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Applicant Feedback for Washington D.C Passport Application Center
  • I am getting my passport renewed. It has been a challenge navigating through the paperwork required by the Indian Embassy. I, however would like to complement staff at CKGS. They understand the urgency of the situation, and have been diligent about getting back to me about the status, and additional requirements of the application.
    R. Anderson ;
  • I am writing this as an international student living in the US who had to get a passport renewed and was absolutely nervous as to how the process was going to go also considering applying from here the first time.
    I must say I have probably had the best experience with my Passport renewal without any complications.
    When I first reached out via email enquiring about the process, it was addressed at the soonest. Even during escalation of the process, it was done so promptly.
    When I came in with all my paperwork, it was a breeze with all the staff so helpful.
    Thank you all once again for all you do.
    For an outsider living in the US, this means a lot!
    P. George ;
  • Overall, I had a great experience with CKGS in Washington DC. The online passport form is a bit confusing. Calling the CKGS customer service helped a lot. Customer service at CKGS DC was pleasant. The people working there were courteous and understanding. The CKGS staff was very helpful in the handling of my application. I got regular text/email updates on which step the passport procedure is on. I highly recommend going to this location.
    Sikander C.K.H ;
  • My experience with CKGS DC office was good. Their office and customer-support staff are both helpful. Processing was fast and got my passport renewed in a weeks time. Only their Online application website is little un-user-friendly, you cannot go back to previous step once you proceed to next step. Overall nice experience.
    Rais K. ;
Applicant Feedback for New York Passport Application Center
  • Awesome Service by Indian consulate and CKGS. I needed to renew my passport in short notice. The CKGS website clearly guided me through the application process. I had to correct a minor error on the application. The customer service (first 5 minutes free) was very knowledgeable and helped me to cancel my application and re-submit. Turn around was 8 days from the day I submitted my application. They had periodic sms/email updates about the status of the application.
    M. Viswanathan ;
  • Thank you for extraordinary service. I applied for my passport renewal and my daughter’s renewal. It was extremely easy to do the process. I was getting real time update and very prompt process. It’s really a fantastic process and I totally appreciate well.
    E. Narasimhan ;
  • My this 5 Star review is for new CKGS Indian Passport office at 336 West 37th Street, Suite 500 New York, NY 10018. I have never seen an Indian office so well organized in my life. The staff is so professional & well qualified in this new office for Indian passport. The girl at the front desk is the so well educated & best qualified for that job. "God Bless Her". The atmosphere of this office is highly comfortable for clients. Thank you to Indian Consul General for changing the whole experience of dealing with Indian staff in USA.
    Omesh S. ;
  • Writing this review makes me angry and happy; which is quite an achievement by the way. Angry because : Thankfully I haven't had the opportunity to get my passport renewed via BLS. Going by blogposts and grievances on immigration forums bls was a Kafkaesque experience. But again it is not so simple this time around too. You see the Indian Consulate outsourced passport processing to Cox and Kings effective May 9,2016. And how does someone find out about this change in vendors? By navigating to an obscure page here : indiacgny.org/pages.php?… and many times I find the indiacgny website is down..like how is that even possible or acceptable ? And if you google cox & kings Indian passport renewal you will be hard pressed to find the passport renewal page which is this : passport.in.ckgs.us.Because you are always taken to the main landing page in.ckgs.us which does not mention anything about passport renewal..like they're hiding it as if some precious secret. The address for the passport processing office is different than the one listed on this yelp profile. Passport processing is done here : Building : 336 West, 5th Floor on West 37th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues (more closer to 9th avenue than 8th) Be warned the Building or the elevator does not have any directory listing but you will find a lot of desi peeps hovering about, just follow the crowd. The Happy part : I have a 10 year passport that is set to expire in the next 8 months and so as not to impede my travel plans I decided to get it renewed. The website passport.in.ckgs.us is very intuitive. Follow the instructions to a tee... do not go directly to the Government of India Online NRI Passport website; wait for the CKGS Passport website to direct you to it. (This is very important!) I had a few questions and contacted the call center and was pleasantly surprised by how knowledgeable and communicative the staff were. Once I finished the online application + gathered the required documents, I decided to do a walk-in drop off rather than mail it in. The office was nice and clean. You pick a number and take a seat. Do not take out your cellphones (or you'll be yelled at by the kind lady behind the central counter) While waiting for my turn I noticed that the staff was mainly made up of young millennial? workers. I heard a smattering of different desi languages when they were trying to help applicants...this made me very happy. The employees were polite,courteous, well informed and almost everyone left happy and satisfied except for the one sourpuss who got repeatedly told off when he tried sneaking out his cellphone..dude you can leave the room to tinder. When my turn came the whole handing over papers getting acknowledgments, lasted all of 10 minutes and I was on my way out. This is the smoothest bureaucratic interaction I've ever had in the USA or in India for that matter. After reading this wall of text you still are like mehhh...go now before the staff gets jaded like typical New Yorkers' and stonewalls your every query or request :) Thank You, An initially irritated but now satisfied customer.
    V. Sid ;
  • I applied to renew my passport through their online application system and I had a good experience. Their checklist walks you through all the required documents and which among them need to be notarized which was very useful.

