Consulate General of India

This website information is totally wrong, no contact info, no website.
They say «* CKGS website containing contact details including telephone and Email will be operational with effect from Monday, 2 May 2016. — See more at:
.org»
They never opened this website, no contact info available, no response received, no email help. We had in need of urgent to apply for passport, these mindless fellows never respond.
Iam not sure, who they are getting paid for NOT responding, NOT working. Worst Pass port office i ever seen, FIRE these PEOPLE

Wish there was a zero star. I used their passport service. Warning. They will loose your ORIGINAL passport and money order and email you saying that I didnt sent it. Emailing the houston jurisdiction back is of no use. Not sure if the houston bls number is working or not. I called them several times during the weekdays and working hours, and the automated voice says hours are 8– 5 30. Guess what they never pick phone calls. They play awesome sitar music of ravi shankar but there ends the fun. Either you hang up or talk to walls. I hate hate and absolutely hate this service. No wonder there are several Indians in US who never want to return or go back to homeland. The service is so poor… They havent responded to my email to Houston jurisdiction. It is better to apply for a under developed country passport than Indian passport. It is not worth the wait. Employees here– guess what there are thousands of people waiting for gc’s and foreign citizenships for the same reason!!! I wish there was a negative star option here on Unilocal.Hope you guys realize that you are the only help we have when we are in foreign land and you are of NO USE! no help whatsoever…

Just pray you never have to deal with these people. I’ve had the unfortunate luck of having to come here twice and an anal bleaching sounds pleasant than having to deal with the rude and frequently incompetent staff. The staff is Indian and they act as if they hate Indians. Guess what? Give the job to white people then!

Ok My experience trying to renew my passport under Tatkal using the BLS-​India agency at the Consulate of India at Houston, Tx.
1. Tatkal walk-​in timings were 10 — 12 at the BLS agency. No appointments are required. (Wasnt clear in the website)
2. They take only cash or drafts for $ 241.20 so had to go to an atm to withdraw the cash (Dont have a credit card machine)
3. They couldnt tell if my application would be accepted under tatkal till i visited Houston. (I emailed houston@bls-india but got a very haphazard answer!)
4. Typical wait time for bls india houston 201 205 2096 phone is atleast 30 mins
5. They agreed they can provide the passport the same day and i shd collect it from a different location (the consulate) and wrote that i can go there after three. I reach there at 3 30 but they are closed until 4. 4 — 6 is their timings
6. Please pay very close attention while collecting the passport — the workers at the consulate are very careless and definitely not paying attention to what they are being paid to do. Every person before me had name corrections because they either messed up their names, merged their first name and last name together and what s worse is the lady on the other side confidently states that s what was provided on the application form. The same thing happened with me with my mom s name — they misspelled it.
Truly the worst representation of India in the US. Pity this is their behaviour in the US …

UPDATED LOCATION: The new office is located at 4300 Scotland Street, Houston, TX 77 007.
Reasons why I am VERY disappointed in the move from Post Oak to Scotland Street:
Far Parking:
Parking is far away and makes it very difficult for elderly to be brought in for paperwork. You literally have to drop the person off on the curb, have them stand and wait while you park, then take them inside. The parking lot folks said that you can’t leave the car standing, you aren’t allowed to park in the spots close to the entrance, and we even saw an officer writing tickets. WHAT ABOUT THE ELDERLY?
No elevator:
There is no elevator available to the public, only for personnel. My 90+ grandparent had to climb up and down their staircase. What about ADA compliance? How would someone in a wheel chair or crutches be serviced at the Indian Consulate? What about a mother with a stroller? Seriously, I question their move from the Post Oak building that was ADA accessible.
No restroom:
There is no public restroom, only for personnel. Luckily, some kind soul behind the counter realized that my 90+ grandparent might have an accident if they didn’t let my grandparent use the restroom for personnel.

