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YOUR India visa application experience with CKGS @USA

YOUR India visa application experience with CKGS @USA

Old Jun 6, 2014, 7:34 pm
  #46  
 
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What a disaster... I hope the issues get sorted out quickly, but I'm honestly a bit concerned about what will happen (is happening?) to all these "lost" passports. I hope there isn't any foul play involved, but it does raise my suspicions. BLS had their contract terminated early, but were still in possession of hundreds (thousands?) of passports/applications and now many of those have curiously gone missing. Even prior to this transition, there were some reports of BLS losing customer passports. Neither BLS, CKGS, or GoI have done anything to reassure customers...

Last edited by Mr. Bean; Jun 6, 2014 at 7:47 pm
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Old Jun 6, 2014, 11:31 pm
  #47  
 
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Originally Posted by Mr. Bean
What a disaster... I hope the issues get sorted out quickly, but I'm honestly a bit concerned about what will happen (is happening?) to all these "lost" passports. I hope there isn't any foul play involved, but it does raise my suspicions. BLS had their contract terminated early, but were still in possession of hundreds (thousands?) of passports/applications and now many of those have curiously gone missing. Even prior to this transition, there were some reports of BLS losing customer passports. Neither BLS, CKGS, or GoI have done anything to reassure customers...
This is what I have been saying for some time. I think there might be a scam being run here. Passports are going for 5-10k right now on the black market and would be a lucrative steal. Additionally, there may be other forms of identity theft in addition to all the stolen money...

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/n...w/31832609.cms
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Old Jun 6, 2014, 11:33 pm
  #48  
 
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Originally Posted by krtc1980
I am having a similar experience to yours. I submitted my passport and renunciation application in april to travel next month. BLS has cashed my checks but have not sent my passports. When I go to cox and kings website to track my application, it says no records found.. I cant see to contact the new agency on the phone either. I don't know if they are any better than BLS. My husband had applied for a tourist visa in may through BLS and they cashed the check but sent the passport back without any visa. It looks like the indian govt does not want any tourists.
I am very concerned about the situation....passports are very valuable right now on the black market. Additionally, there is probably other identity theft going on right now in addition to the fees that were taken from all the "denied" applicants.
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Old Jun 8, 2014, 6:47 pm
  #49  
 
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Any luck with getting VISA from ckgs in Houston

Has anyone got the VISA using Ckgs?
I cannot even track the application? does anyone knows how long it takes?
I applied in May 27th and still nothing from CKGS?
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Old Jun 10, 2014, 1:41 am
  #50  
 
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Looking to apply for a 1 year visitor visa as the emergency visa given by bls last year expires two weeks before needing to go. But need the visa by september so would it be best to apply now or wait a till next month ?
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Old Jun 10, 2014, 9:04 pm
  #51  
 
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CKGS is an extension of the corruption in India

My recent experience with them has been a total nightmare!

Their website is full of errors, technical, grammatical and logical. and on the top of that, there is absolutely no security for sending/receiving the sensitive data.
Here are some key problems I experienced:
1. I paid online $320, for OCI application, but the last page came back with an error. Additionally, there were security warnings.
My credit card was charged but as of today I have not been able to get any acknowledgement from CKGS.

2. They have 2 phone lines with a wrong area code for the San Francisco office, but I can never get through either of them. It disconnects every time after giving weird message "sorry cannot connect". There is no option for a VM. The telephone lines are fake!

3. They do not answer all the emails, and when they do, it takes good 24 hours, with no useful content. They are unable to read or write simple English sentences; any intelligent content is beyond their reach.

4. They operate, if at all, following Indian time. Once I received a phone call at 5am, PST.
5. Their official address in SFO, says 225 Bush Street, 1st Floor. This is completely wrong by US convention of floor numbering. I suspect there is no one in SFO office, and if at all, no one to take the calls.

6. The website for getting the status of the application still says No Application Exist (note the grammar)
To sum up, this is the worst experience of Indian corrupt business practices anyone can experience.

Those who care must contact every single US and Indian authority to expose and stop this corrupt Indian practice. India must not promote its corrupt practices in US.

