BLS Visa Application Center

Worst place!!! take bribe from you indirect, asking to go to opposite in house for photos rejecting photos. took 4 hrs to submit the visa application. charging for extra services which you dont need, like i was forced to pay for delivery home, when i could just pick up as i work in NY 2 blocks away. this company should close. it is curse to India and its reputation

Very very satisfied with their service
Application accepted by BLS: 21-​05-​2015, 07:27
Application Processed on Date :21−05−2015
Application Processed and submitted to Consulate: 22-​05-​2015, 15:09
Passport received at BLS Center: 03-​06-​2015, 09:32
Passport handed over to Applicant : —
Passport Dispatched to Applicant :03−06−2015, 12:04
I applied via prepaid courier service by BLS and everything went very smooth, making sure that all the required documentation in place is the key!

I was scared after reading all the reviews in Unilocal and it helped me make a decision to fly from Ohio to New York to submit my soon to be expiring passport and other documents rather than send it via post.
I sure faced difficulties in filling the documents but help was available online. I think if you fill all the documents correctly and be on time for the appointment, the process is smooth. Tracking the progress of my application was easy on the BLS site and they sent out regular email updates as well.
I received the new passport in 3 week via UPS with tracking information. Hope it works out smoothly for you as well :)

THIS IS THE WORST OFFICE I HAVE DEALT WITH! The service is a joke. I have been helping my uncle get OCI and Visa for India. They have charged my uncle for all the services, yet still no Visa. They reply to NO emails and they don’t even answer their phone! It’s been 10 months of frustration. They have broken all records of Indian Corruption. This company should win the Worst Customer Service slot in Guinness Book of World Records.
Does anyone have a working phone number for this damn company that actually works? I’m close to taking legal action against them if I get no response in near future. I despise them.

These guys have been receiving a fair share of criticism but my experience was different. I went there to renew my son’s Indian Passport on a Friday. Getting there is a bit tough and the building landmarks or signs are non existent. They definitely need a better signage on their building to announce their presence.
There was some wait time (45 mins) after I took a token.
The person who collected my forms was polite, courteous and the transaction was complete in 10 mins. I handed over the Fedex envelope (pre paid) as well.
I received the PP at my house in NJ next Friday (7 days to get new passport including Fedex delivery time). I am an Indian and even in India, we dont get PP’s this fast. Credit is due.
The KEY to a smooth transaction at this office are.
1. Pick a work day /​time that is likely to be not much crowded.
2. Complete your documentation requirements 100% without any deviation. Get it reviewed and checked 4 – 5 times before coming here.
3. Dont just rely on their website for instructions (Instructions on their site are not very clear). So try alternate sources as well.
4. Carry extra copies of everything.
All the fights, quarrels that happen at this office is someway related to insufficient documentation. Its not the public’s fault. The website instructions are supposed to help the layman and can be improved. But if you cracked that code, the transaction would be a breeze.
The tracking schedule update (in my case) was near real time.
7 days to get a PP — I am a fan.
A few minor changes to their website, a better office, and more staff at this place will definitely HELP save INDIA’s image.
All the best.

If you can aviod India, I would recommend it, purely based on the corruption at there VISA service BLS. It was 3 weeks of bureaucratic nightmare dealing with this orgnanization. Zero customer service, seriously they do not answer there phones or e-​mail. A webiste from 1986, that is unbelievably unclear, yet demand absoutle pricesion when filling out there forms.

This place seems to work best if you are 1) A U.S. citizen and 2) Fill out everything properly 3) Bring all of the correct documentation. Since I fulfilled all 3 requirements, I was able to make an online appointment on April 30^th for May 1^st and had my business visa on May 5^th. (May 3 – 4 was the weekend)
The website was clear on what I needed to bring and had the link to the consulate’s online application (which isn’t very good) I printed it out and just checked off each item that was required and brought my copies (not the originals — except for the passport of course)
The line in the morning to get in, the bouncer and the bad elevator do exist. I was in line with everyone else out on the street for about 15 minutes, on line inside the place for another 20 minutes and then finally 10 more minutes once my forms were selected. To pick up my visa, I received an email (and could also check the status online) and was able to walk right in, wait 5 minutes and was out. The elevator for retrieving my visa was out of service so I had to walk up 6 flights of stairs.
Overall experience was ok. It’s a stressful experience but if you follow the rules (step all the way to the left for you Seinfeld fans) you will be fine.

