YOUR India visa application experience with CKGS @USA
#46
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: 1 AU
Programs: Support the Tyrants Travel Club
Posts: 2,707
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
#47
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 6
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...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/n...w/31832609.cms
#48
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 6
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.
#50
Join Date: Jul 2010
Programs: Marriott Silver, Delta SkyMiles Member, Global Entry,AA Gold
Posts: 234
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 ?
#51
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 3
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.
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.
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.
....
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.
....
#52
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 3
This is Indian corruption exported to US
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
#53
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 6
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?
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?
#55
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 3
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!!
#56
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 47,980
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?
#60
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,103
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.