Hello, my spouse got the passport request letter last week for her TRV application in India. With current lockdown and curfew in New Delhi, India, the 2-way courier passport submission is closed. She has to travel to the USA soon. I was wondering if you can submit the passport at New York VAC office for TRV stamping instead when she's in NYC. Is this possible? Can anyone guide with this regard?
Can we submit passport for stamping to a different VAC and country?
- Thread starter urstrulyaddy
- Start date
screech339
VIP Member
- Apr 2, 2013
- 552
- Category........
- Visa Office......
- Vegreville
- Job Offer........
- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- 14-08-2012
- AOR Received.
- 20-11-2012
- Med's Done....
- 18-07-2012
- Interview........
- 17-06-2013
- LANDED..........
- 17-06-2013
I seriously doubt you can even do that. The request came from the Embassy office in India and has your TRV file there. This is not the same as doing a biometric or medical exam that can be done anywhere.
It is possible but the cases I'm aware of are almost all where the PA was residing in a different country and wanted to submit in that country - and it may not always be reliable (esp in covid times) to get it done in timeframes that work. In other words, it's by no means automatic and may not be easy - particularly with all the additional covid travel issues that come up and closures of VACs and limited staff in visa offices.
Up to the PA/sponsor to decide how to proceed and if they decide to, hope it goes well, just putting a note of caution in that what was 'easy' before may not be so easy now. (Which is after all why the VACs are closed in India as well)
Thank you for the detailed response. She's going to stay for couple of months in US. I think we should be ok with processing time for stamping in US. However the situation in India is unpredictable and we are not sure if passport submission will reopen anytime soon.
What I'm asking is does she need to inform IRCC Delhi via Webform about the situation and take permission to submit it in US? Or can she do it directly without any prior intimation?
If she's travelling there already and will be there for a while, it should be possible. (Travelling there specifically to submit would likely be a lot more difficult)
This is the hard part. I'd suggest contacting VFS in USA as well as the consulate/visa office there, although can also try Delihi. Don't know whether you can 'arrange it in advance.'
Note: I think you will get a negative reaction if they think she is not yet in the USA (i.e. if it sounds like travelling there just to submit).
Hey so i contacted VFS in USA. They gave a response "Kindly note that the passport request letter is valid worldwide, unless that the letter specifies that the passport needs to be submitted in a specific place. If you have a legal status in the United States, and have received a Passport Request Letter, you can submit your passport to one of the Visa Application Centers in the United States." From their response it feels like we are ok to submit it.
Also, I spoke to IRCC call center, they suggested to write a webform to New Delhi and describe the situation. I just submitted the webform with her USA travel date and temporary address there and about submitting the passport in USA. I got a generic response -
"Due to the increase in COVID-19 cases, lockdowns and curfews have been imposed in various parts of India, which may impact VAC services. If you have already paid the 2-way courier service but have not yet submitted your passport, please hold on to it until services resume. If you have submitted your passport, it will be returned to you once the passport services resume."
They haven't acknowledged the fact that I want to submit it elsewhere and instead responded with their auto reply template
Any suggestions?
I'd ignore the webform auto-response and just submit when in USA - by the time you get a 'real' response, it will be way too late to do anything with it.
That's great that you got a response from VFS. Since their response is quite clear, go with that. Well done.
I'm hoping to get a real response from Delhi visa office for my webform. This will indeed give confidence and confirmation.
That just depends on the office. I found direct email (not NDVO) got useful responses, not webform.
I'd actually think it's more important to be sure the office that would issue for you (NYVO?) is on board, but VFS' response sounded quite firm and concrete.
Good luck though. Do update here for others, it comes up often enough that will be useful.
VFS staff is not able to answer to the point. I mean they will take the passport but I'm afraid it will come back blank. This was their exact response -
"Please confirm with the information on your letter or by contacting Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) if you are able to submit your passport to a Canada Visa Application Center in the United States, this can be determined only by them. Link to their website: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/immigration-citizenship.html Kindly note that the passport request letter is valid worldwide, unless that the letter specifies that the passport needs to be submitted in a specific place."
I sent webform as well as email to NDVO. Awaiting their real response.
Last edited:
Got response from delhi :
Further be advised that the passport could be submitted to closest location geographically for further processing of your application along with the passport request letter.
Looks like a positive response to me. Seems like it is possible to submit it elsewhere.