Why am I giving a review? Because I was scared initially to send my passport after reading the reviews. I received my passport back in less than 2 weeks!
Encounter#1: My friends from US wanted to travel to India with me and they followed BLS NYC to get Indian visas. Some of them received multiple entries and some of them received a single entry but they all received their passports within 3 weeks. Agreed, their online instructions are redundant, but just go with the best of your knowledge and it’ll be okay.
Encounter#2: My passport was expiring in the next 5 months. Followed BLS’ instructions online and I received my new fresh passport within 10 days! This is even easier than getting the work done in India. The forms are easy, and all the doubtful questions were answered by online blogs. The supporting documents were easy to obtain. I got all copies notarized from local bank.
I am rechecking my new passport every 5 minutes though because I am quite surprised how easy this transaction was. Good luck, follow the instructions, submit it all, and relax.

Word of advice: READ THE REVIEWS HERE BEFORE GOING. It will save you time and money to help be more prepared. Note also that this was for a volunteer position, for which the details posted online are kind of wrong.
If you’re accustomed to Indian bureaucracy, this will seem pretty standard. If not, then you may be in for a shock. Got there at 8:55 for a 9am appointment. It turned out that appointments didn’t matter and so we all waited in order of arrival time. If you get there early, hug the wall to the left of the door as close to the door as you can, since the line forms that way. Staff arrived at 9:10−20ish, including one slowly strolling from the coffee shop across the street. A classic Indian bureaucracy move. They started letting us go up then.
The bouncer let people up 5 at a time. After getting in, you wait in a short line for them to check your docs are all there. I was about 20 people back in the morning, and it took 50 minutes in outside line and then 10 in the short line upstairs. Then you wait again to submit your file, where they check your documents more thoroughly. It was about a 15 minute wait for this, and the checking my papers took 2 minutes. Phones are not allowed to be switched on inside, so bring a book or some work.
At this point, if you’re missing anything, as I turned out to be, then you can either submit your file to be rejected and then provide whatever you are missing (which is what they suggested, but I didn’t fancy another long wait to resubmit), or frantically run downstairs to their print centre to print it. This place has no wi-​fi and you must email documents to them for printing, so be prepared. I put the document on my phone from my computer and then mailed it to myself that way. The prices for printing are also absurd ($ 5 per page), but there’s no point in arguing. I saw another print shop on the 3^rd floor of the building, so perhaps it was more reasonable there, you can check if you’re really stuck.
Note for anyone applying for a volunteer visa: the woman at the desk claimed that I must have a stream of income of Rs. 10,000 per month to volunteer. Online, it said the exact opposite, that I need to make LESS than Rs. 10,000. No idea which was true, but my application ended up getting approved. It was also unclear what I needed, so I ended up submitting a volunteer contract, resume, and copy of educational credentials, as well as the proof of registration of the NGO and a letter from them to the consulate. Good luck to other volunteers, since the site basically doesn’t tell you how to apply for this (you can check IndiaMike, which is helpful)! I also was able to get through to the helpline, and it was kind of helpful.
I’ve gone through Travisa twice in the past and it was MUCH better. Hope that they do end up switching back, or that BLS picks up their techniques. In particular, keeping appointments properly and cutting down on the unnecessary bureaucracy (just check the documents once!). Then have a separate line to resubmit documents when you had to print/​add something in, which it seemed like ~1 in 4 people did. There were a bunch of other things, but the main point is that this could be organized much more cheaply and efficiently, and in the process made less painful for the customer.

