Amid instances of unscrupulous elements overcharging members of the Indian community for consular services and other fraudulent activities, India’s mission in New York has cautioned against using such agents and highlighted measures undertaken by it to streamline visa, passport and other services for the diaspora.

Consul General of India in New York Binaya Pradhan told reporters here that several instances have come to the notice of the Consulate where various travel agents are “misusing people’s trust”.

They have been charging higher amounts of money in the name of providing services.

Such unscrupulous elements have overcharged applicants for assistance in getting Consular services such as Overseas Citizen of India (OCI), visa, passport, and an emergency certificate. Mr. Pradhan cited instances where travel agents have charged as much as $450 to provide an emergency certificate to travel to India, while such a service costs only $17.

The Consulate said it has also come across instances where fake documents about identity, residential address, and utility bills have been submitted by the agents on the applicants’ behalf, often without the knowledge of the applicant. The Consulate said that this not only causes undue avoidable delay but is also a violation of prescribed Indian rules and puts the applicants on the wrong side of the law in the U.S.

The agents “claim that they have a relationship with the Consulate,” Mr. Pradhan said, adding that “they put our community members in trouble by providing false documents, fake certificates.” Mr. Pradhan underscored that whether it is an Indian citizen, an American citizen, or an Indian-American person, they “don’t have to come to us through an agent. You can come to us directly for the services that we provide at the Consulate. There is no requirement of using an agent, and on top of that to pay money, which is exorbitantly higher,” Mr. Pradhan added.

Additionally, Mr. Pradhan noted that it has also been brought to the Consulate’s notice that several fake E-visa websites, claiming to provide such services, are active on the internet. To mislead the applicants, some of these websites have created images and home page templates mimicking the Government of India’s websites.

The Consulate strongly urged members of the community and diaspora to apply on the correct website for E-visa services and not go through any other portal listed on the internet.

The Consulate has issued an advisory to create awareness about not using the services of “unscrupulous elements” who have been overcharging and submitting fraudulent documents on behalf of applicants. It has also publicised the fees and charges for all the services provided to ensure applicants don’t end up paying higher amounts.

The New York Consulate serves the northeastern states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Pradhan noted that of the 5.4 million strong Indian diaspora in the U.S., about 2.5 million, or 40-45% of the total, live in these 10 states. Over 113,000 Indian students out of the 354,000 in the whole country study in universities in these 10 northeastern states.

Mr. Pradhan also highlighted a slew of measures undertaken by the Consulate to ensure efficient consular services, including digital initiatives for ease of availing services and digital assistance tools like ‘Pramit’, ‘Bharti Chatbot’, and mobile app. It also organizes an open house twice a month when applicants can walk in without prior appointment and meet the Consular Officers for any query they may have regarding the consular services.

Amid a string of tragic and concerning incidents involving Indian students in the US in the recent past, Pradhan emphasised that there has been a “special focus” on students. The Consulate’s approach has been to connect the student community to the larger Indian community so they get a “helping hand” in their initial months. In this regard, the Consulate developed a special platform for the students to find internship opportunities at companies in the US as well as provide access to attorney and medical information.

Deputy Consul General Varun Jeph added that under a recent initiative aimed at addressing the problems of students, the Consulate will host an open house twice a month when they can walk in without taking prior appointments and meet officials.

He called on students coming from India to register on the Consulate’s portals as that will give information about where the students are and how many “so that in case of an emergency, it’s much easier for us to reach out to them,” Mr. Jeph said adding that this also provides a “comfort level” to the students that they can reach out to the Consulate.

He reiterated that there is “absolutely no need” to go to agents at all for consular services and the applicants can avail of these services through the global visa outsourcing and technology service VFS.

“You can come to us, write to us, things are absolutely smooth. If there are any issues at all, we are here for the community.” On OCI cards, Mr. Pradhan noted that under the Consulate’s jurisdiction, there are about 1.5 million Indian-origin people who are American passport holders and of these, only about 600,000 have OCI cards.

“We have been encouraging Indian community members to have OCI cards. The OCI card is in a way a permanent visa. And more than that, it’s a better connect to the motherland,” Mr. Pradhan said.

The Consulate General of India building on East 64th Street December 13, 2013 2013 in New York.
| Photo Credit: AFP

The Indian Consulate in New York has announced that it will remain open throughout the year, including weekends and other holidays, to address the “emergency requirements” of people.

