Why your application goes to VFS Global
Since 2014 the Government of India has outsourced the front counter for its document services in the United States. VFS Global runs the Indian Consular Application Centres, and they are where applications are submitted, checked and paid for.
What VFS does and what the consulate keeps
| VFS Global | The consulate |
|---|---|
| Passports and renewals | Attestation and notarial acts |
| Visas on the paper route | Emergency certificates |
| OCI applications, updates and reissues | Life certificates for pensions |
| Renunciation and surrender certificates | Registration of birth and marriage |
| Police clearance applications | Anything genuinely urgent |
Why two consulates publish the VFS address as their own
Chicago's front page gives 180 North Stetson Avenue and Atlanta's gives 1200 Altmore Avenue. Both are VFS centres. Both consulates are somewhere else, at 455 North Cityfront Plaza Drive and 5549 Glenridge Drive respectively. Neither site says which is which.
In Seattle they share a building and differ by suite. In Washington there are three addresses in play, because the embassy's chancery and its consular section are also in different buildings.
Cities with a VFS centre and no consulate
Dallas, Detroit, San Jose, Raleigh and Columbus have an application centre without a consulate. For a passport or an OCI that is the only building you need. For an attestation it is not.
- Work out whether your service is a VFS one or a consular one
- Check the suite number as well as the street
- The $19 service charge is on top of everything else
- Files can be posted to VFS as well as delivered
- A query on your file comes back through VFS, not the consulate
Posting a file rather than delivering it
Every VFS centre accepts applications by post, and for someone in Nebraska whose consulate is 1,659 miles away that is not a convenience, it is the only route. The centre returns the documents the same way.
Send it trackable. A passport lost in the post is a police report, an emergency certificate and a very bad month.
What VFS cannot do
It cannot decide anything. Staff check that the file is complete and take the fee; approval and refusal are the consulate's. Asking a VFS counter why a file was refused produces a referral, not an answer.