Visa, OCI and PIO Cards Outsourcing process- Questions asked by prospective bidders and proposed answers

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1 Visa, OCI and PIO Cards Outsourcing process- Questions asked by prospective bidders and proposed answers S.No. Question 1. Please help us understand when will Seattle be notified and should we consider it as one of the cities to set up an office. 2. Can you please provide the annual break-up of Visa/OCI/PIO applications for each of the 7 cities (Seattle included) for 2010 and 2011? Also, please provide the breakup including category wise details of visa/passport/pio application? 3. What is the total number of Visa applications which are likely to be processed directly by the Indian Embassy & other consulates during a year? 4. The RFP asks a successful bidder to start operations by 1 st October Is this the full operations or is there a provision of partial operations to start with and then become fully operational within one month of Partial Operations. 5. What is the procedure that is followed in case there is some unforeseen circumstances (technical issues with HCI Bank/natural calamity etc) and the cash is not transferred to the account on the same day? Proposed answer The exact date of opening of Seattle is presently not known. However, the Service Provider would be given a 60 day notification period to start operations at Seattle at the same cost. Visa figures for 2010 and 2011 pertaining to E/I Washington and Indian Consulates in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Houston are given below. Visa Services in Indian Consulate in Atlanta and Seattle are yet to be operationalized. The corresponding figures pertaining to PIO and OCI cards are also given below. Estimate may be based on figures for Approximate figures have already been provided in the RFP. Full operations must commence w.e.f. October 1, In case the circumstances are beyond control, the amount can be deposited on the next business day. Such instances, in no case, should exceed 6 in a year. Penal action will be instituted in case this number exceeds 6 or the failure to deposit the money is on frivolous grounds. 6. The RFP states that the Centers will remain open from 09:00 AM to 06:00 PM on all days excluding weekends and except public holidays in the US. Does the Indian Embassy expect any office to be open on Saturdays also depending on the Peak Season? Generally No, unless, emergent or unavoidable circumstances develop.

2 7. The RFP states Applicants may include pre-paid return envelope for receiving passport/document back by mail. In case the envelope is not enclosed along with the application for service, the Agency may levy return mailing charges from applicants for sending applicants/documents by mail, on actual cost basis. Any deviation from this principle should be with the prior approval of the Embassy of India. Can you please elaborate on what kind of deviation you are talking about? No deviation is being proposed. This provision exists to account for unforeseen problems in determining actual cost if so reported by outsourced agency. 8 The RFP states that the bidder should Maintain proper accounts of all the visa/oci/pio/surrender/renunciation certificate fees and ICWF surcharge received by individual subhead. Can you please let us know the amount that is to be collected for the ICWF Surcharge? The existing ICWF surcharge is $ 3 for each service. 9. Whether the RFP is to provide support services for Visas, PIO cards and Overseas Citizenship of India applications or it included all other Consular services also? 10 We need clarification regarding the use of Immigration, Visa and Foreigner s Registration & Tracking (IVFRT). As most Indian embassies are converting to the IVFRT process. Is this something which the Embassy will consider in future? Services not specified in the RFP are excluded. IVFRT is currently operational. 11 The RFP states that the applications are received by post/in person. Is there any appointment system that is followed? Also, can you please provide us with the percentage of applications (based on 2010/2011 data) as to how many are received by post for each city. Yes. Appointment system should be introduced to facilitate faster turnaround. Please see answer to question NO. 2 above. 12. The RFP, Section 1 mentions estimated volumes for Yearly increase cannot be predicted. Actual figures for the years 2010

3 2012/2013 year for visas and for OCI/PIO. Are these the most recent / updated volumes available? Also, are these volumes available for renunciation/surrender certificates? What is the year on year increase for visas, OCI / PIO, and for surrender /renunciation applications? 13. Can the Embassy share the per city application volumes for visas, OCI, PIO and renunciation / surrender certificates? 14. What is the volume of calls received at the call center? What is the volume of s received? and 2011 are given below. Please see answer to question 2 above. No such record is currently maintained. However, outsourced companies may like to maintain one for future. 15. What is the transition period for this contract? Full operationalization must commence from October 1, In section 5, Statement of Services Required, it states that the cities where Centers will need to be opened are: Washington DC, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta and Seattle (when notified). How much of advanced notice will we receive regarding the Seattle Center? Should our price be based on the opening of all 7 of these centers? Can we revise our price after the Seattle Center is rolled out? 17. In the Scope of Work and Deliverables Desired Section V, the RFP mentions a surcharge for the Indian Community Welfare Fund and the need to transfer the proceeds of this surcharge to the Embassy account daily. Is this a mandatory fee, charges to every applicant? Can it be collected as part of the lump charge for the Embassy fee? Will it need to be a separate payment / charge? 18. In Section 6 clause XX, the RFP mentions appropriate certification from a reputed agency. Can you please elaborate on the type of certification? 19. What are the mail-in application volumes and the in-person application volumes? 20. Clause 6.b.ix Can we have some more clarity on the manner in which the Mission expects the electronic data entry and transfer of applications to be done? Is there a requirement to scan and transfer applicant photographs Please see answer to question no. 1 The ICWF surcharge is to be accounted for separately. The existing ICWF surcharge is $ 3 for each service. There are rating agencies in various fields which provide a certificate of credibility for companies dealing with that field. Please see answer to question no. 2 above. Scan and transfer of photo and signature is required. Photo has to be of Passport size. The data being captured should be storable in a searchable format.

