Indian consular services now easier to access from New Brunswick

An increasing demand for Indian consular services in Atlantic Canada has been answered with an East Coast service centre.

The BLS International service centre in Halifax opened its doors to the public on Monday, allowing walk-ins and in-person appointments.

The centre's services for both Indian nationals and Canadians include those related to Indian passports, visas, overseas citizen of India (OCI) cards and document attestations.

BLS International is a partner to the Indian Consulate and the Indian High Commission in Canada. The organization has several branches across the country.

Previously, people in Atlantic Canada were directed to access the offices in and around Toronto, using postal services.

Regional office 'very critical,' says N.B. resident

Nitya Chintakindi of Fredericton said one time, her documents were returned due to an error which could have taken minutes to fix in-person, she said.

Chintakindi says she has used the BLS International services throughout her immigration journey in Canada and is happy about the new East Coast office. (Submitted by Nitya Chintakindi)

"It costed me ... very crucial business days in just back and forth for, you know, mailing time. So it's very, very critical that we have a centre that's close by."

In the past, Chintakindi has used postal services to Toronto to renew her Indian passport, obtain police clearance certificates for her family's citizenship application and get a visa for her daughter.

'Such important documentation'

While the office never gave her trouble, she said the whole send, receive and resend process for the documentation was time-consuming and cumbersome.

"It's very important to have these services in person because the immigration process in itself is very lengthy and it's just different when you hand off a package to the courier person, but just being there and handing over your package to an official it's just more reassuring, because this is such important documentation."

Tired from the whole process, she said visiting Toronto in person did not make sense to her and therefore, she was procrastinating getting the OCI cards for her family.

Now she plans to visit the Halifax branch in person.

"I am just happy that, you know, it's just here," she said.

Thulasi Ram Pagadiman wants to visit the BLS International service centre in Halifax to get an important document attested for a home loan in India. (Submitted by Thulasi Ram Pagadiman)

Thulasi Ram Pagadiman of Saint John is planning to build a house in India for his family. He said getting a document attested is important in order to get approval for his home loan in India.

Pagadiman said he doesn't trust the postal service after reading some negative reviews about it taking too long for people to get responses.

"I didn't want to take a chance."

He said he was considering flying to Toronto and booking accommodation for a couple of days, to access the services in person, before learning the news about the Halifax centre.

"During the holidays I had planned, like seriously planned for this trip ... to fly to Toronto from Saint John."

"I was ... so anxious to travel," he said, adding that the whole trip would have cost him about $1,500.

Pagadiman now plans to take a four-hour drive to Halifax to get the attestation completed. He said he's happy the BLS centre is open on Saturdays meaning he can go there on his day off from work.

"I am so happy, I am so happy because [it's] easy, convenient."

Manisha Varma, a board member of the Multicultural Association of Fredericton, said she has received several emails and messages in the past from community members asking for help with consular services.

She said the new Halifax office should help many people.

"Hopefully people would be happy and will get more benefit and there will be no ... suffering for communications or time-taking."

Manisha Varma, a board member for the Indo-Canadian Association in Fredericton says there's a demand in New Brunswick for the services offered by BLS International. (Submitted by Manisha Varma)

Varma also sits on the board of Indo-Canadian Association in Fredericton and said a consular camp organized in the city in 2021 gave her an appreciation for the demand for these kinds of services.

She said people came from across New Brunswick to get their documents attested and representatives from the Consulate General of India in Toronto's office guided many through the documentation and application processes for various services.

"Sometimes, you know, people can't understand so much paperwork," she said. "In-person explanations are better."

A spokesperson from the Indian consulate in Toronto confirmed in an email: "Several community members had reached out to us for setting up of a service centre to provide an additional option of in-person services."

The centre in Halifax was established to meet the demands of the growing community in Atlantic provinces, the email stated.