OCI process

[man8243]

I submitted my OCI application in person at BLS Toronto [premium lounge] today and wanted to share a few observations that might help others:

1. e‑OCI is coming, but for now they confirmed that applicants will still receive a physical booklet.
2. Premium Lounge users can still choose pickup. They just ask you to sign a form and write “voluntary pickup” on it.
3. If you are using Premium Lounge, it’s actually better not to start the OCI application online yourself. I had pre‑filled mine but didn’t submit it. The BLS staff ended up changing several things anyway - for example, they removed my birth district (said it wasn’t needed) and selected “No” for the question about having relatives in India.

Overall, if you’re a former Indian citizen, the main thing they care about is whether
a. you have a surrender certificate.
b. your parents were also Indian citizens.

The application is pretty straightforward.

Premium Lounge helped me too in the same scenario. Somehow, I also made silly mistakes while doing my application online. The lady working in BLS mentioned them to me. I was visiting BLS from another city & premium lounge service saved me a trip.

 

[vkamath]

The card got dispatched from the printing cell - 8th June. Vancouver Consulate.

 

[milestogo]

The card got dispatched from the printing cell - 8th June. Vancouver Consulate.

Great that was quick with print June 5 and dispatched June 8th. Finally Vancouver is moving

 

[Tommyboy007]

I have submitted OCI in Toronto (no premium lounge) on May 6th 2026. Only change I see is it has been acknowledged by Indian Mission. Nothing has moved beyond that.
OCI Portal says - "UNDER PROCESS"
BLS says - "Processing at Consulate General"

Anyone with similar timelines in Toronto got any further updates?

 

[Canadian__eh]

@jagann @Canadian__eh @vkamath @man8243 - Please post the updates to help future applicants

For all the current and future Vancouver applicants: i summarized most recent timelines as below

	Submitted	Acknowledged	Granted	Printed	Received at BLS	In hand
Canadian_eh	Mar 5	Mar 7	May 22	June 3
Vkamath	Mar 12	Mar 14	May 25	June 5
Jagann	Mar 16	Mar 18	May 28
milestogo	Mar 24	Mar 27	June 3
Man8243	Mar 28	Mar 31	June 5

Dispatched from printing cell on June 4th. No status change on BLS tracker so far - still processing at consulate general.

 

[milestogo]

	Submitted	Acknowledged	Granted	Printed (Dispatched)	Received at BLS	In hand
Canadian_eh	Mar 5	Mar 7	May 22	June 3 (June 4)
Vkamath	Mar 12	Mar 14	May 25	June 5 (June 8)
Jagann	Mar 16	Mar 18	May 28
milestogo	Mar 24	Mar 27	June 3
Man8243	Mar 28	Mar 31	June 5

Jagann comes next for Printed

 

[vkamath]

Dispatched from printing cell on June 4th. No status change on BLS tracker so far - still processing at consulate general.

I am not sure where the printing cell is if its in Delhi, then take another week or so. If the printing cell is in SFO it should arrive this week. I was reading somewhere they have a printing cell in SFO but it was a FB post to take it with a grain of salt.

 

[bond7890]

I am not sure where the printing cell is if its in Delhi, then take another week or so. If the printing cell is in SFO it should arrive this week. I was reading somewhere they have a printing cell in SFO but it was a FB post to take it with a grain of salt.

Printing happens in Delhi, no matter where one applies from. OCI is under MHA not MEA.

 

[milestogo]

I am not sure where the printing cell is if its in Delhi, then take another week or so. If the printing cell is in SFO it should arrive this week. I was reading somewhere they have a printing cell in SFO but it was a FB post to take it with a grain of salt.

It takes 7-10 to reach BLS after dispatch seems that happens if printing is in Delhi.

 

[vkamath]

Printing happens in Delhi, no matter where one applies from. OCI is under MHA not MEA.

https://www.facebook.com/indianeagl...ed-and-printed-in-usagood-ne/812427387591404/ this is what i was referring to.

 

[bond7890]

https://www.facebook.com/indianeagl...ed-and-printed-in-usagood-ne/812427387591404/ this is what i was referring to.

Thanks for sharing. So could be, but probably not a verified news. For passports, definitely they are printed locally in some consulates. e.g: Toronto, but not Ottawa.

 

[veerG]

April 16, 2026 - Applied (In-Person) at BLS, Mississauga (Premium Lounge)
April 22, 2026 - Status Changed to "Under Process" on OCI Portal.
May 21, 2026 - Status Changed to "Granted" on OCI Portal.
May 27, 2026 - OCI Number was Generated
May 29, 2026 - OCI Card was Dispatched
June 05, 2026 - Status Changed to "In transit from Consulate General to BLS Centre" on BLS Website.
June 06, 2026 - Card was dispatched from BLS with the Purolator Tracking Information.
June 08, 2026 - Received the OCI Card by Post

Good luck everyone

 

[vkamath]

April 16, 2026 - Applied (In-Person) at BLS, Mississauga (Premium Lounge)
April 22, 2026 - Status Changed to "Under Process" on OCI Portal.
May 21, 2026 - Status Changed to "Granted" on OCI Portal.
May 27, 2026 - OCI Number was Generated
May 29, 2026 - OCI Card was Dispatched
June 05, 2026 - Status Changed to "In transit from Consulate General to BLS Centre" on BLS Website.
June 06, 2026 - Card was dispatched from BLS with the Purolator Tracking Information.
June 08, 2026 - Received the OCI Card by Post

Good luck everyone

Nice seriously someone at MHA or MEA should checks what wrong with Vancouver Consulate. its almost one month short. The Granted to Number generated for Ontario is 5 days where as it was almost to days for Vancouver.

 

[bond7890]

Nice seriously someone at MHA or MEA should checks what wrong with Vancouver Consulate. its almost one month short. The Granted to Number generated for Ontario is 5 days where as it was almost to days for Vancouver.

If i were to guess, I would say Toronto seems faster because it’s the largest and best‑resourced mission, so much so that it even has its own passport‑printing setup. Vancouver and Ottawa are much smaller and don’t have the same capacity, so everything, including passport and oci, takes longer there. I believe this problem is not specific to Vancouver.