AArkansas

Hi, I have to make a mad dash to Houston TONIGHT so I can be at the passport office bright and early and pray they can renew my passport by NOON. Then I rush to get my Indian VISA updated.

If all goes well, I'll leave for India on February 21 arriving in time for a convention.

In your opinion, is all of this possible to do?

Any last minute suggestions, good hotels, etc. would be appreciated.

Finally, does anyone know how far apart the passport office is from the Indian Visa office is?

Thanks,
AArkansas

ewick12

I hope you don't have to drive to Houston from Little Rock... It might be worth calling a company like CIBT. I'm not sure if they can get everything done quickly enough but it might be worth calling them to see. Their Houston office closes in 14 minutes. That phone number is (713) 621-3200 or their general (national) number is 1-800-929-2428.

Best of luck.

EDIT: I have had personal experience with CIBT. They were referred to me by American Express Global Assist and they helped us to get a passport within a week. Processing is usually same day. So you would probably have to overnight everything to them by tonight, or tomorrow at the latest. FedEx allows you to drop off your package by 8:30 PM at the latest.

egoods

I got my passport renewed in a week through my corporate travel agent.. and that was unheard of. And cost an arm and a leg. Definitely talk to the company in the post above. If you have a corporate travel agent talk to them as well. Good luck! Once you get your passport the visa should be a breeze.

rkkwan

Passport office is downtown. Indian consulate is at 1990 Post Oak in the Galleria area. About 7-8 miles.

UAL Traveler

When in the US, I use the Philadelphia PP office. They require advance appointments. IME, the first group of appointments in the morning have their expedited passports in hand before 11am. That has been the case for me and my wife on several occasions. Again, that is in the Phila office.

Bigpops

Good luck, I needed a same day visa for India, and had to go to Chicago to get it. The consulate had a specific turn in time in the morning and you had to pick up late in the afternoon. You may want to check how late you can submit for same day processing.

FlyingHoustonian

I used the Passport office in Houston to renew a passport same day in December. I had an appointment already but it seemed they were letting others through IAM NOT SURE about that 100% though (I did overhear the guards/id checkers talking with folks that said they had no appointment but quick travel needs). I had a receipt number in hand and got in with no issues.
Everyone was there and in line before 8 am. I would suggest getting there earlier to hold a place. I turned in my documents and was told to come back by 2PM and had it at that time. I do not think you will get it by noon however. I think the earliest time was 1:30PM, and then you have to wait in another little room for a few minutes downstairs so they can call your name and you can pick it up. But I still had a new passport with the extrapages in less than 7 hours total and the fee is only 60$US extra (they were also nice enough to mail in my USG passport renewel form for free!)

I have been by the Indian consulate but have no idea how long it will take to get a VISA. YOu could go by while you are waiting for the US passport to be processed and ask.

So I know you can get the US passport in a day, but remember I had a pre"appointment".

Good luck.

Ciao,
FH

Flyer_70

CIBT worked great for me but I can't comment on the indian visa portion of it. Good luck!!!

denverhockeyguy

I recently did a same day in Denver by going to the passport office. I had to schedule an appointment though. I do think you can get around that though, as I went in to just get pages added, but ended up getting a new passport instead. They were able to turn the passport around in about 2-3hrs for me. Dropped it off at 10am and picked up at 2-2:30. I wouldn't expect to get it before then, it seemed that all passports had to be picked up between 2 and 2:30. I've heard similar stories from other passport offices, so my guess is that you'd be in luck.

I'd double check with the timing of the Indian embassy. The passport must be dropped off between 9 and 11am for Visa processing. Many embassys usually require all visa issues to get done during this window. Even with a valid visa, you may need to have this dropped off by 11am. You may get somebody to help you out, but my guess is you'll have an issue getting both items done the same day. I don't know if a Visa company can make things any better for you.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes!

sefrischling

No idea on the Indian Visa, but I made an appointment to renew my Passport in Boston, having a 7:00pm flight from BOS to LHR in the evening. I showed up, turned in my Passport and had a new one in about 45 minutes.

Why can't all US Gov't Offices be like this?

ddrewboy

Most of the consulates only allow morning drop off and either afternoon or next day pick up. I would definitely find out when is the latest time that will accept a visa renewal case.


rgds,
drew

UAL Traveler

This info is most likely late, but I just saw that the Indian Embassy and all their consulates in the US are outsourcing visa application acceptance to Travisa, who apparently now works as a private contractor to the Indian Embassy, in addition to providing their regular commercial visa-related services. Travisa does have an office in Houston which will attempt same-day visas.

Please let us know how you made out with your passport and visa. Good luck.