Consulate General of India

The most terribly managed embassy !
People are disorganized here that they don’t care about your time nor their time. I hope some one takes care of this issue and assign new staff. They talk so rude. I suggest people to go to other Indian consulate rather than wasting their time and money coming over to this place.

My experience was mixed here. This review is specifically for the lady who sits in counter 8 from monday-​thursday. she was very rude and was not at all informative. i lost my passport and needed a letter to the local police station, and this lady was being extremely rude and used to yell and shout if i asked any question. I had to come in several times because she was giving conflicting information every time or finding something new wrong every time she checks my documents.
I later came in on a friday and there were other ladies tin the counter that day and they were extremely pleasant to work with and immediately processed my request. Kindly replace people like the lady in counter 8 who is extremely rude and not at all informative.

Consulate General of India, NYC — They are the Best
Before I share my experience just one learning I got is «Never lose your hope and keep trying».
I had a valid visa and my Wife’s visa extension has been filed almost 5 months back, So looking at the rules for OCI (it needs at least 3 months valid visa of parents) I decided to go for Tourist Visa for my son (minor). I applied and sent all required documents through courier, it reached on very next day and I got email confirmation from CKGS. On the very same day I got another email saying that «Your application is on hold due to the missing or incomplete documents» because of «MISISNG MOTHERS VALID US VISA STATUS».
And then my follow-​up and explanation session started with them, every time I call to CKGS and they say okay send me available document we will see; and next day same story again that as per the policy you have to provide approved visa for mother then only we could process it or else your application will be returned to you after 30 days.
I was more worried because I was not sure how long it is going to take for my wife’s visa extension, so after a few days of follow up and frustration I decided to write to Consulate General of India, NYC. And believe me it worked like a charm, I got response from Consulate on very next day saying they contacted concerned team and my application should be processed soon. Exactly after 3 days I received my son’s passport with Visa, I am still not able to believe that it happened. Many thanks to Consulate General of India, NYC.

You guys were so fast and patient with me! Thank you thank you!!! Off to India I go!:)

I’ve waited at countless consulates and border crossings all over the world to get a visa, and this was, by far, the worst experience place I’ve ever had.
For starters, the lines are endless as workers grind it out at a snails pace. When you finally get to talk to someone, you quickly sense that nobody knows what they’re taking about… and they’re the ones you’re counting on for procedural information! I was basically running around in circles due to conflicting instructions. Also, don’t discount the possibility of having to stop by multiple times if/​when they inadvertently mess up your application process.
I would be terrified if I was flying to India on short notice and needed to come here and get a visa. Leave yourself plenty of time to deal with them.

I never had any bad experiences here. The only pain point is there is no parking. The parking around this area is assigned parking. The place is clean from inside and enough to host/​organize functions. The staff is friendly as well.

I went to the indian consulate for the PCC clearance. Here are some things that might help you plan better :
Consulate address is «3 East 64^th Street, New York, NY 10 065»
Directions —
1. Best to take the train. I got off at New York Penn station.
2. Come out of the Penn station. Read the signs for Madison square garden or 7^th avenue exit from Penn station. If you see hotel Pennsylvania in front of you then you are at the right path
3. Facing the hotel Pennsylvania, start going left towards West 33^rd street and then turn right and walk on 33^rd street
4. You should see Sbarro and Footlocker stores on the left of the W 33^rd street
5. At the intersection, turn left towards 5^th avenue. You will also see Bank of America there
6. Keep walking and you will see the 34rth street Herald Sq subway station on your left
7. Enter the subway station and follow overhead signs for the trains. You need to go to the platform where train «R» is mentioned. Train’s name is Forest Hills — 71 Ave
8. hop into the train and after 3 stops, 4rth stop is yours. Stop’s name is 59 St. Get off there.
9. Follow the signs and take the exit where it says 59 St and Central park
10. Keep walking left on the 5^th avenue and then turn right on the E 64^th St. You will see a big Indian flag outside the Consulate.
Inside the consulate — Go to the basement on the left if you are coming from the Central park side
1. There are separate lines for Passport services and Miscellaneous services.
2. You can get photocopies done inside the consulate for 25c a copy, I guess
3. If you are for Misc services, take the token form the security guard first. This is a must
4. There is no display of numbers anywhere so the best way of knowing which number is currently being served, is to ask the last person in the queue.
5. Follow step 4. ask for the number of the last guy. I am repeating this because this would be very helpful and you wont be missing your turn
6. It takes on an average 15 minutes to serve one customer so calculate your time as per your number
7. Help others if you have a pen or glue stick or any other question if you know the answer
8. There are rest rooms inside the consulate. And those were clean. But I was there around 9:10 AM so not sure what would be the condition after noon or later
9. Try to speak in some Hindi with others and the officials, I found people smiling back and giving pleasant responses. Even the officials liked Hindi I guess. just my take. YMMV
Any questions? ask me and I will try to answer. Hope this helps !!