I have to say that I think I was more stressed after all the reviews then anything else. I have to believe that BLS has started to change it past ways as I did send my passport by fedex and received it back with the Visa within a week.
If you are not detailed oriented or do not want to spend a few hours navigating the website trying to figure out what you need, how to print it, what order to place your documents in and how to ship/​receive your documents just pay the extra money to an agency to do it for you. The website does have all the information it is just in multiple locations not very easy to navigate as an example their were 2 completely different document checklists (one required a signature and one did not!!).
Once I spent about 4 – 5 hours going through the site and thinking I had everything figured out there was still no explanation of what Tracking number was that needed to be fixed to the outside of the envelope that came with the BLS form. I also on the first pass paid $ 15 for a fedex label on the order form (I still do not know where that is) which I never received. I finally just went to fedex and printed both my shipping and receiving labels directly. I also do not understand what they want a copy of the label since they just sent it back to me.
In any case once I shipped my passport with all the documents (only needed my passport, payment, BLS order form, signed document checklist, copy of return shipping label and signed application with photo). BLS received it and I was able to track it from the BLS site and they were able to turn it around and ship back to me within 48hrs of receiving it.

Any one want a passport? I have lots of extras this company keeps sending me.
I have to pay to send other peoples passport back to them. They mysteriously loose old passports. Is the NSA, TSA, FBI out there? Please shut them now and arrest all the people there. This is a great place for terrorists to take advantage of unprofessional, slack way they keep and store passports. The SFO office just lost 70 passports. Their phones don’t work. You can’t speak to anyone. This place is an embarrassment to India. No wonder tourism revenue from the USA is down. No one can get a visa on time. It takes 6 months to process OCI documents. Even the consulates of Afghanistan and Pakistan are more organized smarter and polite.
Is the consulate general of India a fool? Blind or does not know how to use the internet and read reviews. He must be a bloody uneducated fool.
Please shut them down before a terrorist steals an Indian passport for the next attack. This place is a joke. Anyone works at cnn. Please do a story. Please please. This is a great news story.

I just went through the visa process and it wasn’t half as bad as some reviews make it out to be. To be fair, I applied in person and my experience may not be relevant to those applying by mail. I will echo the sentiments of others though — start the process early, make an appointment, and make sure you have all the required documents listed on the website.
Appointments are generally not available for at least 2 weeks but it’s totally worth the wait. I had to stand in the cold for only 5 minutes before I was let in, not hours as with the walk-​in folks. Once inside, there was a line so it took about an hour to submit the application. I was told that the visa would be processed in 3 – 5 business days and that I would be alerted by email when it was ready, both of which happened. Pretty smooth overall.
Now for the negatives. The website is truly shoddy and indecipherable in parts (one star knocked off for that). I read the list of required documents at least 15 times and still didn’t get it right. but I erred on the side of over-​preparation so it was ok. Everyone may not be so lucky. I knocked off a second star for the rude and obnoxious staff. Seriously people — is there a need to yell at someone for missing a photocopy or rolling your eyes every time you are asked a question? As an Indian, it made me cringe.
In summary, plan ahead, come prepared, and you’ll be fine!

Why did India put this place in charge of visas? So I got a notification email to pick up my visa and passport. I came into the city today and got to BLS only to find out that I’m only allowed to pick up my passport after 4:30pm!
WHYYYYYYYYYY? MY PASSPORT HAS BEEN READY SINCE WEDNESDAY! WHY CAN’T I PICK IT UP AT 1PM? 4:30PM IS THE START OF RUSH HOUR!
To be fair, it does say that on the receipt you need to pick up your passport. But still, if it’s ready, why do I have to wait til 4:30pm?
I’m giving a one star review because one of the guys running the elevator had the nerve to ask for a bribe. I mean, I gave 2 stars before because at least they followed their own convoluted rules, but c’mon a bribe? Just to pick my visa up a few hours early? A visa I already paid near $ 100 in fees for? Is this a club I’m trying to skip the line for? A packed restaurant where I don’t have a reservation? Did I break some law?
People should offer bribes, never ask for em. Seriously, corrupt as hell. But at least I have my visa now.

