OCI Application question

[pdeshmukh]

Hi,

I just applied for OCI application and received the below reply back on incomplete documentation. The 1 and 4 make sense to me. The first is because I forgot to add my middle name to the application and they are asking me to sign a consent letter to allow them to add a middle name to match with my passport. They even provided a template for the consent. My mistake and good to see that they provide this ability to correct the mistake in the application. The fourth I gather they need a better copy of my US passport. I thought I had sent a good copy but no problem sending another copy.

The 2nd and 3rd are really puzzling. I had said yes to the question do you have any family members with OCI. I indicated that my wife has OCI and attached a copy of her OCI to the application as required. I am applying based on me being Indian born with my Indian passport as proof of Indian citizenship. So I am not sure why they are asking for Marriage Certificate. But okay I will send that in with the other documents. Puzzling but based on other forum responses, it seems to be standard practice.

The "Name Change Documentation" is the one that I fail to understand. Whose name change affidavit are they requiring? I am not applying for my wife's OCI. There's no name change for me, the applicant. Yet they are asking for a name change affidavit for both myself and my wife. What exactly do they want? The best guess is to have a name change (maiden to married) for my wife but again she already has an OCI.

I tried to fill out the enquiry form on the VFS global website but the form seems to have a problem. I cannot seem to submit it. The page never posts after submit.

Do they allow you to come to the VFS office in person?
How do I figure out what they need with this affidavit?
How do I get my question answered with the VFS global?
Should I just go ahead and send the other documents with a letter stating my confusion?

I have opened up a request to "buy a service" from them hoping to get this question answered.

Thanks in advance for any direction/help!!


<< MSG from VFS>>
Dear Applicant,

We have "Received" your Application however we are unable to proceed with the application due to the following reasons:

1. Additional documents : SEE REMARK
2. Additional documents Remarks : PLEASE PROVIDE YOUR MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
3. Name change documentation : PLEASE PROVIDE NOTARIZED NAME CHANGE AFFIDAVIT FOR SPLIT OR NEW ARRANGEMENT OF NAME FOR APPLICANT AND APPLICANT SPOUSE.
4. Passport : PLEASE PROVIDE YOUR CLEAR COPY OF US PASSPORT

[aarkayne]

A related question to the documentation you included in your packet - did you include original passports(US and cancelled Indian)? Just curious if you didnt and the only thing they are asking you to furnish is the marriage certificate but are fine with copies of the rest. Thanks in advance.

[pdeshmukh]

Yes, I provided both my last Indian Passport and US passport. I noticed that in the instructions, VFS indicates that if you select that spouse has an OCI then you have to provide the marriage certificate. I thought it was a requirement to disclose your family members having OCI but it looks like you should probably not do that as it adds more documents to submit. I have sent a letter indicating my confusion about the name change affidavit. I also paid $20 to help me fill in the forms. I am hopeful between my letter and the appointment for the service, this will get resolved.

[aarkayne]

BTW - for our last member of the family for whom we had applied for an OCI(the other three already have it in March/April) of this year, they asked for something similar :

"Remarks:
Copy of Official court order if first name and/or last name was changed endorsement at the back of naturalization certificate if name was changed during naturalization marriage certificate must be provided if last name was changed after marriage"

This is terribly stupid and incompetent of them as there is NO name change of our daughter, she is single and unmarried and is applying based on the fact that she was an Indian citizen that renounced her pport when she acquired her US citizenship while a minor. She doesnt have a naturalisation certificate since she got it based on the parents and we provided copies of which as indicated in the check list. The only thing I assume they are asking to be furnished is a the parents' marriage certificate which they dont indicate ANYWHERE in the check list or documents list and likely based on the fact that the mother keeps her maiden name. I am sure this is what drove them to assume a name change of the applicant which is simply not the case.

Just a poor set of uninformed folks plodding their way in the dark clearly :-(

Hope your experience is better than ours.

Good luck.

[Liberty48]

pdeshmukh, The marriage certificate seems to be a standard process. It doesn't make sense. I guess they trying to link the family member OCIs. Just submit it. For the name change, I guess the name you had in your old Indian passport and US passport don't match. They are willing to change it and that is good, instead of sending the package to you. For that, I guess you need to submit a form. That makes sense to me. New passport copy....... just send it.