The building itself has ornate details which is really pleasing to the eye. A few amenities need updating, like the elevator and restrooms. Otherwise I really appreciated the tranquil-​library vibe I was feeling at a gala I attended. The event I attended had a self-​service coat check. There are water coolors placed near elevators on each floor. Very high ceilings and great acoustics for events in the main hall upstairs.

It is unbelievable that considering the consulate represents India here in the US that they have the most lethargic and rude people on the job. Be prepared for long waits, silliest of excuses and complete lack of consideration for other people and their priorities. I hope all the one star reviews really drive a change here. Never coming back.

Worst experience at a consulate ever.
Traveled to NY just to get some documents attested (i am a director in an Indian company).
After waiting for two hours i was told to come back in the afternoon.
As I was scheduled to fly out that day, I asked then to kindly send the documents.
Then officer then gave me back the documents, asked me to go to the Houston consulate as I «did not live in his jurisdiction»
A complete day wasted because if their stupidity.

CGINY, please get it together, choose your OCI providers wisely and help the people in NY get to India easily. This really isn’t a good way to promote Indian tourism (personal experiences matter and the fancy advertisements only help so much). The highly publicized misplacing of passports by your previous OCI provider– BLS was bad, but the people you chose to replace them-​Cox and Kings– are much worse!
I had prepared ALL my paperwork (checked and RECHECKED with their websites, CGI’s websites etc) with the relevant photos and fees a WHILE back to apply for an OCI card. I had walked into the BLS (the OCI service provider at the time) PERSONALLY to hand over my documentation. I was happy after I recd an email saying they confirmed receipt of my application… Unfortunately, that was the ONLY confirmation I EVER received! Nothing more from BLS, nothing more from the new service provider– Cox and Kings. NOTHING.
I have been emailing EVERYONE multiple times and have been trying to get on the phone (People, please be ware that all you will get is answering machines,‘high call volume, please call back’ messages or endless call holds). I have still not been able to speak to a real person or got any indication of my application whereabouts! Meanwhile, (of course) the OCI fees has been withdrawn.
I realize this something that should be addressed with Cox and Kings (and mind you, I have done that as well), but I thought the CGI should know this and maybe there is something someone can do (Read: Mr. Dhirendra Singh, Consul for OCI, PIO & Community Affairs. Tel: (212) 774 0613) about this!
Obviously phone calls, emails aren’t the way to go– maybe I can get an answer from someone here!

The New York Consulate should be avoided at all costs. The Indian officials at this Consulate are incapable of delivering even the simplest services on time. Not to mention that you will have you go there multiple times to move the process and see to it that they don’t drop the ball at any step. To top it these public officials are highly rude. Where other countries have special cells designed to provide their citizens with timely and prompt services our New York consulate is full of officials that act extremely rudely and walk out from their seats leaving you high and dry for hours without an explanation. I hope some high official revamps this highly in-​efficient Consulate which seems reeking with extremely rude and incapable officials.

I would not even give one star to this place. The is worst place. It’s been 6 months since I applied for passport renewal but these people have not issued me a passport yet. Horrible experience, bunch of lazy and rude people.

The absolute worst place I have ever been to. I have no idea who to complain to so they can change their service. Not accommodating at all and only care about themselves. Papers are all ready? They find a BS loophole and now you have to go back. Have an emergency? Too bad. It’s not their problem. Hire some actual human beings with a conscience instead of robots who have no compassion for others and only interested in themselves.

(Review is of experience in June 2013): I’m impressed by this Consulate General office and its operations. They were quick, efficient and even replied to my queries over email within a day. I needed to pick up my passport for emergency travel and as soon as I emailed them, I was called within an hour by the esteemed Mr. Sugandh Rajaram who looked into the matter for me right away. I was also called separately by the Passport division who confirmed a date I could pick up my passport from the office. They expedited the process for an ordinary citizen like me, were extremely responsive and for that, I shall be forever grateful.

Every time I think of my experiences here, I cringe. Not only is it disorganized and terribly managed, but the people who work here are unhelpful and incredibly rude. It is laughable how bad it is here.

The Indian Consulate is absolutely horrible. If I could have avoided this place, I would have.
I came here to settle property issues with the assets my Mother has in India, needed to take care of a lot of paperwork on her behalf. Oh my god! These people are so slow and unorganized! Although I had been there yesterday and they had put my file aside for my appointment the following day, they still managed to misplace it. Searching for my file took an hour, alone! My appointment didn’t start until an hour behind schedule and even then, they barely could understand my dilemma or care to help me.
So finally, I decided to ask them if I could speak to the consulate ambassador directly. They looked at me in shock, as if I had just told them that unicorns really do exist and inhabit the forests outside of New York City.
Finally getting tired and irritated, I caved and called my uncle. He had told me to call him if I had any problems. Suddenly, my 5 hour hassle at the consulate turned into royalty treatment. I was able to speak to the ambassador, get my issue fixed, and now just have to wait for everything to be processed.
It’s sad that this is the case, but it pays to know the right people sometimes. Not fair at all, when it comes to the general public.