The only reason this carries one star is because they don’t do negative stars.
Also, if you are going to mail in your application know that you run the risk of never seeing one or more of your original documents back. If you don’t fancy those odds, then pay what it takes to go there personally.
I needed to transfer my OCI to my new passport, as well as change the address on the OCI card. I wrote to the Helpdesk, who then advised that I should do two separate applications, for OCI Reissue (New Passport) and OCI Misc (Change of Address) for double the fees (of course).
Long story short, it took a full two months to get the new OCI booklet and the stamp in the new passport. My old passport booklet? Never saw that again. It mysteriously disappeared. The address in the new OCI booklet? Still the same old address.
So I basically paid them $ 32.70 to issue a new booklet with the same old address, and also to lose my old passport booklet.
Thanks BLS, you must be run by the same folks that are in charge of cleaning the New Delhi Railway station toilets. [Pro-​tip: They should shoot the next episode of Fear Factor out there}
Indian Govt: you are absolutely embarrassing yourselves working with this joke of a company.

Absolutely the worst customer service I have ever seen. Vast majority of the staff are rude, the website is a disaster, and the process is so confusing. I went on New Years Eve with an appointment and had to wait outside in the freezing cold for hours and multiple people without appointments were let in before me.
Once I was in– they told me it was going to be another 3 hours and I bailed.
Had to make another appointment and was so nervous I did something wrong.
Don’t even get me started on the guy who works at the front door… Rude, completely unhelpful… Just by walking in I felt like I was doing something wrong.
100% awful

Surprised that India, a powerful emerging technology giant, would allow such a dysfunctional company as BLS to run their visa program.
Let’s start with the website. It appears to be clear but it is not. Apparently it contains lots of useful information but it conveys it (or doesn’t) in such a way that a lot of folks I encountered today seemed genuinely confused. For example you MUST make an appointment.
That was conveyed to me politely by the Bouncer outside. Pretty sure I searched for «Make Appointment» but that didn’t reveal itself. Said Bouncer modified his stance slightly and suggested I might want to wait in the Special Line. The Special Line was the longer of two Lines that we’re growing along East 37^th St.
I was willing to wait, motivated by the fact that the next available appointment (according to my new friend the Bouncer) was about 3 weeks away. I had tracked down and printed out my visa form. I even signed it. I had a 2×2 photo. I brought an undisclosed amount of cash. I was ready. I joined the Special Line. I got cold. Smart people with appointments in the Smart People Line are let in in batches of 5. They look cold too. Folks from my line get the occasional nod. Like at a nightclub. This takes a while. I get colder. Finally I am allowed in. Or at least into the stairwell where four lucky companions and I climb 6 flights to the Office.
I see some Nice Ladies who appear to be the next layer of checks and balances. I also see an incredibly Long Inside Line of people who had entered before me. I join the Long Inside Line and open a book.
Nice Lady #1 begins barking instructions. She is tired. I get it. There are all these confused people milling about. Who wouldn’t be tired? Apparently I NEEDED an Order Form. Isn’t that the form thing I spent a solid half hour filling out last night? No, it is not. Where was that on their website? I guess it goes with the mysterious appointment. Maybe I don’t understand the interwebs like I thought. So. … A trek down to the 5^th floor and $ 10 later I have Order Form.
Back to the back of this now even longer Long Inside Line (there will be one more).
Waiting. I read. I contemplate. I imagine an efficient Indian Visa process without bouncers.
The line moves. At some point I get to the Center of Operations run by Nice Ladies. Which is lucky because they politely tell me that I am doomed WITHOUT a copy of my Green Card. Huh? That I most definitely missed on said instructions.
Oh, and where was the photocopy of my Proof of Exact Address? I meekly hand over my drivers license :) Said Nice Lady politely frowns and disappears to a back room to kindly photocopy it for me (certainly saving me $ 5, which I am contemplating slipping to the doorman)
I’m invited through to the third ring of this mini Dante circus.
My number is called. I can taste the coffee I foolishly didn’t order before joining the Trail of the Lines.
Yes. Indeed. Nice Lady #3 informs me. Green Card is an ABSOLUTE. Of course, sir, it is clearly explained on our website. No, sir, I cannot show you where because I cannot find it. Yes, sir, you are a disorganized illiterate.
A frantic call to my wife, a scan, an email and back to the 5^th floor for the luxury of paying $ 5 for a one page printout on the conveniently provided computer. Good times are just the way things are here on E 37^th st.
Back upstairs. Back to Nice Lady #3. Or at least I am walking towards the empty spot in front of her expectantly. Unfortunately Nice Lady #3 must exercise her right to abruptly leave at this point without a word. Bathroom I guess? Coffee break?
I wait. Oh, here she comes. She sits. She frowns. Straightening straightening. Fiddling…
«Yes?»
She is very good at this.
Hi…:) putting on my calmest face…
Two and a half hours and counting. Wish me luck!
— — — — — — — —
(POSTSCRIPT) … So, after some research back at my office (with a coffee) let me state what was clearly obvious to others and not me:
1) Ignore the stuff that says «How to apply» for WALK-​INs. This landing page is incomplete and will cause you to have words with Nice Ladies
2) Instead, click the APPLY NOW button in the blue box at the top which will take you to this link:
3) Because there is an unfathomable backlog in appointment slots you will be tempted to do the walk in thing. Nonetheless you probably should go through the APPLY NOW 4-​step process to make sure you have all the visa forms, Order Forms and instructions you need when you finally get to the front of the line. Remember to have photocopies with you of your proof of exact US address and Green Card if you are a foreigner like moi
4) if you are a foreigner (ie Alien) visiting NY (without a Green Card) who has suddenly decided to go to India, then I don’t know what to tell you! Good luck
To figure out what documents you need, go here:
Enjoy.

