Complaints galore against Cox & Kings, BLS at meet organized by GOPIO.
By The American Bazaar Staff
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT: India’s Consul General in New York, Ambassador Dnyaneshwar Mulay met Democrat Congressman Jim Himes, Stamford Mayor David Martin, and Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling, last month, when he came with senior Consul officials to attend a reception organized by the Connecticut chapter of Global Organization of People of Indian origin (GOPIO).
Mulay briefed the elected officials on the Indian elections and the new government’s initiative to attract more foreign direct investment in defense and insurance, according to a press release issued by GOPIO.
He also highlighted the cooperation between some cities in America and India, including possible cultural and educational exchanges. A proposal was mooted to have Stamford have a ‘sister-city’ relation with Pune in Maharashtra, and similarly for Norwalk to have a tie-up with Mysore in Karnataka.
Himes, a member of the India Caucus, has traveled to India several times before his election as a Congressman. He said that he would visit India soon, in his official capacity.
At the community reception and interactive meeting, held at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Stamford, Mulay was accompanied by his fellow Consuls Ajay Purswani (Passport/Visa) and Dhirendra Singh (OCI/PIO and Community Affairs).
In his address, Mulay spoke on the new business and investment opportunities in India after the new government came into power.
In the interactive session on the issuance of Visa/Passport/OCI/PIO card documents, many issues and problems were brought to the attention of Purswani and Singh. These included complaints with previous outsourcing agency BLS and the new agency Cox and Kings.
A festering complaint is that Cox and Kings can’t be reached over the phone and their tracking systems does not work well, just like BLS. Other complaints included the outsourcing agencies losing passports, not sending the documents back by mail or Fedex even though it was paid for, lengthy waiting time at their offices, and waiting in the street for hours to get into the office. People in attendance requested the Consuls to streamline these processes.
It was also brought to the notice of the Consuls that the application process itself was very cumbersome. There are too many forms to fill up, need for several photos and several copies of affidavits with photos. It was suggested to use online filing with digital photo or use a couple of photos on the forms. Other issues discussed included, rules on renunciation of old passport and particularly for those who had become American citizens long time back, reapplying for OCI cards at the age of 20 and 50 and rules governing OCI card, if the passport expired. Many times applicants were told at the immigration counters in India that they had to get new OCI card. The consuls told the audience that one needs to take the old passport where the visa is stamped.
Singh told the audience that for those holding OCI cards after the age of 20 and 50, one needs to reapply for OCI card only when the current passport is expired.
Purswani said that in case of an emergency one could visit the consulate to get a visa. Mulay and Consuls said that the services from the previous outsourcing agency BLS International were inadequate. They are monitoring the new agency Cox and Kings on their services now.
At the community interactive session, GOPIO-CT President Shelly Nichani welcomed the gathering. The program was coordinated by GOPIO Founder President Dr. Thomas Abraham and was attended by GOPIO International President Ashook Ramsaran.
1 Comment
Exactly!!!!!!