FIA-Chicago ties up with Indian mission to host consular expo

BY A STAFF WRITER

The Federation of Indian Associations-Chicago (FIA) in partnership with the office of the Consulate-General of India under the leadership of Consul-General Dr. Ausaf Sayeed will host ‘Consular Expo’ [Passport/Visa Camp] on June 8 at the Indo-American Center located on 6328 N. California Ave in Chicago.

The expo, which is being organized in cooperation with the Indo-American Center, will provide an outstanding opportunity to the families and the individuals in the community to avail a wide range of services provided by the consulate–information about expeditiously acquiring passports, visas, PIO and OCI cards.

At the expo, Cox & Kings Global Services will be introduced who are the only authorized service provider for Embassy of India and its Consulates across USA for visa/OCI/PIO/renunciation of Indian citizenship support services that went into effect on May 21.

The officers from the Indian consulate will provide various important miscellaneous services, including accepting applications onsite. The Indian consulate and representatives from Cox & Kings will actively field questions, enquiries and address issues surrounding the application and documentary requirements for passports and visas.

In addition, the consular expo will feature guest speakers from the Illinois Attorney-General Office to address civil rights issues confronting the community.

Representative from the Kiwanis will also be present to highlight their role in the community. The expo is also an opportunity for the Indian consulate and outsourcing firms to hear the difficulties and challenges faced by the Indian diaspora.

FIA-Chicago is spearheading the consular expo to address the growing demands of the Indian diaspora in reconnecting with India and in light of the recent changes in the law in Illinois State that provides driver’s licenses privileges to certain qualified undocumented immigrants.

This camp will provide valuable informational assistance in acquiring passports, visas/OCI/PIO cards. Given the growing need for clarity of information surrounding varied services provided by the outsourcing office, the expo will give common folks and their families an understanding into the processes and documentation-compliance surrounding the issuance of passport, visas, OCI /PIO cards, etc.

The expo will be co-chaired by FIA’s Veenod Patel and Minhaj Akhtar.