OCI process

[YYCanadian]

Alright guys good news, just got my OCI yesterday. This a followup of my updated timeline for those who need it as a reference.

Applied in person at BLS Calgary, AB: 6-DEC-2016

Date Of Acknowledgment 9-DEC-2016
Registration Status at Mission VANCOUVER
Documents Printing Status PROCESSED On 18-JAN-2017
Dispatched From MOIA (OCI ) NEW DELHI On 19-JAN-2017
Document received At VANCOUVER On 28-JAN-2017

RECEIVED OCI at HOME ON 07-FEB-2017

The OCI arrived in a package through FEDEX. The originating source of the package was BLS Calgary so I believe that once it is received at the consulate (Vancouver), it is then shipped to BLS (in your city, mine was Calgary) who ship it to your home address if you paid all your fees to BLS at the beginning of this whole process. No sticker or stamp was needed in my Canadian passport.

As you can see it took pretty much 2 months from the date of acknowledgement. Another thing I will warn you is that the person I called at BLS international to track my shipment tried to charge me for courier fees to my home address even though they were paid for. As well, the BLS website poorly tracks your process because it lags in updating the information in real time. But overall my local BLS was very cooperative unlike the international BLS number.

For those who want to travel with an OCI, I suggest you wait until your application is processed and then book at least with a 1 month gap just to be safe. If your OCI is under process and your booking tickets sooner it may be really risky and you may end up applying for a visa on short notice.

Goodluck to everyone in the future. I'm out Grin

 

[Gallant555]

YYCanadian, Thanks for the time line. Congratulations!

 

[Gallant555]

Alright guys good news, just got my OCI today. This a followup of my updated timeline for those who need it as a reference.

Applied in person at BLS Edmonton, AB: 26-DEC-2016

Date Of Acknowledgment 31-DEC-2016
Registration Status at Mission VANCOUVER
Documents Printing Status PROCESSED On 27-JAN-2017
Dispatched From MOIA (OCI ) NEW DELHI On 30-JAN-2017
Document received At VANCOUVER On 8-Feb-2017

RECEIVED OCI at HOME ON 14-FEB-2017 by Fedex

Total Number of days =50

 

[akil_f1]

Alright guys good news, just got my OCI today. This a followup of my updated timeline for those who need it as a reference.

Applied in person at BLS Edmonton, AB: 26-DEC-2016

Date Of Acknowledgment 31-DEC-2016
Registration Status at Mission VANCOUVER
Documents Printing Status PROCESSED On 27-JAN-2017
Dispatched From MOIA (OCI ) NEW DELHI On 30-JAN-2017
Document received At VANCOUVER On 8-Feb-2017

RECEIVED OCI at HOME ON 14-FEB-2017 by Fedex

Total Number of days =50

Hey congrats.
I too applied at BLS edmonton for my baby on Dec 22 2016 and the online status shows "Processing at Consulate General
(Passport ready For Collection after OCI stamping)" .
Is there something i should concern about ? I opted for a in person pick up though

 

[Gallant555]

Hi akil_f1,
Thanks...Please Call BLS office. when i had called them they gave me Fedex tracking number. In your case, they will let you know to go pickup from the office.
Phone: +1-604 235 2637

 

[Tapak]

Hi,

I am planning to surrender our passports as well as apply for OCI at the same time at BLS office in Calgary. Can I make all the payments by using my Debit card OR do I have to get the Demand Drafts for each and every application separately?

Also, Is it advisable to get a authorization letter from my spouse since I am going to apply for all my family members?

Thanks in advance!
Tapak

 

[Gallant555]

Hi Tapak,
BLS only accepts debit card. yes..you can get authorization letter from your spouse. while i was in queue i heard that spouse needs to be listed Indian passport. if it is than no worries. If not you might wanna call BLS office. Also make sure you fill out the online application correctly. In the online OCI application make sure you enter the passport number ( Canadian ) correctly. If you have doubts clarify by phone call to BLS as once you print the pdf copy of application and take it to bls office. if you make mistake. you cannot correct in the same application. you have to create new application all over again! so be careful.
When i had applied i had made mistake in application instead of canadian passport number i entered indian passport number. The reason bls agent says that indian passport is to be surrender and therefore should not be using that passport number. The OCI card has canadian passport number which is taken from online application.
other than that process is straight forward.
Good Luck!

 

[Tapak]

Hi Tapak,
BLS only accepts debit card. yes..you can get authorization letter from your spouse. while i was in queue i heard that spouse needs to be listed Indian passport. if it is than no worries. If not you might wanna call BLS office. Also make sure you fill out the online application correctly. In the online OCI application make sure you enter the passport number ( Canadian ) correctly. If you have doubts clarify by phone call to BLS as once you print the pdf copy of application and take it to bls office. if you make mistake. you cannot correct in the same application. you have to create new application all over again! so be careful.
When i had applied i had made mistake in application instead of canadian passport number i entered indian passport number. The reason bls agent says that indian passport is to be surrender and therefore should not be using that passport number. The OCI card has canadian passport number which is taken from online application.
other than that process is straight forward.
Good Luck!

