Originally Posted by
emcampbe
Quite likely could be this. Under Travisa, the old US visa processor, everything was easy, and there was a staffed call center to answer questions about documents, etc, which helped me to easily submit my application by courier a few years ago.
When I went to apply for a PIO in July from the US, just after BLS took over, it was a mess. Call center was not operating for several days, local numbers listed on their website were going to people's personal cell phones, etc. The only reason why I was able to get mine by the time I needed it was because, despite living in a midwestern city without a BLS office, I had a trip planned to New York where I could do it in person.
Even then it was a mess - while those applying for tourist visa's were in and out in a few minutes, there was one person handling PIO/OCI, and even with an appointment, I waited for 2.5 hours. People were yelling about not having their passports back from the transition, etc. Complete mess, and would never wish that process on anyone.
The BLS bungles aren't what has driven this change. It's about money. India has a current accounts deficit that is a very high priority for the government; and inflation worries related to that (including the inflation concerns related to the associated weak currency) have started freaking out the current batch of political office holders who are thinking about the next elections of relevance to their keeping their jobs and other perks.
Last edited by GUWonder; Oct 8, 2013 at 5:24 am