No need to pile on… but we have now spent 6 hours waiting in line outside in 28 degree weather and still haven’t been able to pick up our ALREADY APPROVED visas.
This place is the worst and if I didn’t have family in India — I would choose not to go so I could avoid this process and this organization.

BLS is staffed and run by Satan’s own bureaucrats. If I could give zero stars, I would. They are absolutely terrible, horrible, despicable, worthless, obstructionist, unfriendly, and all around bad.
I hired a private service (CIBT) to help me obtain Indian Visas for me and my family. After multiple attempts, CIBT told me that they could not seem to satisfy the arbitrary and random rules that BLS staff members were making up on the fly, and that given that I was travelling to India in less than a month, I might have better luck if I tried to submit my application in person. The stated reason for rejection, «the applications for the children must be notarized.» A so-​called rule that does not appear on either the BLS website, the applications themselves, or on the Indian Consulate’s website.
Nevertheless, I tried to contact BLS through their website (which didn’t work) and via the published telephone numbers (which were disconnected or insisted, «the user at this mobile number has not set up voice mail.») So, I drove from Boston to NYC in person, two days before thanksgiving, to submit my applications.
Lines are out the door. Bouncers are crooked. The only way to gain entry is to either (a) stand in the cold for hours, or (b) bribe the bouncer. I chose (b) and for $ 10, gained entry into an unmarked stairway in an otherwise nondescript building. After climbing six flights of stairs, I entered a run-​down room where sad, tired-​looking people were standing in line. I waited 3 hours to get to the first counter. During that time, 75% of the people in front of me were rejected for one arbitrary reason or another. The staff workers made absolutely ZERO attempts to help people remedy the so-​called deficiencies. They just said, do it again and get back in line.
It was so bad, I saw a grown woman burst into tears and fall to the floor. She started screaming — «I’ve been here EIGHT times! Why won’t you accept my application?! I’ve done everything right!» Big fat bouncers carried her out like yesterday’s trash.
I saw a man get up to the counter to submit his papers. He was rejected because «at the bottom of the paper, a little bit of the form was cut off.» He said, «I’ve printed this form from your computer, on your printer, on the fifth floor. The problem is with your system. That’s why it prints like this. Besides, all the information is in the computer — the paper printout is just a printout of the computer screen! Can’t you just help me because my mother in law is sick, and in the hospital in India, and my wife and I are trying to get to her.» The BLS agent responded, «Print it again.»
Now, when it was my turn to get up to the counter, I thought things would be different. You see, I checked my applications carefully. I had every document listed on their webiste, and some that weren’t. My applications were checked by my wife, my secretary, and professional VISA-​getters from CIBT. I nervously approached the first counter and, lo and behold, success — I was given a number and told to go wait in another room until my number was called.