+1
Thanks for your advise. I submitted all four applications without any issue. Infact, BLS agent removed some supporting documents from the stack as they were deemed unnecessary. We showed up third in queue so we were out within an hour without any wait time. I carefully entered the information based on the sample surrender form that is provided on the website.
Regarding the authorization, she didn't even look at it and just accepted the papers on her behalf. However, it never hurts to carry one with you.
I am glad that I checked with my bank regarding transaction limit on my debit card. Piece of advise for anyone planning to pay via debit, they MUST check with their respective banks and temporarily bump up the transaction limit for a day, if needed.
All my documents were notarized (canadian passport, CDN drivers licence, marriage certificate, cdn citizenship certificate) + copies of current Indian passport + original Indian Passport.
As per the agent, it will take 15 days to return our Original Indian Passports and 2-3 months for OCI. BTW, I paid for Fedex courier charges.

Waiting time begins....

 

[August2015]

+1
Thanks for your advise. I submitted all four applications without any issue. Infact, BLS agent removed some supporting documents from the stack as they were deemed unnecessary. We showed up third in queue so we were out within an hour without any wait time. I carefully entered the information based on the sample surrender form that is provided on the website.
Regarding the authorization, she didn't even look at it and just accepted the papers on her behalf. However, it never hurts to carry one with you.
I am glad that I checked with my bank regarding transaction limit on my debit card. Piece of advise for anyone planning to pay via debit, they MUST check with their respective banks and temporarily bump up the transaction limit for a day, if needed.
All my documents were notarized (canadian passport, CDN drivers licence, marriage certificate, cdn citizenship certificate) + copies of current Indian passport + original Indian Passport.
As per the agent, it will take 15 days to return our Original Indian Passports and 2-3 months for OCI. BTW, I paid for Fedex courier charges.

Waiting time begins....

Thank you For the info, I am arranging all my documents for OCI and passport surrender at the same time, do I need to get my documents notarized for Passport surrender as well or is it only for OCI? If so can you please suggest a place to get the documents notarized and the cost for notary.

Thanks in advance

 

[ajithpl]

Not sure for other locations, but for BLS Surrey, BC we did not had to provide any notarized docs. All were just photocopies plus the original Indian passports and Canada landing paper. For me, I had to submit one notarized affidavit for a last name truncation which I did for $20. In Vancouver, notarization can be done for $10 per copy; and the common rate is $35-40.
Good luck.

 

[August2015]

Not sure for other locations, but for BLS Surrey, BC we did not had to provide any notarized docs. All were just photocopies plus the original Indian passports and Canada landing paper. For me, I had to submit one notarized affidavit for a last name truncation which I did for $20. In Vancouver, notarization can be done for $10 per copy; and the common rate is $35-40.
Good luck.

Thank you Ajith, I just confirmed notary is not needed if you have all the documentation originals unless there is a change in name or status, photocopies should suffice.

 

[Tapak]

Thank you For the info, I am arranging all my documents for OCI and passport surrender at the same time, do I need to get my documents notarized for Passport surrender as well or is it only for OCI? If so can you please suggest a place to get the documents notarized and the cost for notary.

Thanks in advance

For OCI, I had my documents notarized since I didn't want to send any originals except Indian passport. For IND PP surrender, I guess you don't need to get notarized.

 

[August2015]

So finally dropped my Application to surrender the passport and OCI at the same time, No notary of documents were required, provided photocopies of the required documents. I had to give my original Indian PP for passport surrender and for OCI my original COPR was taken, as per the agent surrender certificate should take anywhere between 3-4 weeks and for OCI any where between 2-3 months. A total of $600CAD is spent of these applications.

Waiting begins....

 

[Tapak]

So finally dropped my Application to surrender the passport and OCI at the same time, No notary of documents were required, provided photocopies of the required documents. I had to give my original Indian PP for passport surrender and for OCI my original COPR was taken, as per the agent surrender certificate should take anywhere between 3-4 weeks and for OCI any where between 2-3 months. A total of $600CAD is spent of these applications.

Waiting begins....

We just got our IND pp today. It took less than 2 weeks. Mine was processed at VANCOUVER office. I submitted notarized COPR as I didn't feel comfortable sending any original documents. Personally, I thought it was waste of money to pay for FedEX. FedEX tried to deliver around noon when no one was at home. We ended up picking up our documents from their office in the evening as the notice read that it was final attempt and the package will be returned to sender if not picked up.

 

[August2015]

We just got our IND pp today. It took less than 2 weeks. Mine was processed at VANCOUVER office. I submitted notarized COPR as I didn't feel comfortable sending any original documents. Personally, I thought it was waste of money to pay for FedEX. FedEX tried to deliver around noon when no one was at home. We ended up picking up our documents from their office in the evening as the notice read that it was final attempt and the package will be returned to sender if not picked up.

Mine shows its dispatched, should receive it by end of day tomorrow as per FedEx and its only been a week since i applied, need to check the courier tracking when its in transit. surrendering Indian PP is faster than expected, hope the OCI is faster too.