Consulate@YourDoorstep Camp - A Historic Milestone in Spokane!
- Author - Himani Agrawal
- Aug 14, 2025
- 2 min read
Spokane made history this month by hosting its first-ever Consulate@YourDoorstep Camp, organized by the Spokane India Forum in collaboration with the Consulate General of India, Seattle.
This landmark event brought vital consular services directly to our city, allowing community members to access essential support — from passport renewals and visa services to OCI applications and document attestations — all without the need to travel to Seattle.
Bringing the Camp to Spokane
The seed for this initiative was planted in September 2024, when Consul General Shri Prakash Gupta introduced the Consulate@YourDoorstep concept during a meeting with Indian diaspora leaders. Inspired by his vision I decided to explore the idea further, which ultimately led to the effort of bringing it to Spokane. Originally scheduled for October 2024, the camp was rescheduled and successfully held on August 9th, 2025.
A Day of Service, Connection, and Community
The services were provided by the dedicated team from the Consulate, led by Consul Soumith Raju Kanchanapalli, and supported by VFS Global. Community members received in-person assistance with a variety of services, including Passport, Visa, OCI renewals and applications, Document Attestations, Surrender, GEP, Miscellaneous services and General Consular Queries. We are deeply grateful to Soumithji and his team for their support and dedication. A heartfelt thanks also to Notary Jagjot Kaur, who generously offered free notary services to the community.
Dignitaries in Attendance
The inaugural ceremony was graced by Spokane City Council President Betsy Wilkerson and Dan Bisbee, District Director for Congressman Michael Baumgartner. To add to the celebration, Spokane City Mayor Lisa Brown issued an official India Day Proclamation in recognition of India’s Independence Day (August 15) — a touching gesture that resonated deeply with our community.
The Team Behind the Magic
This initiative would not have been possible without the incredible planning and dedication of Rupali Joshi, Sowmya Surapaneni, Manish Gupta. Their behind-the-scenes work and tireless efforts made this event a tremendous success.
More Than Just a Camp
This wasn’t just about services — it was a celebration of unity, culture and civic engagement. The success of this camp marks the beginning of more such outreach programs.
Thank You, Volunteers!
A heartfelt thank you to all the volunteers who gave their time and energy to ensure the smooth execution of the camp. Your selfless service truly made a difference.
This is just the beginning — we look forward to hosting more outreach events to serve our growing and vibrant community. For future outreach events subscribe to our Facebook page Spokane India forum.
Himani Agrawal
Founder- Spokane India Forum
Subnesh and I would like to thank Himani and her team for successfully organizing this first consulate camp in Spokane, Washington. Himani you were very patient with continuous enquiries by everyone and made sure you got answers for all. It was great not to travel all the way to Seattle. It was a large supportive Consulate team, which showed courtesy and professionalism to one and all.. Subnesh got his tourist visa for ten years within 3-4 days. Appreciate the efforts immensely.
Thanks to Himani and her perseverance!! I would also like to thank the entire team for making the camp so successful. It had made all of our lives easier and less stressful by meeting the consulate staff in person in our home town (unbelievable) to resolve any issues and questions answered. We finally got our OCI renewed after postponing the process for more than a year due to communication issues with the consulate website. Feeling very happy and relieved to receive our newly renewed OCI today, finally, yay!!! Again it’s been easy to accomplish this with all the effort Himani and her team has put in. Please continue your good work to our community 🙏
Thanks to Himani Agarwal and the Volunteers of Spokane's First Consular Camp:
I want to express my a heartfelt thanks to Himani Agarwal and all the volunteers who helped organize the recent Consulate@YourDoorstep Camp in Spokane. This was a much-needed initiative and meaningful service to our community that made a real difference for many families in our community, includeing mine.
Bringing officials from the Indian Consulate in Seattle to Spokane was no small feat, and it allowed so many of us to submit applications for passports, visas, and other consular services without the burden of traveling to Seattle. The camp was well-organized, welcoming, and efficient, and it was clear that a lot of thought and effort went into making it…