4 and signatures to the Mission? If yes, please let us know the specifications of the scanned images? 21. Can the Mission provide details on information security guidelines to be adhered to by the service provider? 22. What percentage of applications is received from expediters and travel agents? 23. As per the RFP, it is estimated that during 2012 /2013 the Embassy and its five Consulates will receive approximately 3,50,000 visa applications and 150,000 to 200,000 applications, based on statistics for It is requested that the city wise breakdown of these volumes may be provided. 24. Do you expect the service provider to open during the Government of India observed Holidays like Diwali /Holi 25 Can we get an estimate of applications required in printed format at the Centres? 26 In case of force majeure, do you still want the physical delivery of applications the same day? 27 Whether Application Centres in seven cities are to be opened at the same time or will there be different time schedule for each centre. 28 Whether the contract will be awarded to a single Service Provider or more than one Service Provider. 29. As per RFP, the service provider is required to remit the passport and miscellaneous services fee to the Embassy and its Consulates on the day the application is received Does this entail remittance to the Embassy and its The OCI process is fully online and the agency is required to register every application through an NIC module for which user rights would be given. The registration process fetches the online application data. The agency is supposed to validate the online data and correct errors, if any, through the detailed entry feature of the module. Similar data entry operation is also to be done for PIO applications. The agency has to also scan passport size photographs of the applicants and their signature /thumb impressions and deliver the image in a USB stick along with the application. Due diligence is advised in the matter. Details will be discussed with the company that wins the contract. Such data is not maintained. Please see answer to question 2 above. Closure for Indian holidays would be regulated as per list of holidays displayed on the official website of the Embassy of India, Washington DC. No Only in cases when the circumstances are beyond control, next day delivery should be made. Simultaneous operationalization on October 1, 2012 is mandatory, except for Seattle, which will be operationalized after a 60 day period after notification by the Embassy. To a single service provider. Yes

5 Consulates on the day the applications are submitted t the Embassy and its Consulates?. 30. Please confirm if online forms are mandatory or the applicants are allowed to fill up a manual paper form as well. 31. Is the Embassy / Consulate able to retrieve the data entered in the online forms? 32. Will the Embassy allow the service provider to provide their own online forms on the service provider s website? 33. When the online form is filled and printed out, there is an auto generated file number on the form. Do the Embassy or its Consulates want the same file number for file reference of the data file to be provided by the service provider? 34. Is it mandatory for the service provider to offer 2 deliveries and pick up each day or the Embassy and its Consulates are open to the consolidated delivery as per time most convenient to the Embassy and its Consulates? 35. Will the Embassy or its Consulates allow service provider employees to fill up application forms on behalf of the applicant in the future? 36. Can the CD copies of proposals be submitted in PDF format (rather than MS Word format)? 37. Is the Embassy of India seeking a single one price fits all Price or Fee for all applications, regardless of application type or geographic location of service centre facility? Yes, filling of online forms is mandatory. Yes No (Service Provider can mandate an additional Form of its own to capture basic data for facilitating tracking and data management only for OCI / PIO cards and Renunciation of Indian Citizenship cases) Yes Yes. Embassy needs two deliveries per day. No Proposals in PDF format are acceptable. However, submission of hard copies is mandatory. Yes. Bidders are expected to bid a single price, taking into account an average of the various costs involved, at various centers

6 Actual visa figures for 2010 and Washington Chicago San Francisco New York Houston Total Total By Mail By Mail % 36.9% 38.4% 47.0% 33.6% 37.2% 38.9% 2011 Washington Chicago San Francisco New York Houston Total Total By Mail By Mail % 37.1% 40.5% 46.2% 33.4% 48.1% 40.9% Figures of OCI/PIO for 2010 and 2011 OCI PIO Washington Chicago Houston New York San Francisco