PIO Card San Francisco

[dswg1]

Hi,
Does anyone know:
-How long it is taking to obtain PIO card from San Francisco consulate? Our application was sent on 7Jan08.
-Is there anyway to find status of the application.
There was some mail mixup in sending our application
and I wanted to check that they received it.
I called and left a message and also emailed to the address listed on their website (cgisf.org) but have not gotten any response.

Thanks,
DS

[nagmad]

PIO Card- SFO - My experience

Hi

I have been seeing queries as above - and I though I wll update y experience.

I applied for my son's PIO card on Jan 2. I was told that I will get it on Feb 4th. My son's travel date was Feb 3. I went to the consulate today - and the plan was if I get the PIO card - fine else I would rush to travisa for a tourist visa.

I went to the first window and politely presented my case - and though initially I was told its not possible, later on the staff there relented and I had the PIO card in my hand in around 1 hrs time

My learnings:

The PIO card was signed on 28 Jan - so at SFO if everthing goes fine, I guess the PIO card would be ready in around 25-26 days time against the SLA of 30 days. Plan your travel accordingly and if you approach in a polite way, the staff would help you

Rgds

[redsrme]

Hi Nagmad,

Thanks for posting your experience with the PIO card and the consulate.

Do you know when your Money Order was cleared/accepted/cashed by the Consulate. I am in the same boat as dswg1. Have applied for the PIO card on the 14th of Jan. We are travelling soon to India and wanted to see if we needed to get a Visa as the PIO card seems to be taking its full 30 days (no complaints).

My money order got cleared on the 18th of Jan, so wanted to check if there was any way you could relate your money order /Cash. check being cleared to when the PIO card was ready.

Thanks a lot for your help!
Regards!

[pritigoel]

Status

Hi,

Can others update on when they finally received PIO card in San Francisco? I sent the application on Jan 18 and traveling on Feb 22nd. The online processing time has increased to 45 days now. I am not sure if i should get a visa for my son.

Thanks!

[dasyapu_s]

Any update on the status?

Hi ,

I have applied for my kid PIO card on 26th Jan. I have not received it as on today.

Any updates on the lead times??

Regards,

[kolthur18]

Hi

I have applied PIO card for my baby on 22nd Jan. I have not received it as on today (20-march-2008).

Any updates on the lead times??

Regards,

Ramesh

[manishnautiyal]

Pio Card Status

I had a very good experience with SFO Consulate.

I applied for PIO at SFO Consulate and got the PIO in exactly 10 working days.
After waiting for 8 days, I send an email to [email protected] to check the status of PIO and got a prompt reply that it will be delivered shortly. I got the PIO next day.

Thanks
Manish

[kurienpt]

Good, fast turnaround experience with San Francisco

Good, fast turnaround experience with San Francisco

I submitted PIO application for myself and my wife on Nov 24th.
We received the PIO card on Dec 5th. So it was just over a week.

I followed instruction on the PIO application. Supporting documents include

1. Submitted color notarized photocopies of
a) US passport
b) Driver license
c) Birth certificate

2. Submitted original India passport (we needed cancellation stamp)

3. 2 photos - one pasted, the other stapled to form at corned

4. At the postoffice, got the money order, attached prepaid return overnight envelope and send it.

I used the printable form on immihelp, so it was easy to type it out.
The form seemed to be same version as the form available on consulate website.

On consulate website, they have NOTICE bulletin, its updated only once a week. For the last month, I observed in bulletin, they processed all applications (submitted via mail or in person), in 7-10 days. Add 2 days for overnight mail. It may not be this fast in all cases.

But the process seems to be efficient, kudos to San Francisco consulate.

Other tid bits of information:
I wanted expedited PIO application, since my family member was sick and needed it just in case i had to travel earlier than expected. Contacting consulate over phone is difficult, i never got someone to answer phone even on emergency phone number. They do reply on email inquiries (see website inquiry form). Chicago does emergency PIO per their website, but you have to apply to consulate that covers your area.

[curtdfw]

Congrats on the quick turnaround!

Just curious, though -- as a former Indian citizen it sounds like you qualify for OCI;why'd you decide on PIO?

[kurienpt]

It was timing thing, I have to leave for India end of this month.
OCI as i understand takes minimum of 30 days.
I plan to apply for OCI later when I am not in hurry. I checked the fees, $145 for PIO holder to get OCI. Wish it was lower!!

[jigarhshah]

How do I get to this bulletin? I could not find a bulletin on the consultates website? I applied last week; I know its early but generally I wanted to check if they have all documents; how do I do that?

Good, fast turnaround experience with San Francisco

I submitted PIO application for myself and my wife on Nov 24th.
We received the PIO card on Dec 5th. So it was just over a week.

I followed instruction on the PIO application. Supporting documents include

1. Submitted color notarized photocopies of
a) US passport
b) Driver license
c) Birth certificate

2. Submitted original India passport (we needed cancellation stamp)

3. 2 photos - one pasted, the other stapled to form at corned

4. At the postoffice, got the money order, attached prepaid return overnight envelope and send it.

I used the printable form on immihelp, so it was easy to type it out.
The form seemed to be same version as the form available on consulate website.

On consulate website, they have NOTICE bulletin, its updated only once a week. For the last month, I observed in bulletin, they processed all applications (submitted via mail or in person), in 7-10 days. Add 2 days for overnight mail. It may not be this fast in all cases.

But the process seems to be efficient, kudos to San Francisco consulate.

Other tid bits of information:
I wanted expedited PIO application, since my family member was sick and needed it just in case i had to travel earlier than expected. Contacting consulate over phone is difficult, i never got someone to answer phone even on emergency phone number. They do reply on email inquiries (see website inquiry form). Chicago does emergency PIO per their website, but you have to apply to consulate that covers your area.

[kurienpt]

How do I get to this bulletin? I could not find a bulletin on the consultates website? I applied last week; I know its early but generally I wanted to check if they have all documents; how do I do that?

its the blue notice board that jumps on the page when you go to San Francisco consulate. It scrolls with latest update. As i mentioned they update the bulletin only once a week or so