Originally Posted by Hereldsymphosis
Dear All

Trust me that CKGS is no better than BLS and I say this with personal experience. Initially the useless guys at BLS delayed my application for so and so reasons which is unjustified in any sense but now when the transition has happened the CKGS in not accepting my application which I want to resubmit.
....
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Old Jun 10, 2014, 10:24 pm
  #52  
 
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This is Indian corruption exported to US

Originally Posted by slickvik
I think we should all wait a few months for the backlog to catch up and systems and processes to smooth out. This isn't India can't just show up at the door with threats and expect stuff to get done. This is a transition period.
Yeah right!!
What is the excuse for keeping the phony phone lines? The phones hung up after one ring with no VM option!
What is the excuse for showing the wrong area code?
The wrong Indian style floor numbering?

All you know you all have been target of the identity theft. There is absolutely no reliable SSL transmission either way.

They can't even write a single English sentence correct-- and this includes the grammatical errors on the web site.
It is TOTAL CHAOS.
The Indian Consulates should be ashamed of providing this kind of service.

This is not the way business is done in US. But partly it is because of the same Indians carrying the same mentality that support these corrupt practices by showing a complacent attitude.

If somebody is doing a business in US, charging fees at the US market level, then they have to follow the US protocol-- not the corrupt Indian protocol!!

Last edited by paradigmnnf; Jun 10, 2014 at 10:26 pm Reason: added one more line
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Old Jun 10, 2014, 11:39 pm
  #53  
 
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After having my money taken by BLS with no processing done, and now my passport missing from CKGS, I am beginning to wonder if there is not more going on here.

Passports have been reported stolen from the San Fran office, along with money from all of the unprocessed passports. (Google 70 passports stolen from San Francisco).

These passports are extremely valuable on the black market (5-10k per unit).

Why is there only one company allowed to process the visas?

Where is all the missing money from the unprocessed visas?

Where are the missing passports?

Why is the address incorrectly listed?

Why are the phone lines seemingly disconnected?

Could BLS and CKGS be owned by the same people?

Maybe we can chalk this up to incompetence, mismanagement, or bad luck. I am getting suspicious that something more might be going on here.

Any thoughts on this?
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Old Jun 11, 2014, 12:53 am
  #54  
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Originally Posted by paradigmnnf
The wrong Indian style floor numbering?
????
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Old Jun 11, 2014, 9:23 am
  #55  
 
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No Secured (SSL) communication on CKGS sites

Originally Posted by kekais
I am very concerned about the situation....passports are very valuable right now on the black market. Additionally, there is probably other identity theft going on right now in addition to the fees that were taken from all the "denied" applicants.
There is absolutely no secured (SSL) communication on CKGS sites.
They are totally inadequate even to understand the issues, and they lie left and right.
The Indian consulates seem to be totally indifferent.

India is the 4th most corrupt country in the world.
Recognize this and do something about it!!
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Old Jun 12, 2014, 1:00 am
  #56  
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Originally Posted by pgiyer
There IS a travel arrangement company Cox and Kings that seems to have a good reputation, especially for arranging travel in Asia. I wonder if it is the same company that the Indian Government contracted with for visa processing. So far, their performance for visa processing seems less than satisfactory from postings on this forum. But then again, who knows what mess BLS left them with?
Cox & Kings does the visa processing for Indian consulates in Germany since some years, they are pretty well organised and things are done within one business day. My guess is the BLS handover is a mess and they haven't managed to start up the own operation in time.
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Old Jun 12, 2014, 12:26 pm
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Modi is going to fine them if they don't turn around visas within 48 hours starting this month.
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Old Jun 12, 2014, 3:31 pm
  #58  
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Originally Posted by slickvik
Modi is going to fine them if they don't turn around visas within 48 hours starting this month.
Who is "Modi"?
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Old Jun 12, 2014, 4:47 pm
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Originally Posted by lax2010
Who is "Modi"?
The current PM of India
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Old Jun 12, 2014, 7:16 pm
  #60  
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Originally Posted by oliver2002
Cox & Kings does the visa processing for Indian consulates in Germany since some years, they are pretty well organised and things are done within one business day. My guess is the BLS handover is a mess and they haven't managed to start up the own operation in time.
They have the plurality of the outsourced contract arrangements in Europe and within the past couple of years had become a replacement for previously utilized contractors in various places. It was the relatively decent performance in various parts or Europe that may have helped them land the US deal.
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