Police clearance from Indian embassy at Washington DC

[dondon]

This is frustrating...I'm waiting to know the actual process before I send the documents and it seems I am just wasting my time.

[dondon]

Pasi...how much did you send the demand draft for?
It says $20 for each applicant but if yuou want to send application for your spouse also is it just $40 or more?

[Pasi]

I think it is just $20 per person. I am single and wanted it done only for me. So I sent $20 only. Also check for the return mail charges if you are planning to send your passport by mail.

[Pasi]

And no update from the embassy as of today.. I am not sure if they had even started the process. Only thing I know is that my form has reached the embassy.. Fedex tracking showed that it has been delivered to the embassy.

[dondon]

Any update Pasi?

[Pasi]

no dude. no reply to my email. I thought of calling them today, but got busy at office. will try calling them tomorrow and let you know. I dont have hopes that my call will be answered.

[Pasi]

I got my IELTS results last weekend. That was the only thing I was waiting for. I am thinking of applying without the Indian PCC with a cover letter and I will get it from India when I go in Jan.

[rk2009]

Sorry did not see this thread earlier.

We did our PCC from the embassy of washington. As we and many others have experienced, they do not respond to e-mails or phones. The only way it works is to visit the embassy and spend a half day there.

Here's the process as we experienced it.

Visit the Indian Embassy Consular wing in Washington DC with print out of the PCC form available at their website, with a picture on each form and original passports. Submit the documents at the counter with a fee of $20/person. You will receive a receipt of the fee paid, keep it safe as it will also have your passport number and you need to show this receipt to retrieve the passport and stamped forms back.

The embassy accepts application from 9 to 12 in the morning, however you can collect the passports only between 4 to 5 PM. We receved our passport back in 18 days. The lady at the counter had asked me to check back in 3 weeks and that they do not tell the status on a call or online, we just need to check ourselves and come back if PCC is not ready. We got lucky to have received it in just one trip after 18 days.

Having experienced the service, we decided to pick up the passport ourselves and not believe their mailing abilities.

Having said all this I gues the OP was from out of town, so you maybe able to impress upon them to provide you a number or ask them to communicate somehow so that you can check. At the least, you may be able to come back in 3 weeks and get the letter.

Unsure if it answers everything but this was our personal experience.

[Pasi]

rk2009, Thanks for your inputs. my position is that, I am travelling to India on Jan 7th and I cannot submit my passport to the embassy now. Thats the reason I am trying to see if they can do it with a notarized copy of the passport. If not, I will get this done from Indian passport office while I am there.

[rk2009]

Yup,

thats cutting it too close, given the holidays etc. your best bet maybe india then.

[Pasi]

Hi all, today I got a package from DC embassy. They had returned my application with a notice mentioning that they need my original passport. Looks like they are not ready to do the verification with the notarized copy.

[dondon]

Ouch...that's not good.  Did they include any other message regarding process & processing times?
What are you planning to do now?  Can we submit the application and include Indian PCC later?

[rk2009]

yeah they accept only original passports, its unfortunate but thats how things are. They don't go beyond the rules and procedures.

[Pasi]

dondon, yes I am planning to do it that way only. I am ready with all other documents. So I will go ahead and submit them now. I am going to India on Jan 7th and will be there for a month. So trying it from there would be my next option. I am sure it is not going to be a problem getting it from there.

[sk.aggarwal]

Thanks Pasi for the update. Was planning to send notarized copies of passport but later send originals after reading abt your experience. I am sorry for the trouble embassy caused.