Argh applied in Washington DC by mail this month with US passport and only got a 1 year (tourist) visa. Very annoying!!

Just got my 10 year tourist visa in only three business days! Summary and timeline below for data point purposes.

Dropped off application at SF CKGS office as a walk in last Friday on the 19th. Arrived at around 9:05 or so, waited around 15 minutes before I got to see someone.

Total price was $140-ish. Card was charged 3 times for different services - visa $124.20, biometrics $1.04, shipping $15.53. There's a fee for CC payments which explains the difference between quoted prices online. Biometrics is a SF office only thing for now. I asked if I could just go pick up my passport in person when ready, they said no so had to pay for shipping too.

Delivered to the consulate later that day then it was processed on Monday. It was with FedEx later that night and I received it the next day on Tuesday. Very painless!

No Indian/South Asian heritage & US citizen.

The times listed on the online tracker are EST so just subtract 3 hours for local time.

May 19, 2017 - Friday
12:30 pm
Application ‘Received’ and ‘Verified’. Processing of your application will continue.
May 19, 2017 - Friday
12:30 pm
Application Verification is ‘Complete’. Processing of your application will continue.
May 19, 2017 - Friday
06:16 pm
Application is ‘Under Process’ at CKGS.
May 19, 2017 - Friday
07:21 pm
Application is 'In Transit' to the Consulate.
May 22, 2017 - Monday
11:41 am
Application is 'Under Process' at Consulate for decision making.
May 22, 2017 - Monday
08:09 pm
Application 'Reviewed' by Consulate and ‘In Transit’ to CKGS Application Centre.
May 22, 2017 - Monday
08:52 pm
Passport ‘Received’ at the CKGS application centre and is at the ‘Sorting Facility’ where it is being processed for delivery.
May 22, 2017 - Monday
08:59 pm
Passport picked up by FedEx.

The India visa was the most bureaucratic mess of a visa I have ever gotten. Iran, Sudan, Turkmenistan, North Korea, China, Somaliland and Yemen were all easier. I got mine in SFO and had to show a utility bill with my and my wife's name on it. Since hers was not on it, they didn't believe that she lived with me even though we have the same last name, marriage certificate etc.

Take way more evidence of your address, ID etc than you can possibly imagine will be required. I'll never get another India visa so we are going there early next year again before our visa expires.

When did you get your visa? Was it with CKGS or a different service? Proof of address for me was very easy as my current ID had my address on it. They didn't ask me for more than that.

Mine was with CKGS in 2009. My driver's license only has a PO Box on it and they wanted something with both my wife and I listed on the dame document with our physical address. We don't have cable TV and the rental lease was not good enough. I had to add her name to the power bill. A travel agency nearby let me use their computers to do this.

With the introduction of the eta/etov system the number of applications have dropped dramatically at the consulates. This would explain the the fast processing times.

Curious about the experiences of people NOT applying for tourist visas (like, literally any other type of visa).

Last year I took a 10 year tourist visa from CKGS/CGI Chicago without any problems, but I was applying in April for a trip I was leaving on in late May.

This year, I was abroad in Nepal doing research from 1/24/17 until 5/27/17. I have to return to India on 6/14/17 for a two-month study course in Hindi (it's a long story, I'm an aspiring academic). At the moment, I have a flight booked that leaves Detroit on 6/12/17. Basically, I need a student visa for India instead of the tourist one I have currently. I would've gotten it in Kathmandu but was advised it would take upwards of two months and I'd have to relinquish my passport for that entire period, so I decided to wait until I was stateside and take care of it at my CKGS/CGI in Chicago. I was assured that if I submitted the application in person ASAP upon my return, I'd had no trouble getting the visa in time.

After returning to the US on 5/27/17, I went to the CKGS Chicago office in person with my application for a six-month student visa on 5/31/17 (would've gone even sooner, but they were closed Memorial Day) at 9:00 AM and successfully submitted all my docs. I was out the door by 9:15 AM. This morning (6/1/17), as of 10:26 AM, CKGS's online tracking informs me my visa is in for processing at CGI--Chicago. CKGS' representative (to whom I submitted my docs) told me the whole process would take 7-10 business days, though previously their website and others had quoted me a 3-5 business day turnaround. What have been people's NON-TOURIST turnaround experiences? About how long did it take your NON-TOURIST visa to be processed by the consulate (NOT CKGS, they've been rapid so far)? Somewhat anxiously twiddling my thumbs, trying to decide if I'm going to have to change my flight sometime next week and show up to my course late because it takes 10 business days, or if everything will be fine.

EDITED to note that I have no Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi origin, so there's no obvious reason for extended processing time.

What does "Reviewed" mean?
 

Applied through CKGS (Houston) requesting 10 year visa for adult daughter, US Citizen has previously been to India several times using single entry visa and in 2015 e-visa w/no issues. This time we figured go ahead and apply for 10 year visa since we both go to India frequently. So as everyone else stated, the process is tedious and confusing. I think/thought I had done everything correctly for her submission. Today I get the following "status"


Application 'Reviewed' by Consulate and ‘In Transit’ to CKGS Application Centre


Can someone enlighten me was "Reviewed" by Consulate translates to?


Does this mean it was approved?
Does it mean it was simply reviewed and we don't know if it was approved or not?


Any help would be appreciated, we are on pins and needles here.

Scroll up a bit ... according to a poster above, that message meant the visa was approved and your passport was being prepped for return to you. I just submitted my application as well and am wondering how long it'll take. Not going to India until November though so I'm not too worried.

Just curious - how long did it take for them to process yours? I also applied through Houston.

Wow - 4 business days. Not bad!

Got a Visa here in DC with a 7 day turnaround. Only valid for ~4 years (as long as my passport). A little miffed, as my last visa was the full 10 years. Former Indian citizen as well.

I believe Cox and Kings are only working in your interest to collect all the stupid information required by India's bureaucratic system

Actually, when you deal directly with the consular official there's usually some discretion when it comes to minor document issues. But when you put these visa service centres in as gatekeepers, all that discretionary authority walks out the door.

Anyone have recent processing times for a business visa from the DC office? I will need to travel on the 27th and an e-Visa is out of the cards...