The Indian Embassy at NYC

For those poor Indians in New York and surrounding states who are in need of getting official help from the Indian Embassy, here are some tips.

A trip to this embassy would remind you about the good old days back in India. Long never ending queues would induce some bit of nostalgia into your soul! Boy, how I love that!

Ok, so here is the Case Study. I needed to get some documentations done and get it attested by the Indian Embassy and I had to send it back to India. After a week full of enthusiastic planning by my better half, we decided on a  plan. [The official website - http://www.indiacgny.org/ did not help much, except provide the details of the timings and address.]

What to Bring!
Dos

• Try to reach there early morning (around 7 :30 AM), so that you can be early in the queue. Actually its not necessary, you can reach there around 9 and still get your work done, but the lengthy queue will freak you out for sure.
• Get enough Snacks, H2O, energy drinks, magazines, books etc to keep you from being exhausted or bored.
• Make sure you have all your documentation. Take additional photo copies if required. You dont want to run around looking for the xerox center.
• Get printouts / copies of application forms beforehand.
• If you happen to need to type an applciation form or take a printout, there are lots of shops around 55nd Street (like Staples, Office Depo etc. You need to walk a few blocks though)

Donts

• Dont reach there before dawn. It is not necessary.
• Dont use your cell phone, once in the building. You will get a shouting or two from the staff.
• Dont hand-write application forms. They dont accept anything that is not typed.
• Dont argue with the staff there. They are capable of turning nasty pretty soon.
• Dont forget to get an umbrella, or a sweater or so depending on the local climate. You dont want to be a victim out there.

Reaching there!
We live in Long Island, which is pretty much close to this place. The embassy is in NYC and it's address is:

Consulate General of India

3 East 64th Street
(Between 5th and Madison Avenues)
New York, NY 10065
Tel: (212) 774-0600 - Fax: (212) 861-3788

(Please note that the telephone numbers may have changed. So do look at their website before you call them.)


We left home at 6 in the morning and took the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) train that dropped us to Penn Station, NY at around 6:45 AM. From there, you have a number of options to reach the Embassy. You can take either the Subway, or the Bus. (Check Google Maps and select public transportation as the mode)
 
I would prefer the M04 Bus. You have to walk the least and you dont need to hop different bus / subway. And its frequence is almost around every 15 or 25 minutes.
 
We took the M04 from W 32 Street - 7 Avenue. It was like a five minute walk from Penn station. The drive is good, and you can look around and have fun. We dropped off at Washington Heights Cloisters(this is Via Madison and Bway, and around 15 stops / 25 minutes) From there we walked all the way to the Embassy. Take a printout from Google Maps, it will be helpful. Below is a sample one
 

 

I forgot to mention, You can buy a Metro transportation pass that you can use for subways and buses. You can get these passes at the PENN station. If you are not able to, make sure you have enough quarters / dollars to pay for the bus fare. I think the fare is around 5.5$ per ticket (in M04)

Once you reach the Embassy, things are pretty straigtforward. You need to wait until 9 or so, till they open the mighty gates. Also please note that the direction of the queue. It is in the basement, and not the main gate. The queue itself has no head or tail, so u need to ask the humble souls standing there. So when they open the basement doors, they will hand over tickets. These tickets have numbers and they announce the numbers. So, based on your luck and your number, you would have to wait some more time. Finally when you are called, you tell them your concern, hand them your documentation, make the payment, and get the receipt.

Some tasks, like attestation etc, can be done on the same day. So you need to wait till 4 or so to get it back. Thats a bad thing though, coz you have to wait so long for a lousy attestation signature! Anyways, there is an option for express mail through USPS. They will charge you 20$ and you would get back your documentation within a day or two (or three), through mail.

Indian Embassy at NY







This should give you an idea of the queue and where to stand. Do expect a much larger queue though :-D

Thanks to Google Earth for the nice images.


I seriously wish that you dont have to wait long for getting your work done!
And I hope this post helps someone in finding their direction.