After another two hours sitting in that room (five total), my number was called. I stepped up to the counter and the assistant took my documents. She scanned the first one and said, «did you submit these applications before?» I said, «Yes, and I was told to re-​print them, re-​sign them, and have them notarized. Which I did.» She said, «Nope. Once an application is rejected, you can’t simply correct it. Instead, you have to start all over and re-​enter everything into the computer from scratch.» And I said, «That’s not what I was told, and it’s not published anywhere on your website! Besides, I’ve driven all the way from Boston, and neither my wife nor my children are here to sign new applications.» She said, «Well, I guess you’re going to just have to drive home, and drive back to New York with new applications. Next!»
WHAT THE FUCK?!
So here’s the bottom line: BLS is so bad, I would avoid a trip to India at all costs. If you must go, then apply early (like six months early) and be prepared for multiple arbitrary rejections.
BLS is clearly run and staffed by demons.

If you are reading this review, you must be a huge believer in Unilocal,and I will try to afirm that faith is well deserved.
I’m with Vivek P below. They must have cleaned up their act a bit. The process was pretty smooth, and took less than 1 hour total. It could have moved faster, sure, but the main thing slowing it down, like anywhere, seemed to be applicants that were unprepared.
The staff was as helpful and accomodating as you could hope.
Here are a couple of tips:
— they don’t make change for cash payments, so you may want to bring exact change
— don’t bother uploading a picture; you still need to provide a physical one!

I thought twice about visiting India after experiencing the difficult process of getting a Visa at this place. Their website is not clear and easy to understand, and I’m sure most people have incomplete paperwork due to this. The building and office they have seems very temporary. from the shoddy freight elevator, a frozen computer, a lack of space to deal with the traffic flow, no space for a line. I had to go downstairs to make copies of paperwork at least 4 times! they want you to make copies of every document you have (Shouldn’t this be there responsibility??) why are we paying the processing fee if we have to create a packet on our own. It’s common to see many people frustrated in this office… I felt bad for older people who could’nt get there visa processed due to missing documents that they had no idea they were suppose to bring. There appointment process is a joke, just because you have a scheduled time does not mean much… it’s still first come first serve. Your appointment ticket gets you in the door and thats it… make sure you print a copy of it or else you won’t get in. The only bright spot was the non indian gentlemen at the front desk who understood how difficult the process was and could relate to why people were confused and he helped me to create my application and put it in order. I guess this place gives you a hint of the Indian government… inefficient and lacking organization. The East in this case can really learn from the West when it comes to efficiency and customer service. I’m curious how this company got a contract to represent India for Visas…
9/​16-​Went back today to pick up my Visa, they never sent me an email update like they said they would. Don’t rely on getting an email from them, and they will rarely ever pick up the phone. The elevator was also broken today so everyone had to walk up the 6 flights, also the bathroom locks are broken. It was funny listening in on how many people complain about this place. It was also weird how reciept number was skipped on the screen, don’t know if it was gitch or what I guess I was just happy to get a visa through all this. I overheard from security that Mondays and Fridays are the worst days to go since everyone shows up these days. Go on tues, wed and thursdays and you won’t have to deal with the lines.