BLS Visa Application Center

Worst possible service that I've ever seen. My appointment went fine even though I witnessed the supervisor telling off every possible person walking in there, talking to them as if she is talking to a 3-year-old with a condescending tone. Well I wish this was the end of my horrible experience with them. I got a call today saying that my passport could not be delivered to me in person, UPS said that it was "undeliverable" and that I had to go to their center again to pick it up. Then I requested that the courier fee of $25 be refunded, however the same supervisor on the phone said that "I got the service" and I would not get a refund. Then I proceeded to ask for my UPS tracking number so I can check why it was "undeliverable". They wouldn't give me the tracking number, then said I should have received a text message with it or I should be seeing it on their "track application" page. There is no such thing on the application status page, the only status I see is "delivered at the counter". They act like they are looking at the UPS tracking number on their end, yet they wouldn't give the number to me over the phone. When I called the customer help line and gave them my information, they told me that they don't see a UPS label having been generated for me. So there is an inconsistency there too. Avoid if possible. They are trying to rip you off wherever possible. You don't have to sign up to SMS or courier services. On top of that, you will get all the attitude in the world. Another note, you are an outsourcing service provider, not a government official. So drop the attitude, and provide the service that you charge for.

The most pathetic service you can ever imagine, we tried applying for Schengen Visa for my wife and it was nothing short of nightmare. She was traumatized and mentally harassed and not just her but everyone in that room. You definitely need to avoid one super rude and mean lady there - Queenie Mendes. We had to escalate to Spanish embassy with her name.

I don't even know why I am writing review about BLS International. The worst service you can imagine. I don't know why Indian Embassy does business with company like this. No clear direction on any of the forms they provided. My son's passport was sitting on the clerks desk for four day to be sent back to me. The most unorganized company to deal with your private information. The phone number they provided does not work 9 out of 10 times. Very rude customer service. I had to call Atlanta office so they can send my son's passport back. I hope Indian Embassy sees these reviews and fires BLS International. As an Indian, I have hard time dealing with them, imagine non-Indian going through the experience. Negative star for the service. Horrible.

The worst experience possible. Spent the money for expedited service. Took over three weeks. Had to cancel multi leg trip through Germany Sweden then to India. When it became evident how incompetent they were we immediately requested the return of the passport. nothing. Emails, phone calls all met with "you should be notified in 24 - 48 hours". Still nothing. Requests to discuss this with a supervisor are met with "you will receive a call within two hours" -- they never called after 10 requests. Don't think you are talking to NY or Chicago or where ever they claim their offices to be... you are talking to India of a completely inadequate phone system. If you try to get help from the Consulate of India... good luck. Phones ring but no one answers. After dialing over a dozen phone numbers someone did answer, said they could not help and hung up. DO NOT SEND YOUR PASSPORT TO THESE PEOPLE --

I was positively panicked about dealing with BLS for an Indian tourist visa after reading these reviews! However, I applied by mail to the NYC Center, and it was just two weeks from the time I sent my application via Fed Ex to my passport returning safely home with the visa inside. As far as I can tell, there were no problems. It's a little strange to me that the passport comes back in the pre-paid envelope without a letter or receipt or any acknowledgement but it's back a good five weeks before my trip, and that's all that matters!

Worst Experience. They are very unorganized, inconvenient, and simply put a very sloppy operation. I made an appointment and when it was finally my turn after waiting for almost an hour they asked for more random paperwork not stated on their website. I had to come back the next day. They don't take credit cards to pay for the tourist visa. Which is another inconvenience. Also, Obtaining a visa at their Washington DC center takes a minimum of 3-5 days. They don't offer an expedited service which is ridiculous in this day an age. Especially since the Indian Embassy and Consulate are in the same city. My friend in NYC already got his visa and we processed our paperwork on the same day. I could not make my trip and lost money. I understand that this is a third world country but if you are operating in the USA they should meet our standards of processing paper work in a timely manner. You can get a US Passport within hours with supporting documentation i.e. itinerary obtaining A TOURIST VISA should not take a minimum of 3-5 business days. The funny thing is the gentlemen who processed my paper work for my visa made the comment that India needs tourism money, well if they make easier for tourist to travel there maybe we would visit more often. Also manager is useless, but I wont get into that!!! Their customer service is non existent.

ZERO stars!!! Most unprofessional group I have EVER worked with. I'm a professor at Harvard. I was invited to give a talk in India. I'm a US citizen. Both the Indian consulate in NYC as well as BLS are complete unprofessional, unethical people. They have held my passport for almost 6 months now!! I've sent every form imaginable, the Indian ministry office in Delhi gave me clearance to come in October, the consulate NEVER issued the visa. Someone from the Indian consulate's office called me finally only to tell me they can't authorize it since it's past due THEIR FAULT and will send my passport to BLS. The have TWO pre paid FEd Ex envelopes now to mail it back to me. I still do not have my passport. I am now going to take legal action against BLS as well as the Indian consulate. They are rude, their phone numbers do not work except for one, sometimes. They hang up on you. The consulate's office is unreachable and also hung up on me. I am shocked and appalled and they all should be ashamed of themselves. At this point, I am demanding they return my passport. They lie, they have absolutely no work ethics whatsoever. India needs to get its act together and have better service for both consulate as well as who they hire third party to handle passports. This is not a joking matter, it will result in legal consequences for them.

We have been trying to contact BLS for the last 10 days to get information on our Visa. After many tries and emails we have not been able to contact anyone. The phone is never picked up. My visa tracker show that i need to pay a 20 dollar fee. I am willing to pay again but i do not know where / whom to pay and how to get my passport back. There is absolutely no information from BLS. It seems like i will have to spend a lot of money to goto NY and try to get it personally. We are also trying to contact the consulate general in NY. So far a nightmare dealing with BLS.

I am traveling to India on November 20th. I would like to know, if BLS really care that our money is not free. I will loose lot of money if I don't get my passport and visa on time. How much time do they need to send someone their paperwork. I am so regretting assuming that 45 days would be enough for them to send my visa. Wish I had read these horror stories before. Wonder if they ever read these reviews. Why can't they help people. We need to contact the authorities about this horrible company.

BLS International is a very poorly run operation. My experience with BLS has been terrible. It is apparently a monopoly contracting to the Consulate of India to facilitate visa and passport applications. Facilitation is not part of their operation. The San Francisco office has multiple phone numbers listed on various websites. However at least one of them is disconnected, another is not answered, and two of them roll to a promotional company "giving away" $100 gift cards for Walmart or Target. There is no way to get voice clarification from the office about an application. The Help Desk is terrible. Ask a very direct question generates a very vague and non-applicable answer. Our visa application took 18 days which meant that we had to cancel our journeys as we were expecting a 5-10 day turn around according to their website. I will either avoid going to India or certainly avoid using BLS in future.