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Indo American News • Friday, June 17, 2011
IamCommunityNews
Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com
Visa Revisions Revealed by Indian Consulate Officers HOUSTON: On June 11, India House hosted a town hall meeting with the Consulate General of India. Eight consulate officers and consulate staff were present there and approximately 200 people attended. Vice Consul Manchand welcomed all with opening remarks and requested questions in writing. Consul Anil Matta gave a owpoint presentation showing consular activities and statistics of the last four years the number of states and people served and also data of visas issued including, PIO and OCI. The Consulate officials said that analyzing the data showed that the services given by the consulate were almost same in 2008, 2009 and 2010. and there were no problems until May 2010. However, after May 2010, the retroactive and hastily instituted Surrender Certificate rule created inefficiencies at the consulate and gave all kind of hardship, inhumane treatment, harassment, disrespect for Indian Diaspora.
The Consulate Staff announced that starting from June 15, the Indian consulate will not require holding current US passport to be submitted with OCI application. This decision was welcomed as it has been a source of the protests and fasts that have been held over the past few months. In the community feedback, it seemed that the majority of people did not like the Travisa service and felt that it added one more roadblock to get consular services, all with additional cost. P e o p l e also complained that Travisa is very rude. Another issue that stood out is the need to provide dedicated telephone lines to answer inquiries. The Consulate promised to look in to it. Third party agents explained that US corporations and busy individuals have to use their services as part of their business dealings and requested the consulate to recognize their role and legitimacy in the process.
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Indo American News • Friday, JUNE 17 , 2011 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com