    Once you ship your documents to them you can track it online and they also provide text updates. Overall I got my new passport in less than 10 days which is really good for standard service.
    Time line -

    28 may - completed and submitted documents by usps priority mail

    29 may - received confirmation that they'd received it and that my documents were processed

    1 Jun - documents sent to indian embassy

    7 Jun - tracker showed that passport had been sent back from embassy. My only gripe was that it didn't mention if it was the old or new passport.

    8 Jun - received both old and new passports via FedEx.

    Follow the instructions clearly and it's a smooth experience.
    K. Ashwath ;
  • I had an outstanding experience with CKGS-NY! Facing a medical emergency requiring my mom to travel back to india ASAP, but handicapped with an expired passport, CKGS personnel guided me in a step-by-step, methodical fashion in navigating the emergency and obtaining a full passport renewal in the shortest period of time ever.
    JT ;
  • I had an appointment at 13:00 and I reached at 12:30ish. Greeted at the reception, the lady checked all my documents and gave me a token. My number was called out (I didn't have to wait at all, there were around 5-6 applicants at the center) and gave the agent my documents. She checked the documents again; I did the payment, was all set and ready to go. I couldn't believe it was done at this pace, I literally asked her 4 times whether I was good to go. The entire process took around 15 minutes and I was done before my actual appointment time. Every employee was polite and friendly. I received my passport in a week. *sigh* *sigh* *sigh*(It was a standard application, NOT tatkal) Cheers to CKGS and the Indian Embassy!
    Shalin S. ;
  • Staff was really nice and helpful and had a good knowledge of the process flows which made the application process easier
    S. P. Raikar ;
  • Simply Awesome Services, Thank You CKGS!!
    A. bazaru ;
  • Good services, As expected.
    P. Jha ;
  • Extremely satisfied in all aspects
    B. Vora ;
  • Service was too fast, we have no even stayed in the service counter for even 5 minutes, our job was done in 3 minutes and we eventually got our receipt.
    Senthil ;
  • Service was excellent, with courteous and helpful representatives
    Maurali ;
  • Staff is very co-operative.
    H. Sharma ;
  • NY office is great place. Staff is so helpful & knowledgeable.
    V. Sameer ;
  • Service has been extremely quick, staff is very courteous.
    R. Pandey ;
  • My passport service was quick and efficient. CKGS staff is amazing.
    Krupaben ;
  • CKGS staff was really efficient, quick friendly. Helped in submission was very through. Thanks
    Mrs. Arora ;
  • CKGS staff was super helpful. I came in 2014 when BLS was doing this service and compared to that CKGS service is like aeroplane to a passenger train on a meter gauge!!!
    G. Pathak ;
  • Extremely quick process courteous staff.
    H. Nasir ;
  • CKGS has good service and extremely quick. Really helpful for people outside their home country - India.
    Srijan ;
  • Great work!
    P. Sharma ;
  • I came to submit my son's passport and it was awesome the representative assisted me very fast and I did the submission process within less than 5 minutes.
    S. Jacob ;
  • Much better experience than imagined.
    H. Patel ;
  • CKGS India passport service in NYC was seamless. Night and day vs the previous firm.
    E. Poonawala ;
  • Much better experience than BLS, very efficient and organized. Great customer experience.
    Satya ;
  • Each & Everything is very good & Satisfied.
    A. B. Mohan ;
  • Great Job !!
    Shrikant ;
  • Knowledgeable, Courteous, and friendly staff.
    S Sood ;
  • Good customer service.
    Gopal ;
  • Staff was courteous and helpful.
    M Bharti ;
  • Nice and smooth experience was done quickly with walk-in.
    P Kumar ;
Applicant Feedback for Chicago Passport Application Center
  • My sincere gratitude to the entire team of CKGS for making my experience with you as the most memorable one. I am extremely satisfied with the simple yet clear process, customer service when required and constant updates from CKGS after submission. With travel planned in next few months, it was a nightmare when I realized that my passport was about to expire. But if I could arrange and ship all the documents within two days itself shows the simplicity of the process. I could not think of any improvisation points. Please keep up the good work. I take this opportunity to thank all the persons who helped me clearing the query of which I remember one dedicated CKGS staff member who was very helpful in the entire process.