[aarkayne]

OMG now that you mention it I see their confusion !

This is for our daughter who in her indian passport had my name as her middle name(the standard procedure in India where the father's name is the middle name) which she does not in her US passport.

So are they THINKING that without this middle name, its a different person. But the photos prove otherwise and its simply a matter of choosing not to use the middle name anymore in her US docs.

Oh I hope this can be resolved without the usual song-n-dance routine :-(

Thanks for the pointer.

[aarkayne]

UPDATE : I had to call the VFS call center (number on the Consulate web page). There is a charge for any of these calls(not including any hold-time). But did speak to a nice enough chap who understood what the confusion was all about, made a note/attestation online on the application and since then the matter has moved past VFS to the Consulate in Chicago. Fingers crossed from hereon!

[aarkayne]

As of 14th Sep the application has been ack'd by the CGI-Chicago and IN-PROCESS.

[sf2019july]

Hi,

I just applied for OCI application and received the below reply back on incomplete documentation.

<< MSG from VFS>>
Dear Applicant,

We have "Received" your Application however we are unable to proceed with the application due to the following reasons:

1. Additional documents : SEE REMARK
2. Additional documents Remarks : PLEASE PROVIDE YOUR MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
3. Name change documentation : PLEASE PROVIDE NOTARIZED NAME CHANGE AFFIDAVIT FOR SPLIT OR NEW ARRANGEMENT OF NAME FOR APPLICANT AND APPLICANT SPOUSE.
4. Passport : PLEASE PROVIDE YOUR CLEAR COPY OF US PASSPORT

Hi, how long did it take for VFS to respond with this email, after they received your application? I am also expecting an email like this soon.

[sf2019july]

As of 14th Sep the application has been ack'd by the CGI-Chicago and IN-PROCESS.

Hey, how long did VFS take to process your initial application package?

[eluvittar]

For 1 " The first is because I forgot to add my middle name to the application and they are asking me to sign a consent letter to allow them to add a middle name to match with my passport. They even provided a template for the consent. My mistake and good to see that they provide this ability to correct the mistake in the application."

Did you have to physically mail the consent letter or online was enough ?

[aarkayne]

Final Update on the entire journey :

[aarkayne]

Hey, how long did VFS take to process your initial application package?

i wasted about 15 days waiting for them to provide me extra information AFTER I uploaded things (including a letter) via their website(VFS). Don't think the people processing information sent via their website are very bright. Neither would they ack the additional information I had sent nor would they UPDATE the message from the original non-sensical one about providing the marriage certificate for an unmarried adult.

When none of that worked I picked up the phone and called them and the young man on the other end helped out by attesting on our application that the middle name had been dropped in the US passport and it WAS THE SAME PERSON. From that day onwards it took 3 weeks (14th Sep to 6th Oct).

In the case of other three members of our family(processed in March-April) for whom there was none of the confusion around middle name drop et al, it took only a couple days for VFS to vet the application and send it along to the consulate. Hope this helps.

[pdeshmukh]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. I had to upload a consent letter to allow them to match my passport names (US and India passport had a middle name but my OCI application didn't) on the OCI. I had to submit the following information after the initial application submission:

Sent by FedEx:
* Marriage Certificate - Important to have is "self-attestation"
* Consent Letter to match my Father's full name between my OCI application and his passport
* Better copy of the US Passport
* Wrote a long letter about not needing the name change affidavit

Paid for a consultation to review the application - This was helpful but he said that it's likely that my application would get rejected. Thank God that didn't happen :-)

Got email to provide the following consent letter:

Uploaded the following:
* Consent Letter to allow them to update my name in the OCI application to my passport

I just got FedEx shipment confirmation of my OCI arriving tomorrow. In total, with all the roadblocks along the way, it took exactly two months (Aug 27th to Oct. 28th) to receive my OCI. VFS forwarded my application to India approximately 4 weeks ago. If I had made sure that all the names on the OCI application matched the supporting documents then it would have probably been faster processing.

Key Lesson: Make sure that the names on all the supporting documents are matching the names on the application. If they don't then you may have to submit either a name change affidavit or a consent letter to allow them to change the name on the OCI application.