September 2022 - Citizenship Applicants

[bluediam]

So I finished my oath like an hour back. Surprisingly it only lasted an hour which was perfect as I was hungry as hell when sat down for the ceremony. Most of the time pass by waiting and the actual stuff is only like 40 minutes long.
A lot of things they ask to follow in the notice of appear email doesn't really happen so yeah just follow the instructions the clerk is giving you.
Glad that this process is done. The clerk refused to honour e-certificate request so not worth even a try.
But yeah I just wanted to say thank you to all those people who always responded to my silly and sometimes imp questions. I will still be around here to answer all questions.
I can take this as my birthday gift and move on to the next step now. Lol!!

Many congratulations and a very Happy birthday

Gotta congratulate specially given how much I have seen you post lol

Good luck on the rest of your journey of this and that and life

 

[Sandy.gal]

Many congratulations and a very Happy birthday

Gotta congratulate specially given how much I have seen you post lol

Good luck on the rest of your journey of this and that and life

Hahaha thanks!! I guess I got a lot of time..

 

[Viscan]

Looking at all the horrendous reviews of BLS center, I'm scared to even go but equally scared to mail my Canadian Passport and have them lose it. So I guess no option but to go in person and deal with BLS scam.

I applied for the surrender certificate and OCI booklet for a family member a few months back. BLS will 100% return your application as incomplete if you do not send a copy of your Canadian passport. The requirements have not been updated in the website yet but you can always call them to request for more details. Writing a declaration letter in lieu of the new passport is invalid as per the Consulate General of India - dated April 2023.

The surrender process takes 3 weeks and OCI about 6-7 weeks. I sent them both by post and had no problems. If you follow all the steps in the BLS website, it is pretty straightforward. Except for Indian passport (in case of surrender certificate) - no originals is required to be sent if you are sending the applications by post (self attesting all documents is mandatory), for in-person appointments you need to carry all originals for them to verify. You can also call BLS to confirm the same.


Thank you!

 

[bzbee]

I applied for the surrender certificate and OCI booklet for a family member a few months back. BLS will 100% return your application as incomplete if you do not send a copy of your Canadian passport. The requirements have not been updated in the website yet but you can always call them to request for more details. Writing a declaration letter in lieu of the new passport is invalid as per the Consulate General of India - dated April 2023.

The surrender process takes 3 weeks and OCI about 6-7 weeks. I sent them both by post and had no problems. If you follow all the steps in the BLS website, it is pretty straightforward. Except for Indian passport (in case of surrender certificate) - no originals is required to be sent if you are sending the applications by post (self attesting all documents is mandatory), for in-person appointments you need to carry all originals for them to verify. You can also call BLS to confirm the same.


Thank you!

Oh ok, so can you just mail in self attested copy of Canadian Passport and not the original?

 

[bzbee]

Oh sorry forgot to wish you @Sandy.gal Happy birthday!! What a gift to remember

 

[Viscan]

Oh ok, so can you just mail in self attested copy of Canadian Passport and not the original?

That is right. Only original Indian passport is required to be sent for surrender certificate as they need to mark it as cancelled and attach the certificate. Everything else will be self-attested photo copies (Canadian passport, citizenship certificate etc.). For OCI, everything will be just self-attested photocopies, no originals are required (this is valid only for postal applications)

 

[bzbee]

That is right. Only original Indian passport is required to be sent for surrender certificate as they need to mark it as cancelled and attach the certificate. Everything else will be self-attested photo copies (Canadian passport, citizenship certificate etc.). For OCI, everything will be just self-attested photocopies, no originals are required (this is valid only for postal applications)

Thank you!

 

[arash2002]

So I finished my oath like an hour back. Surprisingly it only lasted an hour which was perfect as I was hungry as hell when sat down for the ceremony. Most of the time pass by waiting and the actual stuff is only like 40 minutes long.
A lot of things they ask to follow in the notice of appear email doesn't really happen so yeah just follow the instructions the clerk is giving you.
Glad that this process is done. The clerk refused to honour e-certificate request so not worth even a try.
But yeah I just wanted to say thank you to all those people who always responded to my silly and sometimes imp questions. I will still be around here to answer all questions.
I can take this as my birthday gift and move on to the next step now. Lol!!

Congrats!

 

[Sandy.gal]

Oh sorry forgot to wish you @Sandy.gal Happy birthday!! What a gift to remember

Thank you

 

[myra20sharma]

Congratulations Sandy.gal and a very happy birthday!!!
This one is a memorable one.

 

[Sandy.gal]

Congratulations Sandy.gal and a very happy birthday!!!
This one is a memorable one.

Thanks you!!

 

[DVRT]

You are so lucky! Me and my husband did the oath on July 5th and so far no certificate yet.

Have your tracker been updated?

Thank you. Yes, the tracker got updated after a day with a message of application being approved.
I hope you get yours soon.

 

[Oksh1995]

@Sandy.gal , how many people were in your ceremony ? Finishing within 1 hour is a record number lol
I thought these ceremonies last for 2-3 hours

 

[Sandy.gal]

@Sandy.gal , how many people were in your ceremony ? Finishing within 1 hour is a record number lol
I thought these ceremonies last for 2-3 hours

There were 88 people. Clerk took 4 people at a time for registration. I was shocked too to see it being finished in 1 hour. Out of that 1 hour, the actual ceremony part was only of 40 mins.

 

[Lambhoney1312]

It's been almost 5 months since I completed my citizenship test and I haven't received any update on my application. Other than test complete everything else is still in progress. Anyone else has similar experience?