All the Indian consular procedures

Procedures

India runs nine consulates in the United States, and a good deal of what people bring to them is handled somewhere else entirely. These nineteen guides say which is which, and what each one costs.

The busiest question in the whole subject is how to renew an Indian passport, and the answer is that the consulate does not take the application: VFS Global does, and has since 2014.

The second and third busiest are asked by Americans travelling to India, and neither of them passes through a consular counter either.

The nineteen guides

Passports and travel documents

Visas and entry

Citizenship and the OCI card

Certificates and notarial acts

What you can settle without going

  • You can apply for an e-Visa on the official portal, with no appointment and no office visit.
  • You can fill in the passport, OCI and renunciation forms online before anything is posted.
  • You can book the VFS appointment, or post the file to the VFS centre instead.
  • You can download and print the surrender certificate once it is issued.
  • You can register with the consulate so it can reach you in an emergency.
  • You can raise a grievance on MADAD, the government’s consular complaints portal.
  • You can check an OCI or passport application from the reference number alone.
  • You can get a PAN card from the Indian tax department, which no consulate issues.
  • You can pay the government fee online where the portal allows it.
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