Indian PCC from Chicago

Express Entry PCC
1

Hi guys, this is my first post here. I was wondering how I should request an Indian PCC while staying in the USA for less than 10 years. I live in Michigan (under Chicago consulate?) but the website does not mention any details about the application process through mail. Should I just drive to Chicago and apply in-person? Do I need to send my original passport for the PCC if through mail? If so, when would I receive my passport back?
Thank you

2

I would suggest apply for PCC in Chicago in person. You will need to submit your passport to the Consulate. If your passport verification was done in India and everything was ok, then you will get the PCC within a day. Otherwise it can take longer (sometimes months).

I travelled from Detroit to Chicago early in the morning in Feb 2019, reached the Consulate by 9AM, received PCC and passport by 4PM. My only reason to do it in person was that I was unwilling to part with my Passport for too long and did not completely trust FedEx/UPS with my precious passport.

If you are planning to do that now then you might want to take into account the impact of pandemic on processing times and plan accordingly. It might not be as easy it was for me.

3

Thanks for the reply. Apparently the consulate is closed for walk-ins as confirmed by the consulate personnel. I was wondering if its ok to send my original passport to the consulate given that people have been facing delays in receiving their PCC and documents they sent. Will me sending my passport impact any other step in the PR process? would I need my passport for anything else?

4

Seems like you have no other option but to send your passport in the mail.
You will be required to send your passport later on when the they are ready to send the CoPR. You will be asked to send in the passport along with 2 passport size photographs to Ottawa. They will stamp a one entry immigrant visa on the passport.
But this comes AFTER the PCC has been submitted. You will need it for providing biometrics as well. It works as identity proof and to associate their case to your requests.

5

Thanks. Could you kindly tell me how to get my documents notarized. Especially during the pandemic if you have any idea.

6

Some UPS/FedEx stores have employees who are authorized to notarize documents. Search online on their sites. It is usually around $10 per doc.

7

@ToORAGe. I have recently sent all documents to Chicago Consulate for PCC. I spoke to them and they told me that original passport is not needed.

Its been 3 days since my package was delivered but I do not see any progress on the online tracker. Can you share your experience with the process and how long did it take? Were you keeping an eye on the online tracker?

8

@prashant89, I had to apply for PCC for myself and my wife and we had to send our original passports to the consulate. After almost 2 weeks we received our passports and our PCC certificates from the consulate. Almost 10 days after we sent the documents, a police officer was sent to our addresses for the background check. We did not have any online tracking info.

9

For everyone applying at Chicago:

  • You do not need to send in original passport. I have called and confirmed with the consulate.

  • Make sure the address you give in India is where your family member is residing and they have some sort of address proof to provide for police verification. (Like Electricity or Gas Bill)

  • The address you give in India can be different than what is mentioned in passport. But someone needs to be staying there.

  • Lot of banks are not doing notary on documents requested by Consulate. So I got notary done at a Moneygram (money exchange) office in downtown. They charged me $1 per page.

  • There is online status tracker on passport Seva website. Please use this.

  • After there was no update for few days I emailed consulate for update. They immediately started process and online tracking was activated.

  • Police verification is all about luck. For me they needed it. It started in 2 days after they started my process. Police officer in Hyderabad did not call my parents and just went home.

  • Verification was done in 1 day.

  • PCC was printed and shipped in next 2 days.

Total days taken is about 12 Days for me from time of submission. But I had to follow up and make sure they started the process. Online tracker at passport Seva website is a major help.

I hope this information helps others.