The Consulate General of India New York has posted a public notice regarding the change of outsourcing service provider for visa and passport services in New York.
The existing service center of Cox & Kings Global Services (CKGS) located at 235 West, 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011 for providing outsourcing services for Visa, OCI, Renunciation, Passport and Global Entry Program (GEP) (Website: www.in.ckgs.us) was scheduled to shut down its operations at close of business on October 14, 2020.
According to the public notice, the new service provider, VFS Global will commence its operations from November 02, 2020.
Any applications received after October 16, 2020 at CKGS will be returned to the applicants without processing.
With effect from October 14, 2020 and till VFS Global commences its operations on November 02, 2020, the Consulate General of India, New York will provide services in emergency cases directly. Applicants falling under CGI, New York jurisdiction are advised to follow the instructions given below to avail emergency services.
⦁ Visa: Emergency visa will be issued to the eligible categories allowed to travel to India as per the advisories issued by the Government of India. Applicants for emergency visa may write an email to ⦁ [email protected] or through PRAMIT dashboard available on website www.indiainnewyork.gov.in explaining the exigency, The Consulate thereafter will inform you of the next steps.
⦁ Passport: For emergency passport services, applicants are requested to send an email to: [email protected] or through PRAMIT dashboard available on website: www.indiainnewyork.gov.in. Once the request has been approved by the Consulate, the applicant will be informed of the procedure for initiating application process. The approved applicants may send the completed form by postal mail to Consulate along with return pre-paid envelope for further processing.
⦁ Attestation Services: Miscellaneous Consular services such as Power of Attorney, Birth Certificate, PCC etc. shall be continue to be accepted by postal mail. These can be applied through the following link https://www.indiainnewyork.gov.in/Miscellaneous_general_info_new
⦁ OCI: All OCI services will remain suspended till the new service provider takes over on November 02, 2020.
The government of India has issued new instructions about the re-issuance of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Card and has granted extension of renewal time.
The following OCI guidelines have been in force since 2005:
OCI card is required to be re-issued each time a new passport is acquired by the
cardholder up to the age of 20 years.
OCI card is required to be re-issued once on acquiring a new passport after
completing 50 years of age.
The Government of India has decided to grant further extension in time till June
30, 2021 to get the OCI cards re-issued in accordance with above guidelines.
Who is an OCI?
According to the Indian government website, the following criteria applies:
A foreign national,
(i) who was a citizen of India at the time of, or at any time after 26th January, 1950; or
(ii) who was eligible to become a citizen of India on 26th January, 1950; or
The contact details of VFS Global, service fee details, operational hours, website etc. will be published on Consulate’s website shortly.
In case of any further query, it may please be addressed through PRAMIT dashboard available on www.indiainnewyork.gov.in.
