PIO status: Pending approval of the Government of India

[NBJoshi]

hi,
I have applied for my son's PIO card. The application is processing in the US consulate in Houston. When I check the current status on the travisa site, it shows "Pending approval of the Government of India". Does it mean the case requires approval from authorities in India & therefore will be delayed? If anybody has had a similar experience, please share. I am planning to travel to India mid november and am wary of a delay because of this. The sequence of statuses for my application is below

Date/Time Action
09/26/2011 4:01pm CST Service order form completed online
10/10/2011 12:41pm CST PIO application arrived in the mail at Travisa Outsourcing. Please allow Travisa Outsourcing up to 7 business days before the application status changes. Note that your application will undergo several steps before the status is updated.
10/12/2011 12:20pm CST Order form and supporting documents received, payment processed
10/12/2011 5:11pm CST Documents prepared to go to Embassy.
10/13/2011 8:42am CST Documents dispatched from Travisa Outsourcing Office to Consulate
10/13/2011 10:24am CST Documents received by Consulate
10/18/2011 2:00pm CST Pending approval of the Government of India

Regards
N joshi

[NBJoshi]

updates anyone?? Please share

updates anyone?? Please share

[NBJoshi]

hi

I talked with an agent at the travisa houston location. The lady said that my application is gone to india for processing. She said she did not know how long it would take! I don't know what to believe anymore

[venu417]

Me too - waiting for approval from GOVT of India

Hey There!

I'm too in the same boat, eagerly waiting for the approval from GOVT of India which eventually will happen. Typically it is 2 weeks from the date the Embassy receives the application from agency. now its a waiting game.. pretty much. so pal you know what to do.

Although Travisa - outsourcing firm in NYC has simplified the application process but i dont like their online status is very confusing and not to mention the long waiting time on phone.

-Venu

[venu417]

PIO status: Pending approval of the Government of India

Hi Joshi,

Did you receive the PIO? pls let know, i want to know if it takes less than 2 weeks.

[NBJoshi]

Hi

Yes, I got the PIO card yesterday! So end to end it took about 4 weeks. Find below the tra visa status updates

09/26/2011 4:01pm CST Service order form completed online
10/10/2011 12:41pm CST PIO application arrived in the mail at Travisa Outsourcing. Please allow Travisa Outsourcing up to 7 business days before the application status changes. Note that your application will undergo several steps before the status is updated.
10/12/2011 12:20pm CST Order form and supporting documents received, payment processed
10/12/2011 5:11pm CST Documents prepared to go to Embassy.
10/13/2011 8:42am CST Documents dispatched from Travisa Outsourcing Office to Consulate
10/13/2011 10:24am CST Documents received by Consulate
10/18/2011 2:00pm CST Pending approval of the Government of India
10/27/2011 9:39am CST Outsourcing office has verified the PIO is processed correctly. Waiting for mail courier pick up and is likely to be mailed out tomorrow.
10/28/2011 2:55pm CST Passport mailed out. Please note that the tracking information may not be active for up to 1 business day.

[venu417]

Received PIO in mail today

Thanks Joshi & Everyone,

I got the PIO in mail today. For the benefit of all on the forum, from the date i mailed the application to Travisa to the day i received the PIO in mail, it is solid 3 weeks processing time.

Date Applied: 10/18
Date of PIO reciept: 11/08

Cheers!
Venu

[adp]

Anyone applied during last week of Oct

I've applied for PIO card for my son on Oct 27th 2011 and I'm still waiting for approval.

Currently my status on Travisa says: Pending approval of the Government of India

I'm thinking of pulling off my passport and prob apply for a Visa, I might get the visa in 1 or 2 days.

If anyone has applied between Oct 21 - Oct 27 and got the PIO card, can you please post the details, so that I can estimate how long it takes for PIO to get approved.

[adp]

Rcvd PIO!!

Received PIO today in mail, just in time before our India trip!!

I'm impressed with the response time from the Houston consulate. Inspite of all the holidays in the month of November (11/07 & 11/10), it took about 13 business days to receive the PIO.

Looking at the time stamps, Travisa took about 4 days for processing the application and sending
it to the Indian consulate. Actual processing time by the Indian consulate was about 4-6 days.

===========

Oct 27 2011 - PIO application arrived in the mail at Travisa Outsourcing.
11/01/2011 - Order form and supporting documents received, payment processed
Documents prepared to go to Embassy.
11/02/2011 - Documents dispatched from Travisa Outsourcing Office to Consulate
11/02/2011 - Documents received by Consulate
11/07/2011 - Pending approval of the Government of India
11/15/2011 - Outsourcing office has verified the PIO is processed correctly.
Waiting for mail courier pick up and is likely to be mailed out tomorrow.
11/15/2011 - Passport mailed out. Please note that the tracking information may not be active for
up to 1 business day.

[ameya_sahasrabudhe]

Received the PIO in 2 weeks (NY consultate)

Date/Time Action
12/03/2011 7:53pm EST Service order form completed online
12/08/2011 3:36pm EST PIO application arrived in the mail at Travisa Outsourcing. Please allow Travisa Outsourcing up to 7 business days before the application status changes. Note that your application will undergo several steps before the status is updated.
12/08/2011 3:37pm EST Application assigned for processing
12/09/2011 11:20am EST Order form and supporting documents received, payment processed
12/09/2011 6:08pm EST Documents prepared to go to Embassy.
12/12/2011 8:34am EST Documents dispatched from Travisa Outsourcing Office to Consulate
12/12/2011 10:59am EST Documents received by Consulate
12/15/2011 2:00pm EST Pending approval of the Government of India
12/19/2011 10:39am EST Outsourcing office has verified the PIO is processed correctly. Waiting for mail courier pick up and is likely to be mailed out tomorrow.
12/19/2011 10:39am EST Passport mailed out. Please note that the tracking information may not be active for up to 1 business day

Notes for PIO applicants-
1. Don't leave any blanks on the form. Write N/A where not applicable, but don't leave it blank.
2. Return label - I first tried to print a FedEx label, but it either charges to your account or charges to your credit card. Travisa's FAQ cautions against charging to credit card. Overall, I found it confusing on FedEx website and when I went to their store, all they told me was to use their computer and do-it-yourself. They did not have an option where I could pre-pay by cash. I walked in UPS store and they had such an option where one could pay by cash. These are small things, but better to be prepared.

[Avinish]

Got my daughter PIO in 4 Working days flat

I shipped overnight, provided all documents well labeled with sticky notes so that travisa guys dont have to fumble to find any document.

Being the holiday season (christmas and new year vacations) the turnaround was quiet impressive.

Date/Time Action
12/27/2011 4:01pm EST Service order form completed online

12/28/2011 9:30am EST PIO application arrived in the mail at Travisa Outsourcing. Please allow Travisa Outsourcing up to 7 business days before the application status changes. Note that your application will undergo several steps before the status is updated.
12/28/2011 9:37am EST Application assigned for processing
12/28/2011 10:31am EST Order form and supporting documents received, payment processed
12/28/2011 5:28pm EST Documents prepared to go to Embassy.

12/29/2011 8:34am EST Documents dispatched from Travisa Outsourcing Office to Consulate
12/29/2011 10:02am EST Documents received by Consulate

01/03/2012 10:55am EST Outsourcing office has verified the PIO is processed correctly. Waiting for mail courier pick up and is likely to be mailed out tomorrow.
01/03/2012 11:18am EST Passport mailed out. Please note that the tracking information may not be active for up to 1 business day.