    P. Pandian ;
  • I would like to just give some general advise to all those who are about to renew the passports: 1 Read the website very carefully. Infact,I ended up having four online applications which was folly on my part. You can rectify the same application to fix errors. That was my bad. 2. I called the Cox and Kings customer care number several times to ask about any questions pertaining to the application (let it be the silliest) which was actually very helpful. Many a times we take things for granted and miss the small details. These folks will clear all your queries. So don't hesitate to call them. 3. Though I am a resident of Chicago, I preferred sending my passport rather than going to the consulate. My personal preference was not to go to downtown and come back frustrated as several folks have written here. It is better to send your passport via fedex and receive also via fedex as written clearly in the instructions. I know it costs a little more but it is worth saving yourself headache in commute, time and also parking in downtown. Though there are hassles in renewing the passport which can leave one frustrated but if one clearly follows directions as listed in the website, passport renewal should not be that big of a pain. I have given the service 5 star as I personally did not have to go and got my passport renewed and delivered to me at home.
    A. Jagetia ;
  • I don't write a ton of reviews but I must say that I have been very pleased with the service received from CKGS. I applied for renewing my Indian passport on the 14th and received a new passport on the 23rd. The process was seamless and the online application was easy to complete. They sent regular updates via text and email and made it very easy. Thank you CKGS, I wish everyone the very best!
    S. R ;
  • I applied for renewal of Indian passport at this center. Online application was easy with pretty meaningful hints. Went for document submission to their Chicago office on 05/11/2016. They processed the document and sent it to consulate on 05/12/2016. On 05/13/2016 I received an email stating CKGS has received my new passport from consulate and I have to collect them on 05/16/2016. I collected my new passport today. The overall process was smooth.
    Soumik C. ;
  • Call Center staff and CKGS office staff has provided us the best customer experience Ever - Polite, Informative, Helpful!
    N. Kaur;
  • Staff at CKGS is very good, helpful and great
    A. husato ;
  • Excellent Service
    Arwind ;
  • Nice and helpful process
    Mutauswamy ;
  • Simply Excellent
    Sreedevi ;
  • Helpful staff
    Mehar ;
  • Very helpful
    M. faizad-din ;
  • 5 star service for tatkal passport. The office staff are courteous and helpful. Positive experience.
    Dhananjay K. ;
  • I got my passport renewed here. Process is very stream lined and responses to queries are quick. Website is self explanatory. They have a nice tracking system of the status.
    C.B. Arangi ;
Applicant Feedback for Houston Passport Application Center
  • Very smooth and streamlined process. Got my daughter's passport renewed within two weeks by UPS post. Thank you very much for all your hard work. Keep it up!!
    A. Reemala;
  • Process is smooth, clear and does not hang up
    A. Desai;
  • The Staff at the Passport Center was extremely helpful.
    L. George ;
  • Great service! In and out in 20 mins! Submitted my passport for renewal. For a smooth transition, all the documents should be ready and it is clearly explained on their website of the required documents. Thank you CKGS staff who assisted me!
    A. Desai ;
  • Amazing Customer service.... !!!
    Thanks to the team for timely help...
    Sorted out the issues in passport delivered from Embassy to my address when the system got updated with own delivery option.
    Keep going... :-)
    Brindha N. ;
Applicant Feedback for San Francisco Passport Application Center
  • Very co-operative staff!
    A. Desai ;
  • CKGS Staff is friendly. Overall a Good experience!
    M. Kaur ;
  • Good experience at CKGS!! Very easy to fill and clear instructions.
    K. Ashar ;
  • I would like to take this opportunity to thank CKGS on their exemplary customer service. I called them yesterday numerous times to check out various possibilities of getting my son's passport back, and I would say every time they answered all my questions patiently and tried to help me in every possible manner.

    I see a remarkable shift in attitude of customer service from what I experienced when BLS had charge of this.

