CKGS Visa Application Centre New York — Local services in New York

These 5 star reviews are all fake. I've been to this place several times and it's always the same experience. The people there seem nice in the beginning but they communicate in a very inefficient manner. They are not helpful in any manner and it's hard to trust what they say always. You'll end up going there several times to fix issues that could've been prevented if they just looked at your application and see what your situation is like.

Everyone who comes to this place always leaves angry and it's a miracle when you can go in with your documents for visa or for other matters and come out getting what you want.

My wife has been trying to get a Tourist visa for months now. We did the initial application and they said we need to renunciate her Indian passport because she was born in India. Fine, we filled an all new application nearby FedEx and came in an hr with the documents in the check list. We didn't have her Indian passport or mother's naturalization certificate. We left the place knowing once they get those two documents the visa application will proceed and finally get the tourist visa. We are literally going to India for a week. That's it.

Her mom doesn't have a certificate but CKGS said it was okay to send a notarized letter from mom saying she does not have a certificate and why she does not have it. All documents went there within 2 days. We kept following online and all we saw was good progress. Figured everything was okay. Last week we got a text message and email application has been approved. Only to realize they were just sending us all the documents back because it has been over 20 something days. And they kept asking for the mom's naturalization certificate over and over when that document doesn't exist. We asked what else they need and they say "the application is closed now so reapply again." What?

If I just redo the application you are going to tell me the same thing. How hard is it to tell me what to do earlier so I can start preparing for it? Really how hard is that.

Now my wife is going to take a day off school and work to this hell hole that should not exist and go through this process again hoping we can go in 2 weeks. I'm completely surprised that this place has yet to make someone go violent in a large manner. It really shouldn't be this hard to get a...

While most of the users had bad experiences here, I fortunately had a very pleasant and positive experience with CKGS NY. I applied OCI for my new born through CKGS,NY center through mail and I got the OCI in hand in 50 calendar days (4th May to 22 Jun). I had a situation where in after submitting for passport match up i need to relocate immediately. I called the CKGS,NY call-center and spoke with San* and Su* (full name masked). Initially both declined saying there is no such option exist to change address, but later upon explaining my situation, they put me on hold for few minutes to discuss with their manager and cameback saying they could help me in this case, though their website says they would not entertain such situations. They both went and escalated my situation(though I never asked them to do so) and made sure my situation was addressed. Today I am very happy that the above two person helped me end to end to get the OCI in hand.

Though I am very happy CKGS NY helped in my last minute request, I do have few issues listed below which CKGS,NY should look into to give positive experirence across everyone

On one particular day I tried reaching them atleast 100 times and phone call wont go through. It just hangs up or says too many calls. There could be an option of calling back, when situation demands. Unfortunately when I was in call with one of the call center guys my phone got switched off due to low battery and i need to again wait 3 hours inline to get connected to different person. Though I had a positive and courteous experience with above two person I mentioned, somewhere the process went wrong on CKGS NY and they shipped to old address, though by phone/email I received oral/written confirmation that the passport+OCI will be sent to correct address. As said before it took above two person to go over and above their responsibility to correct it in last minute,hold the Fedex delivery and reroute the shipment to new address.

Barring the last minute hiccups, Overall I had a pleasant experience with CKGS,...

I wish I could give no star and still write this review. But the system wont let me, hence 1 star. I have had the most horrible experience with CKGS last week. I had sent in my already expired Indian passport for renunciation and added an extra $15/- for Fedex return delivery. I have been getting emails from CKGS about how my application has been progressing and have been thinking all along "Vow! This is definitely a sign of progress. Even USCIS was not this efficient when I had to get my H1Bs! " When I finally get my Fedex package, I find out that it is SOMEONE ELSE'S PASSPORT with a sticker on the back with my name on it!!!! When I called them and explained what I am seeing in front of me, it took them a while to figure out what happened. I asked them if they knew where my passport was, and after putting me on hold multiple times, they said it was still at the consulate's being processed! So I said "then why was I getting these updates saying that the processing was over and the renounced passport was on its way to me? And why is there a sticker on the back of Mr. X's passport with my name and application number on it?" Of course they did not have an answer to those questions! To make matters worse, I had to take the wrong passport to Fedex office to mail it to the rightful owner because apparently he was leaving for India in 2 days! CKGS emailed me his Fedex mailing label but then decided to SEND MY PASSPORT BY USPS EVEN THOUGH I PAID IT TO BE SHIPPED FEDEX! Now when I am putting the USPS tracking number in USPS website, it shows that the package is not yet in the system. Only the label has been created- meaning that they have not mailed my passport yet! This is horrible service- I do not know where my old Indian Passport or my renunciation certificate is! Is the package still in their office? Is it en-route? I am really tempted to travel to NYC to submit my paperwork for OCI because I am so afraid that somewhere someone will screw...