a new tracking number will be provided as "additional comments".

Mar 7 - Received OCI Card at home

In all it took 42 days (30 working days) to get Surrender certificate and OCI card which generally is similar to what I read in most posts.

Hope this helps future applicants. It just feels great to complete the full cycle that started with a Canada study permit back in 2012. Good luck to everyone and stay blessed.

I have already finished the surrender process.
Shortly goin to start the OCI process.
Could you clarify whether they collect the original citizenship certificate?
I was under the impression that only original COPR is collected.

 

[wolfpack27616]

I have already finished the surrender process.
Shortly goin to start the OCI process.
Could you clarify whether they collect the original citizenship certificate?
I was under the impression that only original COPR is collected.

They didn't take my Original Citizenship certificate. Only the photocopy in my case.

 

[luvCan]

Hi,
Approx how many days it takes to get back Indian passport after applying for passport surrender ?

 

[KRP]

Hi,
Approx how many days it takes to get back Indian passport after applying for passport surrender ?

Max 10 days.

 

[KRP]

They didn't take my Original Citizenship certificate. Only the photocopy in my case.

Thanks .
There was a forum user Fedex686.
He quoted in 2016 for OCI "Please take a screen capture of every time you successfully upload a document. You need to print this out as well. This is very important and a lot of people miss it!
Is this required?

 

[wolfpack27616]

Thanks .
There was a forum user Fedex686.
He quoted in 2016 for OCI "Please take a screen capture of every time you successfully upload a document. You need to print this out as well. This is very important and a lot of people miss it!
Is this required?

I saw that too, and I dont understand why it was needed. I didn't do it. All that matters is that the documents get uploaded, and you are able to print out the pdf document generated with all the details.

 

[nage.sai94]

Anyone who applied in last week of feb from toronto got your originals back? I have applied 3 weeks back and havent got any info other than "Processing at consulate"

 

[KRP]

This post contains all the information you will need when applying for OCI through BLS. I suggest that everyone here check it out.

https://spark.adobe.com/page/w4G13xr1y2ut4/

The link is really good for first timers . To add I used MS PAINT to resize the pixels of photo and used FOXIT Phantom free 14 day trial version for all documents to be uploaded since you need to keep the size as per instruction. Here one needs to press file at top left after installing , use pdf optimiser , use biqubic downsampling , 150 pp1 to 225 ppi , high compression and high quality. Do not use monochrome images option.
Your docs will be uploaded in the desired size.
Also try to keep all the documents uploaded on a USB drive and take it along with you to the BLS center. If by chance you have made a mistake you could go to a nearby internet café and make the changes, print the stuff again and come back and submit.

 

[wolfpack27616]

Also try to keep all the documents uploaded on a USB drive and take it along with you to the BLS center. If by chance you have made a mistake you could go to a nearby internet café and make the changes, print the stuff again and come back and submit.

I just took 2 extra copies of all printouts. I know its not environmental friendly, but I just wanted to ensure that I dont have to leave the building for any mistakes.
The only error in my application that I made- I had filled my Canadian address (which was what's mentioned in my Indian passport). However the BLS staff, allowed me to make a correction by striking it out and filling my Indian address.

 

[KRP]

I just took 2 extra copies of all printouts. I know its not environmental friendly, but I just wanted to ensure that I dont have to leave the building for any mistakes.
The only error in my application that I made- I had filled my Canadian address (which was what's mentioned in my Indian passport). However the BLS staff, allowed me to make a correction by striking it out and filling my Indian address.

Hi Bro,
Need to ask you that there are only 2 places on the form where you need to put address. One is Present address and the other is native place address.
For Current address we mentioned our Canadian address.
For native address our Mumbai address though my both kids Indian passports were renewed here in 2016 with Canadian address I still put the Mumbai address which was there on their passports issued in India.
I have submitted my docs for OCI on 14 Feb. I told the clerk I will not avail courier services since for surrender I was forced to take courier services and still had to go to the Puralator depot to collect.
The clerk was not happy but did not insist.
Now in the last 4 days the tracking shows Under process. In transit from BLS to consulate.
Does it take so many days to reach the consulate?
They took our Indian passports with cancelled seal/ surrender certificate & COPR in originals.

 

[wolfpack27616]

Now in the last 4 days the tracking shows Under process. In transit from BLS to consulate.
Does it take so many days to reach the consulate?
They took our Indian passports with cancelled seal/ surrender certificate & COPR in originals.

I don't specifically remember how long it took for status change, but I guess you should give it some more time. Check status in both Indian Govt website as well as BLS website in a week's time. The BLS people would have checked your docs, and I guess everything should be in order. Be patient, as you would have known by now- anything to do with BLS/Indian Consulate will take a bit of time. Good luck!