I needed to get a POA and needed to mail my passport. Reading the reviews all over the internet, I decided to call but as everyone mentioned none of the phones are ever picked up. I called over a week.
I was very skeptical about getting the work done, worse I was more concerned about my passport. I even considered flying instead of mailing my passport but it would have cost me fifteen hundred dollars.
So I fedex-​ed my passport across and the consulate completed and my passport delivered back within a week! That was just awesome!
Phones don’t work, but sure they do their job.

I have mixed feelings about this place. For one, there is no point in reviewing a place when you have no other options. So will just post my experience and hope it helps.
The staff was very helpful but were at the mercy of the system in India. They have to face the ire of dozens of un-​reasonable people everyday and perform their job admirably. Thank you.
I had to renew my wifes passport under the tatkal option since she had to travel in 4 days. I was able to get the passport done without my wife having to be there.
I got a room at the hilton right opposite on Priceline for $ 60. It is very convenient. Walked across the street to the consulate on the 6^th floor at about 8Am. There were about 5 people ahead of me. The doors opened at about 8:45 at which time there were about 15 – 20 people behind me on a Monday. There were no tokens and you just stand in one of 2 lines for passports or misc services.
They promptly opened the counters at 9AM and was able to see the officer in 15 min. I submitted my documents and was asked why I wanted to do the tatkal. I told her about the emergency and they accepted the application and asked me to wait for about 30 min for the approval and the pay the money in the form of a postal money order (they also take cash).
And now my misery begins. An hour later, we are told that the system in Delhi was down and we couldn’t get the approval that day. We were given the option of leaving the application with them and they would approve it when available and have it couriered, or take the application back and come back the next day and try our luck with no guarantee. I didnt want to risk submitting the passport and not getting it back by Friday when my wife was to leave.
I decided to abort the process and took my application and drove back to Dallas. I called the next morning and they said the system was up and running again. So I decide to drive back to houston the same night. I didnt get the Hilton this time though. Ended up at a clarion a few miles away.
Wednesday morning. at about 8AM I was the first in line. By about 9 there were maybe 10 other people. I was the first at the counter and the same lady took my application and wished me luck. 30 min later she looks at me and says that the system was down again. She asked me to come back after lunch and try my luck. At 2 PM or so the counters opened again and they finally had the system up. I paid the money and came back at 4 and picked up the passport. What a relief.
1000 miles and 16 hours of driving, $ 150 in hotel bills and hours of misery.. that was 1 expensive passport :)
Just be warned that although the Tatkal scheme allows for your passport to be done the same day, it may not always be available.

We had a very good experience. Maybe all the negative reviews set the expectations :)
Had my wife’s passport to be renewed. Went to the consulate at 9:05 AM, out by 10:00 AM — stood in the line, when our turn arrived — we were asked a few documents, provided them, we were asked to wait for 45 mins for an approval. Got the approval in 30 mins — they said we can collect the passport at 4:00 PM.
Went back to consulate at 4:00 PM, collected the passport at 4:10 PM, verified details and we were on our way back.
Documents provided for renewal:
(1) Old Passport in original
(2) Application form fully filled up with 2 PP photos of 2″ x 2″ & signed at 3 locations
Application form had India address since that is what we wanted on the Passport
(3) Address Proof in the US (Drivers License, copy of lease agreement)
(4) Bankers check for $ 190 ($ 150 for tatkal + $ 40 — regular passport)
(5) Copy of US visa stamping on the passport
(6) Notarized Copy of Marriage certificate
– thats it — we carried a lot more documents like degree certificate, Visa petition … just in case, but the process was far simpler than we thought.
Parking space:
If you are driving to the office — parking is a bit difficult, there is one parking spot behind the One Post Oak building, it is a unpaved parking lot which is about 2 mins from the consulate office
Service
Did not feel that the service was rude — there were 2 ladies at the counter, both were polite and respectful. I have been to the US consulate and the feel that the Indian consulate experience was way too better than the US consulate.
Jai Hind !