Amid incidents of unscrupulous elements overcharging members of the Indian community for consular services and other fraudulent activities, India’s Mission in New York has warned against using such agents and highlighted the measures taken by it to streamline visa, passport and other services for the expatriate community.
India’s Consul General in New York Binaya Pradhan told reporters here that the Consulate has come to know of several cases where various travel agents are “abusing the trust of people”.
They are charging high amounts of money in the name of providing services.
Such unscrupulous elements have overcharged applicants for assistance in obtaining Overseas Citizen of India (OCI), visa, passport and consular services such as emergency certificate. Mr Pradhan gave examples where travel agents have charged up to $450 for providing emergency certificates for travel to India while the cost of such a service is merely $17.
The consulate said it has also come across cases where agents have submitted fake documents regarding identity, residential address and utility bills on behalf of applicants, often without the applicant’s knowledge. This not only causes unnecessary delays but is also in violation of prescribed Indian rules and puts applicants on the wrong side of the law in the US, the consulate said.
Mr. Pradhan said the agents “claim to have a connection with the consulate”, adding that “they get our community members into trouble by providing false documents, fake certificates.” Mr. Pradhan emphasized that whether it is an Indian citizen, a US citizen or an Indian-American person, they “do not need to come to us through an agent. You can come directly to us for the services we provide at the consulate. There is no need to use an agent, and moreover there is no need to pay money, which is too much,” Mr. Pradhan said.
Additionally, Mr Pradhan said it has also been brought to the notice of the Consulate that several fake e-Visa websites claiming to provide such services are active on the Internet. To mislead applicants, some of these websites have created images and home page templates imitating Indian Government websites.
The Consulate urged the community and expatriates to apply for e-Visa services on the correct website and not visit any other portals listed on the Internet.
The consulate has issued an advisory to create awareness about not using the services of “unscrupulous elements” who charge high fees and submit fraudulent documents on behalf of applicants. It has also publicised the fees and charges for all services provided to ensure that applicants do not end up paying excessive amounts.
The New York Consulate provides services in the northeastern states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. Pradhan said that of the 5.4 million Indian immigrants in the US, about 2.5 million or 40-45% of the total live in these 10 states. More than 113,000 Indian students out of 354,000 across the country study in universities in these 10 northeastern states.
Mr Pradhan also highlighted several measures taken by the Consulate to ensure efficient consular services, including digital initiatives for ease of availing services and digital support tools such as ‘Pramit’, ‘Bharti Chatbot’ and mobile apps. It also organises an Open House twice a month, where applicants can come without any prior appointment and meet consular officers for any queries regarding consular services.
Amid several tragic and worrying incidents involving Indian students in the US in recent times, Pradhan emphasised that “special attention” has been given to the students. The consulate’s approach has been to connect the student community with the larger Indian community to “help” them in their initial months. In this regard, the consulate has developed a special platform for students to find internship opportunities in companies in the US as well as provide access to lawyer and medical information.
Deputy Consul General Varun Jeff said that as part of a recent initiative aimed at addressing students’ problems, the Consulate will organise Open House twice a month when students can come and meet officials without prior appointment.
He called upon students coming from India to register on the consulate portal as it will give them information about where they are and how many students are there, “so that in case of an emergency it will be easier for us to reach them.” Mr Jeff said it also gives students a “comfort level” that they can contact the consulate.
He reiterated that there is “absolutely no need” to approach agents for consular services and applicants can avail these services through VFS, the global visa outsourcing and technology service.
“You can come to us, write to us, everything is absolutely smooth. If there is any problem, we are here for the community.” Regarding the OCI card, Mr. Pradhan said that under the consulate’s jurisdiction, there are about 1.5 million people of Indian origin who are US passport holders and only 600,000 of these have OCI cards.
Mr Pradhan said, “We are encouraging members of the Indian community to get OCI cards. The OCI card is a kind of permanent visa. And more than that, it is a better connection with the motherland.”