Amid unscrupulous elements charging members of the Indian community for consular services and other fraudulent activities, the Indian Mission in India has warned against the use of such agents and highlighted India's efforts to streamline visa, passport and other services for expatriates abroad measure.
India's Consul General in New York, Binaya Pradhan, told reporters here that the consulate has noticed multiple cases of travel agencies “abusing people's trust.”
They charge higher fees in the name of providing services.
These criminals charge applicants for assistance with consular services such as Overseas Citizens of India (OCI), visas, passports and emergency certificates. For example, Pradhan said travel agencies charge up to $450 to provide emergency certificates for travel to India, while such services cost only $17.
The consulate said it has also encountered cases where agents submitted false identities, residential addresses and utility bills on behalf of applicants without their knowledge. The consulate said this not only caused unnecessary delays but also violated Indian regulations and put the applicants in violation of U.S. law.
Pradhan said the agents “claimed that they had ties to the consulate,” adding, “They provided false documents, false certificates and caused trouble for our community members.” Pradhan emphasized that both Indian citizens, U.S. citizens or Indian Americans, they “do not have to come to us through an agent. You can come to us directly for the services we provide at the consulate. There is no need to use an agent and the most important thing is to pay, which is high Much more,” Pradhan said.
In addition, Pradhan pointed out that the consulate has also noticed that several fake e-visa websites claiming to provide such services are active on the Internet. To mislead applicants, some of these websites created images and homepage templates that mimicked Indian government websites.
The Consulate strongly urges community members and expats to apply for e-visa services on the correct website and not to apply through any other portal listed online.
The consulate has issued a warning warning people not to use the services of “unscrupulous elements” who have been charging applicants exorbitant fees and submitting false documents. It also publishes the fees and charges for all services provided to ensure applicants do not 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 pointed out that there are 5.4 million Indian expatriates in the United States, of which about 2.5 million (40-45% of the total) live in these 10 states. Of the 354,000 students in India, more than 113,000 are studying in universities in 10 northeastern states.
Pradhan also highlighted a series of measures taken by the consulate to ensure efficient consular services, including digital initiatives to facilitate the use of services and digital assistance tools such as “Pramit”, “Bharti Chatbot” and mobile applications. It also organizes open days twice a month, where applicants can meet directly with consular officers without making an appointment in advance to ask any questions about consular services.
Pradhan stressed that students are receiving “special attention” amid a series of recent tragic and worrying incidents involving Indian students in the United States. The consulate's approach is to connect the student community with the larger Indian community so that they can receive “help” in the first few months. To this end, the Consulate General has established a platform specifically for students to help them find internship opportunities in American companies and provide lawyers and medical information.
Deputy Consul General Varun Jaffe added that in a recent initiative to address student issues, the consulate will host open days twice a month where students can just walk in and meet officials without prior appointment.
He called on students from India to register on the consulate's portal as this will provide information on where the students are and how many there are, “so that in the event of an emergency we can more easily contact them,” Jeff added road.
Jeph reiterated that there is “absolutely no need” to go to an agent for consular services and that applicants can take advantage of these services through Global Visa Outsourcing and Technical Services VFS.
“You can come to us, write to us, and things will go absolutely smoothly. If there are any issues, we are here to serve the community. Regarding OCI cards, Pradhan pointed out that there are about 1.5 million Indians under the consulate's jurisdiction holding U.S. Passports, only about 600,000 of them have OCI cards.
“We have always encouraged members of the Indian community to hold OCI cards. The OCI card is in a way a permanent visa. More importantly, it creates a better connection with the motherland,” Pradhan said.
(This report has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from United News Agency-PTI)
