Indian Passport Renewal - VFS San Francisco

[simple.life]

Just renewed the passport at sfo. Received 10 yr new passport in 10 business days/2 weeks. I went in person. Good turnaround time by consulate/vfs.

It has USA address on it.

[secureid]

Great!
I have also applied to them by post on 11 Jul. Hoping to get the passport by next week. The status on VFS says-Application has been forwarded to the High Commission/Consulate General on 12/07/2012.
BTW if you checked, what all stages your application went through?

[cricfan]

I sent the required docs by mail on Jul 3rd. It reached on Jul 5th.
The status on VFS says-Application has been forwarded to the High Commission/Consulate General on 07/07/2012.
It's been almost a month with no additional updates. I need to travel in 4 weeks. I am starting to get worried.

[shreekhand]

Originally Posted by cricfan

I sent the required docs by mail on Jul 3rd. It reached on Jul 5th.
The status on VFS says-Application has been forwarded to the High Commission/Consulate General on 07/07/2012.
It's been almost a month with no additional updates. I need to travel in 4 weeks. I am starting to get worried.

Call them (it only goes to their India based call center)... I had to call them 3 times (with each time them mentioning - your request has been forwarded to the appropriate VFS center; wait for 3/2/1 business day/s). Also call/email the consulate directly.

VFS' website is extremely unprofessional - non-working links, incomplete information etc. It is clear that they have re-used it from their operations from other countries (use of words courier, dispatch, High-Commission for example !)

[simple.life]

the status goes from "forwarded to High Consulate" to "Received from High Consulate"

[fatboysam]

Does anyone know if "forward to high consulate" mean documents are OK ?
Do VFS guys check all the docs before sending to consulate ?

[simple.life]

yes docs are checked prior to fwd to Consulate.

vfs folks need to do some work besides shuffling and forwarding papers!

[reagles]

Hi, i am applying for a passport renewal with san francisco as its due to expire in APR 2013. I filled up the forms at VFS and will be sending the request for renewal by mail. The San Francisco website calls out for a 43$ renewal fee + 3$ VFS mailing fee. It also give the the option that the appicant may send a pre-paid return envelope...Its a bit confusing (at least to me) So my questions are:

1. If I choose not to incude the return envelope, I need to include the money order for 46$ and VFS will send the passport by mail using their standard mailing procedure...is that correct ?

2. If I choose to include a pre-paid return envelope, then I need to incude the money order for 43$ and VFS will send the new passport in the return envelope...I can use the tracking # from the prepaid envelope I guess ...is the amount/process in this question correct ?

3. what is recommended...standard VFS mail option with 46$ Money order or the pre-paid envelope option with 43$ money order...

Please advise from your renewal by mail experience ?

[mild4u]

I don't have done this personally via vfs but from the information on their website, I think $3 is the FVS service fee and not the mailing fee.
From their website:

Please Send your prepaid, return envelope if you wish, your processed application, is returned to you by post. Please do not send money / money order / include postage cost in the money order, we are not purchasing courier for the applicants on USPS. Applications expecting service of this nature may face infinite delays.

So you need to send the return envelop if you want are not going to pick-it up personally and want them to return it via post.

[fatboysam]

Originally Posted by mild4u

I don't have done this personally via vfs but from the information on their website, I think $3 is the FVS service fee and not the mailing fee.
From their website:



So you need to send the return envelop if you want are not going to pick-it up personally and want them to return it via post.

Return envelope or prepaid shipping label ?

[mild4u]

It will be a return envelop that has pre-paid label on it.
You can ask the USPS or Fedex or your preferred carried how it works.

[fatboysam]

I just got my passport back, I only send them prepaid Fedex shipping label, and I didnt had any issues

[vaxvms]

Mailed application; need to travel in 3 weeks; what are my options?

I mailed my re-issue application a week ago to VFS (SFO) and saw their confirmation that they forwarded to Consulate General on 9/11. But, now I need to travel (non-medical, personal reason) in first week of Oct. That leaves 3 weeks time between when they received it and when I need it back. What can I do?

[fatboysam]

Originally Posted by vaxvms

Mailed application; need to travel in 3 weeks; what are my options?

I mailed my re-issue application a week ago to VFS (SFO) and saw their confirmation that they forwarded to Consulate General on 9/11. But, now I need to travel (non-medical, personal reason) in first week of Oct. That leaves 3 weeks time between when they received it and when I need it back. What can I do?

Its doable, little bit tight though

[vaxvms]

Originally Posted by fatboysam

Its doable, little bit tight though

How long did it take you from them "forwarding" and you receiving? The website CGI SF Home says 6-7 weeks