    Finally, I sincerely thank you and your team for helping me out!
    P. Bharadwaj ;
  • Let’s give credit where due. Just got out of the passport center on the third floor of 325 bush st. They were pretty great. It wasn't exactly swift but they were very polite and apologized wherever wrong! This is not the same cox and kings though. It’s a different office for Indian passport holders. I hope they keep up being as effective as they were for me. Thanks!!!
    Bhrigu A. ;
  • The passport center is really well maintained. The new website is way way better than the previous company's website. Easy to understand and fill out the information. Although some of the information was inconsistent. I applied for a new passport re-issue on Thursday with NO tatkal and received the new passport (Without any mistakes! - it has happened before) next Wed (within 6 days which included a weekend). Overall really happy with the new center and their services. There is a lot more they could do to improve but based on my past experience this is a whole lot better.
    Aditya T. ;
  • I am not sure if this the same center processing passport renewal for SFO consulate, but my recent experience was great with CKGS. I received my new passport within one week of time under regular processing. All you have to do is to make sure you are sending all the necessary documents properly in the required order. They update the status regularly in their website about the progress. 15$ for overnight shipment is great. Customer service was very helpful when I called(I had challenge entering my house address when I purchased their shipping but the customer care person was able to update it in the back end). Thanks for the great service.
    Thalapathi R. ;
  • I had gone to Cox and Kings to renew my passport. The people there were friendly and quick to help out. The person I spoke to was extremely kind and please t to talk to. Just open and office in South Bay and u will get an extra star!
    Zainab S. ;
  • After I handed over my application, I received regular email and text alerts about the status of my application and 7 business days from the day I handed over my passport application at the CKGS center, my new passport was in my possession. Nicely done.
    Mekhala E. ;
  • Service: Passport Renewal. I didn't have the need to call the customer care for any sort of clarification/help as the instructions and document checklist on the website were precise and complete. Application received by CKGS: 6/7 Passport at doorstep: 6/17 The entire process seemed pretty efficient to me. Also, impressive turnaround time.
    Amrit P. ;
  • Excellent Customer Service - who guided me in processing my Tatkal Passport. Great job Cox and Kings, SFO.
    Kristie D.;
  • I renewed passport in 10 days as normal process. They provided update using SMS and email in each step. It cannot get any better. Very courteous and helpful employees. Keep up your good work.
    Melvin N. ;
  • Very courteous staff. They have appointments so there is no line unless you want to drop in. The whole appointment took 40mins. I recommend getting the appointment online.

    I got the passport in 8 days delivered by FedEx even if the official site says 2 to 3 weeks.

    The only cons will be the "convenience" fee and the text messaging extra fee they charge.
    S.A.;
  • Pretty happy with the cordial staff and help received at CKGS center in SFO. Specially impressed with dedication and friendly attitude of the Staff members who helped process my family passport applications on June 30, 2016. It was a very pleasant experience. Thanks!
    Ajay K. ;
  • I must say after all the bullshit with the Consulate and BLS and other reviewers who wrote about Cox and King I was prepared for the worst. I chose the renewal by mail and the website was seamless and had no issues. I got everything done and mailed my application on 7/9/2016 and I was posted updates via text and mail about the movement of my passport. I got my passport renewed with no issues via mail on 7/18 /2016. I chose Fedex for my mailing.

    One thing that didn't make sense to me was why they asked me for 6 photographs apart from the ones that I pasted in the forms. They have returned 5 photographs back to me...

    Anyway - good job Cox and King - for once something that is remotely related to the Indian Consulate at SFO works as expected and was not a hassle.
    Shalini S. ;
Applicant Feedback for Atlanta Passport Application Center
  • I just wanted to let you know the awesome experience I had with CKGS, Atlanta.

    When I visited your office 2 weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see a beautiful office and ultra friendly staff. I wish you guys continue to be like this and do not end up like the previous contractors. I like the decor where you have beautiful posters from India. The friendly and smiling faces of your staff is a welcome experience and this is how it should be. I used to dread visiting the passport office earlier, not anymore.
    Rabi S. ;
  • Lady who works on front desk she is sooooo good she is so helpful. Good customer service.
    Pink P.P ;
  • CKGS Atlanta Team quickly responded to my concern and guided me to complete my child's passport application. I am extremely satisfied with their help and understanding my concern. Really appreciate help from CKGS Atlanta.
    Varsha G. ;