Question for those who have done in person application how far in advance can you book an appointment? Houston specifically

DC Experience
 

I had a fairly painless experience getting a 10year tourist visa at the office in DC. The main problem for me was the website where you enter your data for application crashed and reloaded a number of times, causing a number of restarts. I was able to get an appointment for application the next day and got my passport back within the described 5 business days.

I will say that when I went to pickup my passport there were a number of people asking why their passport was not returned via the prepaid envelope they provided. The answer was something along the lines of envelopes get misplaced. If possible, I'd recommend dropping off and picking up in person to remove a potential problem.

I got my business visa in about the same time as it took a couple of years ago through Travisa, and nothing went wrong with the delivery via FedEx each way. So, I think that CKGS-San Francisco finally is getting their act together. Other than the non-secure website for their financial transactions, I am quite happy about CKGS.

Their NYC office is a nightmare so far for me.

I've got a question I mailed my paperwork with passport on July8th. This has been the status:

Your application has been collected from the Embassy/Consulate and is being sorted. Your application will be ready for collection from our Application Centre within one business day. 07/17/2014
Your application has been submitted at The Indian Embassy for further processing. 07/14/2014
Your application is in process. Your tracking id is USAS10849914 07/13/2014

By this does it mean that they will mail it back in the next few days ?

Yes, if you paid for FedEx return service, then I expect they will send it back to you tomorrow, arriving at your doorstep on Monday.

Yes I Included a envelope and and a pre-paid return label for fedex.

Which office did you use?

San Francisco

Thanks. I'm still looking for someone who has used the Atlanta office recently.

Does the online status normally get updated as soon as they receive the application?

I sent my application via FedEx to the San Francisco office last week (FedEx delivered on Monday) but when I go to the online tracking and put in my reference number I get a "No application exist" message, which is worrying...

It will take a few days to show up.

Unable to Get my VISA approved...2 months
 

I just moved to Denmark, which means that I cannot process my Indian Visa here but have to send to the US Embassy in Atlanta for processing. Unfortunately, I have been having a lot of difficulty in getting my visa approved that I submitted at the end of May (beginning of transition to CKGS). It has now been almost two months, and this was coordinated by American express for a business Visa. They have been trying to get through to the embassy and have sent follow up emails and phone calls, but has not get through.

I am now planning to travel at the end of this week, so tried to do it myself today but unfortunately cannot get through on the phone (I have called 4 times today and each call puts me on hold for 30 minutes or so, before I give up and call back). I also tried to send an email, but so far no response.

Anyone had this problem before and know a way to get through to get this moving?

Thanks/Jonathan

I may travel to India for 3 days in mid september. I am just starting Indian visa application now. I am applying for 6-month visa. I am in Southern California, so it'll be mailed to San Francisco CKGS office.

The negative news about losing passport, long process time really made me nervous.

If I mail it this week, can I expect to get my passport back by the end of august? What are the chances taht they lose my possport? I have quite a few immigration stamps on it, so it'll be good memory for me, so I would be really pissed if they lose my passport.

I am in the middle of the process now. My trip is in Oct. I FedEx'd my passport to the SF office late last week from Portland O. The online "Track My Application" shows that it has been sent to the Embassy, so that is good.

A few things that I figured out that may help:

-Attach a letter with all the countries you have visited in the last 10 years if they won't fit in the small space allotted on the application. If there is a stamp in your passport that you don't list, it could be a reason for them to reject the application.

-Make a good color copy of the first two pages of your passport in case there is an issue. (I store this in a place online I can access when I travel as a just in case.)

-Check the application carefully. I found a pretty good online resource that had a sample app (Not the one on the CKGS site) located here: http://goasia.about.com/od/visaforin...ation-Form.htm

-Don't pay them for the courrier return service. Include your own pre-paid FedEx one-rate envelope with a printed return address label.

I think that is it. Feel free to contact me thru DM if you have questions.