In a press release, the Consulate General of India, New York said that it will be open from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. during all holidays, with effect from May 10.

“The Consulate will remain open during all holidays (including Saturday/Sunday and other public holidays) from 2 pm to 4 pm to address emergency requirements of the general public w.e.f. May 10, 2024,” the release stated

“It is reiterated that this facility is for people with genuine emergencies and not for regular consular services,” it added.

The Indian mission advised the applicants to call the Consulate’s emergency helpline number: +1-917-815- 7066 before coming to the Consulate for any emergency service.

This is to ascertain the per-requisite of supporting documents for these services and to ensure that they fall in the category of emergency services, which cannot be postponed to the next working day of the Consulate.

Notably, the facility is only for emergency requirements of travel documents such as Emergency Visa, Emergency Certificate (for travel to India on same day) and transportation of mortal remains being sent the same day.

The applicant will be charged an emergency service fee for an emergency visa, as has been the practice, the Consulate General added.

New York:

The Indian Consulate in New York has announced that it will remain open throughout the year, including weekends and other holidays, to address the “emergency requirements” of people.

In a press release, the Consulate General of India, New York said that it will be open from 2 pm to 4 pm during all holidays, with effect from May 10.

“The Consulate will remain open during all holidays (including Saturday/Sunday and other public holidays) from 2 pm to 4 pm to address emergency requirements of the general public w.e.f. May 10, 2024,” the release stated.

“It is reiterated that this facility is for people with genuine emergencies and not for regular consular services,” it added.

New announcement

Consulate General of India, New York to remain open 365 days for emergency services.@binaysrikant76@MEAIndia@IndianEmbassyUS@IndianDiplomacy@ANI@PIB_India@ITVGold@tvasianetwork@CPVIndia@Newsweekpic.twitter.com/1FFvgOxiFC

— India in New York (@IndiainNewYork) May 10, 2024

The Indian mission advised the applicants to call the Consulate’s emergency helpline number: 1-917-815- 7066 before coming to the Consulate for any emergency service. This is to ascertain the per-requisite of supporting documents for these services and to ensure that they fall in the category of emergency services, which cannot be postponed to the next working day of the Consulate.

Notably, the facility is only for emergency requirements of travel documents such as Emergency Visa, Emergency Certificate (for travel to India on same day) and transportation of mortal remains being sent the same day.

The applicant will be charged an emergency service fee for an emergency visa, as has been the practice, the Consulate General added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Image used for representational purpose.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

An Indian student in the U.S. state of Ohio has died and police are investigating the case, India’s Consulate in New York said on April 5, the latest in a string of tragedies to shock the community in the country.

“Deeply saddened by the unfortunate demise of Mr. Uma Satya Sai Gadde, an Indian student in Cleveland, Ohio,” the Consulate General of India in New York said in a post on X.

The Consulate said that a police investigation into the death is underway, and it continues to remain in touch with the family in India.

“All possible assistance is being extended, including to transport Mr. Uma Gadde’s mortal remains to India at the earliest,” the consulate said.

Since the beginning of 2024, there have been at least half a dozen deaths of Indian and Indian-origin students in the U.S. The alarming rise in the number of attacks has caused concern among the community.

Last month, a 34-year-old trained classical dancer from India, Amarnath Ghosh, was shot dead in St Louis, Missouri.

Also read | Indian-American student freezes to death after being denied entry by a club near Illinois University

Sameer Kamath, a 23-year-old Indian-American student at Purdue University, was found dead in a nature preserve in Indiana on February 5.

On February 2, Vivek Taneja, a 41-year-old Indian-origin IT executive, suffered life-threatening injuries during an assault outside a restaurant in Washington, making it the seventh death of an Indian or Indian-American in recent months in the U.S.

The series of attacks on Indians and Indian origin persons/students had prompted the officials of the Indian Embassy in Washington and its consulates at various places to hold a virtual interaction with Indian students from across the U.S., discussing various aspects of student well-being and ways to stay connected with the larger diaspora.

About 150 Indian Student Association office bearers and students from 90 U.S. universities participated in the interaction led by Charge d’Affaires Ambassador Sripriya Ranganathan.

It was also attended by the Consul Generals of India in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Seattle.