OCI process

[sting_hard]

Thank you all for the great responses. Does anyone know how long it's taking for Surrender and OCI these days approx if submitted at brampton walkin?

I applied surrender certificate at Bls brampton in person , it took around 40 days for my surrender certificate to arrive.
I chose courier delivery for my surrender certificate .

 

[sundeep_s_]

I applied surrender certificate at Bls brampton in person , it took around 40 days for my surrender certificate to arrive.
I chose courier delivery for my surrender certificate .

do you think it'll be faster if i chose to pickup instead of courier?

 

[manu.yoganand]

Does anyone have an idea one MEA/ CGI/ OCI website says - printed and dispatch and reached Toronto, how many days does it take to reach BLS and how many days for BLS to ship it out?

Hi!
After getting processed, within how many days did you receive your OCI?

 

[Nick~Nick]

Guys, quick question: "Professional Details of the applicant" is self declaration will be okay here or it has to come from our company where we're working with manager or HR signature ?
I tried to search for the answer in the forum but no clear answer.

 

[dushyant2809]

Just checked my OCI status and its under process today 26th May.

Submitted on 7th May @ Toronto BLS walk-in

 

[navid2014]

Guys, quick question: "Professional Details of the applicant" is self declaration will be okay here or it has to come from our company where we're working with manager or HR signature ?
I tried to search for the answer in the forum but no clear answer.

A self-declaration letter would be more than enough and carry '3' recent pay stubs, if BLS gives you a hard-time then you can hand-over it to them.

 

[souvik126]

You will have to travel on entry or tourist visa.
Adjusting status etc will be needed if you are planning to stay more than 6 months or beyond validity of your visa. Else you can use the visa to come back and use OCI for subsequent trips

Do we have any information that adjusting status is possible while in India. Say my wife need to travel urgently and has already applied for OCI which is obviously not going to come before 6-8 weeks but she can take an entry visa and travel. Can I bring her OCI later when I travel and adjust her status in India. My initial thought was she has to travel back and again travel with OCI as part of standard process but just interested if anyone has any experience on adjusting status while in India.

 

[jansh]

Can someone confirm if I can pick up my wife's Surrender certificate and passport from BLS Brampton?
Wife submitted the surrender application in-person sometime back and it's now ready for pickup but afternoon pickup time doesn't work with her schedule. If at all possible, is there a document that I need to show them? I understand she can ask them to courier it but I would rather pick it up myself.

Answering my own question as it may help others in future..

As a couple of people mentioned here, this can definitely be done. I was able to collect wife's SC & passport from BLS this week without any issue. In fact, while I was there a few other people were doing the same for their spouses/kids.
All you need is an authority letter (from here: https://www.blsindia-canada.com/toronto-jurisdiction/pdf/Authority_Letter.pdf) and a copy of id of the person going in to collect the documents (not sure if required but I got the id copy attested by the applicant).

 

[Radium]

I applied for Surrender certificate at BLS Calgary office on May 19th, and today May 26th, it says online, it’s been issued.

can someone tell what’s the current timeline for OCI card at CGI VAN?

 

[Craxyrider]

Thank you for the great info. Are you 100% sure that OCI and Surrender cannot be done together? I was really hoping that I can do that and be done with it!

@sundeep_s_ Ohh Yes, I am it was a reality until rules were changed in Dec 2021. I also confirmed with the People at BLS Counter about the change in rules. If you are planning to travel urgently then I'd recommend apply for SC and Entry Visa together with Canadian PP as it will be attached on the passport. If planning for OCI and not travelling anytime soon then better to apply for SC first as soon as you receive your Canadian citizenship certificate rather than wait for Canadian Passport as it will further cause a long delay for OCI application. You may be looking for about 4-5 months min to get OCI if waiting on Canadian PP. Otherwise you can cut the time into 3 months if you apply for SC before Canadian PP

Again, You can refer to my Signature for a timeline for SC (completed) and OCI (In Progress)

Good Luck

 

[hashish89]

Quick question: Is there any penalty while applying surrender certificate with expired indian passport?

Thank you

 

[Craxyrider]

Quick question: Is there any penalty while applying surrender certificate with expired indian passport?

Thank you

@hashish89 There is a grace period of 3 months after acquiring a different country citizenship to travel and to surrender your Indian Citizenship and Passport beyond which if used for travel there is a penalty levied depending on the gap between acquiring the foreign citizenship and the day it was surrendered.

 

[sundeep_s_]

@sundeep_s_ Ohh Yes, I am it was a reality until rules were changed in Dec 2021. I also confirmed with the People at BLS Counter about the change in rules. If you are planning to travel urgently then I'd recommend apply for SC and Entry Visa together with Canadian PP as it will be attached on the passport. If planning for OCI and not travelling anytime soon then better to apply for SC first as soon as you receive your Canadian citizenship certificate rather than wait for Canadian Passport as it will further cause a long delay for OCI application. You may be looking for about 4-5 months min to get OCI if waiting on Canadian PP. Otherwise you can cut the time into 3 months if you apply for SC before Canadian PP

Again, You can refer to my Signature for a timeline for SC (completed) and OCI (In Progress)

Good Luck

Wow, it took almost 20 days for you to receive your citizenship certificate?
Thanks for the info buddy. I'll definitely go for surrender certificate as soon as I get the citizenship cert. I have my oath on 1st June, and I have travel planned (booked ticket back in April) on June 17th. I hope my certificate will come much sooner than yours. Do you know if there's a facility for pickup instead of Mail for citizenship certificate? I was hoping that my cert will come in a week or so, and I can apply and get the passport the following week for travel! looks like it's going to be tough to pull off!
Good news is my tickets were booked for work by my company. so if I cannot travel, I won't lose money for the tickets

Also, I noticed that both times you went to BLS by appointment. Someone told me that walk-in is quite possible and easy for BLS, is that true?

 

[vivek.89]

OCI Application Timeline-Sent by Post to Brampton:
Delivered to BLS: April 11
BLS Status-Processing at Consulate: Apr 15
OCI Status-Under Process: May 5
OCI Status-Processed and Docs received in Toronto: May 26

BLS is still processing at Consulate. When should i expect the delivery at home?

 

[Hot2Cold]

Finally, OCI is back at BLS. Yay!

Full timeline is below:

Date	Status on BLS Tracker	Status on OCI Services Portal	Days since applied	Days elapsed
2022-04-02​	under process	No such record found		56​
2022-04-05​	Processing at Consulate General	No such record found	4​	53​
2022-04-27​	Processing at Consulate General	UNDER-PROCESS	26​	31​
2022-05-19​	Processing at Consulate General	PROCESSED	48​	9​
2022-05-20​	Processing at Consulate General	Dispatched From MEA (OCI ) NEW DELHI On 20-MAY-2022	49​	8​
2022-05-20​	Processing at Consulate General	Document received At TORONTO On 20-MAY-2022	49​	8​
2022-05-27​	(Counter Delivery to BLS Centre after OCI stamping)		56​	1​