If you can avoid going there at any cost, don’t go. The people that work there are more rude, less patient, less professional, and less informative than anyone or any organization I’ve ever come across, including companies in India. It’s amazing that they are located in the US. It’s poorly run, and they have no respect for anyone else’s time or money. This place has caused me to lose thousands of dollars in flight fees, taxi cabs, expedited passport fees etc. Even something that sounds as easy as getting a document attested is a huge fiasco. It’s so aggrevating to go there, and I don’t wish it upon anyone. Even the lawyer my company hired had major issues getting in touch with them. No one ever answers the phone. It’s really unbelievable how unprofessional the place is. It’s a shame what a bad rep this place gives to people about India.

I am going to write this review in four parts — My Experience, The Good, The Bad and, and The MUCH NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS.
My Experience
I am a procrastinator and woke up at the last moment to get my passport renewed in order to travel internationally. I checked the website and freaked out when I read that it would take 4 – 6 weeks to get my passport renewed, however an extension of validity was possible in a much shorter time. I followed the instructions on the website and sent in my papers. After ten days, I found out that my application had been rejected since I had not completed the online application (online app, btw, is only meant for passport renewal/​new passport, it had no options for extension of validity!!). Frustrated, since the website didn’t mention completion of the online app, I called up the consulate (got through after a dozen tries) and asked for clarifications regd my application. I was told that the extension of validity or renewal of passport is solely determined by the consulate. As such all forms (including the online app) needs to be filled in and sent to the consulate (in person or by mail).
I was frustrated since the website had not clearly mentioned any of this; they had separate sections for extension of validity and passport renewals.
Anyways I took off for NY on a weekday to submit my application in person and got my passport renewed the very same day.
The Good
Contrary to what I had read/​heard about the staff, they are actually very helpful and nice to you. They have good knowledge of the rules (of course) and are ready to go the extra mile, if needed. On two occasions the officer helping me went in to talk to the higher-​ups about expediting the process for me and came back with a positive response. She was even ready to save me money on expedited delivery of the passport, by providing other options. The security guard is friendly, helpful and does a phenomenal job helping people with their work at the consulate.
For people who have experienced otherwise please note that they do the same work for 8 hours daily and end up interacting with folks who cannot speak English or Hindi and come totally un-​prepared for their consular interview (no papers, or knowledge of rules etc., invalid arguments even though they have been advised otherwise).
My take: go prepared with cash (notes of 1, 5, 10 and or 20), official papers (notarized copies and originals) and all the forms complete and you will emerge victorious. Also be courteous to the staff and you shall see the good coming back to you.
The Bad
The waiting room had a peculiar strong stench, however an hour later my olfactory system got used to it.
The place is very un-​organized and un-​clean. You don’t know which line to stand in; there are no handouts for the processes and the services available. All forms, I could see, were in English. The seating arrangement is in-​adequate. Needs to be handicap accessible (unless I missed something, please correct me).
The instructions on the website are all over the place. They are not in-​sync with the instructions/​advice you receive from the consular officers. I was confused after going through the website, so were others present there.
THE MUCH NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS
— Please clean the room and de-​odorize it. A coat of fresh paint would do as well.
— Please organize your website better. The instructions for passport renewals and other services are relatively simple and can fit into one comprehensive easy to understand page. Make the instructions (in all major Indian languages) available by website downloads, email and mail to all the citizens of India residing in the US. This will make your jobs easier and more efficient. You have a good staff working for you; please don’t make their life, and ours, miserable.
— Please ensure that there are sign boards in English and major Indian languages for people to know where they have to stand and where they can get the info they so desperately need (and cannot obtain from your site).
— While it’s good that we have an online application system, however organize it better to collect all data and pre-​fill the form for the internet savvy population. Information once replicated on pre-​filled forms can then be reviewed and signed by the applicant. This will make everyone’s (applicant and consular officers) life a lot easier.
— The facility needs to be handicap accessible, I have not seen any provision in there (correct me if I am wrong). For a country (US) where there are so many initiatives to make life easier for handicap people, there is a lesson to be learnt.
— You need to have some sort of a response team working to answer phone calls and emails. I have sent at-​least 2 emails in the past month and have not received a response from anyone. No one picks up the phone unless one calls multiple times. This is very frustrating, Indian citizens should have access to help from you as and when required.