FIA delegates with Consul General in New York Prabhu Dayal
NEW YORK: Lingering issues and concerns including rules regarding the surrender of Indian passport, the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card and other related matters of importance to the Indian American community were raised at meeting between members of the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) in the Tri-state and India’s Consul General in New York Prabhu Dayal.
At the meeting held May 2, the issue of Indian Passport Renunciation Certificate (IPRC) was greatly debated as it has become a prime document in submitting the applications for Indian visa, OCI certificate and other vital documents.
FIA strongly requested a charge of a $20 uniform fee for all the applicants for IPRC irrespective of when the applicant may have acquired US citizenship. At present Indian Americans who have acquired US citizenship prior to June 1, 2010 have to pay $20 plus $15 Travisa outsourcing fee to receive IPRC, and those who have acquired US citizenship on or after June 1, 2010 are required to pay $175 plus $15 Travisa service charges. “This is indeed discrimination and needs to be rectified,” the FIA said.
The FIA also asked that no penalty should be charged for applying late for a surrender certificate. At present there is a $250 penalty on applicants who acquired US citizenship after January 1 2005 for late application of the surrender certificate. “This is in contradiction to the general criteria specified by Government of India as of June 1, 2010 threshold. Retroactive effect of charging penalty is unethical, unjustifiable and grossly undermines the selfless patriotic role played by NRIs for decades,” the FIA said.
The FIA also points out that information available on websites of the different Consulate offices in the US and the Indian Embassy (Washington DC) website is inconsistent.
The FIA said that there should be uniform rules and regulations at all the Indian missions and that they should be implemented accordingly.
The FIA also asked for special travel agent windows at the offices at Travisa Outsourcing centers as well as at the consulate offices for passport renewals and other related matters including visas etc.
The Consul General promised to look into complaints of unprofessional and irresponsible behavior of staff at Travisa outsourcing centers experienced by the applicants. The FIA also insisted that the Travisa offices should have Indian staff members who are proficient in speaking and interpreting Indian languages.
Another matter of major concern that was brought up was of US passports being held by the outsourcing company while the OCI applications are being processed, as it hinders the applicant from traveling anywhere during that period. The FIA asked for a practical proposition to deal with this situation.
On his part, the Consul General pointed out that more than 5,000 OCI certificates have been approved by the various consulate offices but those could not be issued because the applicants did not submit their US passport with the application, and are not responding. “The submission of US passport along with OCI application has been made mandatory for this reason,” the Consul General explained.
The Consul General promised to review the merits of emergency situations to release US passport where it is absolutely needed for an individual to travel.
Although the Consul General emphasized that it was not required to carry the Indian Passport.
Renunciation Certificate while traveling to India, the FIA has strongly recommended everyone to keep a copy of IPRC to avoid confrontation at the airport.
India Post News Service
