While it may seem very basic to mention, passports are official document required as identity or proof of citizenship in India, and allows international travel. Simply put, in other words, if you’re looking to travel abroad for travel & tourism, business, education, pilgrimage and other purpose, it goes without saying that you compulsorily need a passport. In addition to serving as one of the important documents for identity and citizenship proof, it can double its credentials as a birth date and address proof, and is applicable for other official purposes as required. Before we proceed further, you need to know the different types of passports, required documents and steps for applying and processing a passport.
In India, the Passport Seva Unit processes and issues all passport applications. There are about 93 passport offices situated across the country, in addition to 197 Indian diplomatic missions out of the country. The applicant has to be physically present for any type of passport application.
Different types of Passport:
The validity period of an Indian Passport is typically 10 years, with every passport mentioning a date of issue and expiration in them. On an average, you will find 36 to 60 pages in a passport. There are three different types of Indian passports available: Regular passport, Diplomatic passport and Official passport. Discussing the different types of passport is beyond the scope of the article.
Not every Indian who holds a passport may be allowed to travel abroad, and enter a foreign country, and for this reason he or she may require a visa to enter particular countries, and they will be allowed to enter the country only after the approval of the visa. Meanwhile, it is important that your passport is updated. Therefore, it is important to check the online passport portal to update your passport easily without any hassle.
Applying for a passport online
If you’re an Indian citizen, you can apply for a passport online, and use the service by registering on the Passport Seva Online Portal. The process is pretty much simple and straight-forward. Online users need to select their passport and the required details are to be entered. They need to create a new login ID and password, and do the verification by clicking upon the “Register” link. Finally, if they’re done with the process, users will receive an activation mail to their email account. The Passport Seva account needs to be activated via the activation mail.
Check whether online portal account is activated or not. If activated, users need to visit the Passport Seva Online Portal again and click on “Existing User Login”. Follow six simple steps thereafter as mentioned in the website if you need to apply for a passport or opt for a passport renewal.
There is a list of documents that the applicant needs to furnish when he/she is applying for the passport such as birth certificate, school leaving/matriculation/transfer certificate (TC), policy bond from public life insurance companies/ corporations, address proof, PAN Card, Election photo ID card, Aadhaar Card/E-Aadhaar, Gas connection proof, to name a few.
How do you schedule an application appointment?
On the pay and schedule section on the website, applicants need to choose the nearest Passport Seva Kendra. Next, they need to select a slot that is convenient for them, and make confirmation of the slot by using the captcha code. This process is followed by payment and scheduling of appointment by making a payment via the selected portal. Typically, it will take eight days or so for an applicant to make an appointment at the local Passport Seva Kendra. After clearing all the formalities, it takes approximately three weeks before the applicant will be able to receive it. Applications can use the Tatkal passport scheme which dispatches these documents within three working days from the date of application in the case of an emergency.
Every applicant, whether infant or the elderly, looking for passport or related services needs to be physically available when submitting application, photograph and biometrics (fingerprints) at the Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) or the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK).
What are e-Passports?
e-Passports were announced by the Indian Government in 2019 with the objective of facilitating passport services online. The features of the new e-Passports include thick front and back covers and easy readability. The e-passport’s back cover comes with a silicon chip with 64KB of memory space. The passport holder’s fingerprint is stored in the memory chip, and may be built with the capability to store up to 30 visits. The prototype of this passport has been already validated by a US-Government certified lab. Once it comes to use, e-passports can change the way travel is done making it more convenient and trouble-free.
How to renew your Passport in India?
If your passport’s expiry date is over, lost or the pages exhausted, it’s time for passport renewal. If you need to renew your passport in India, you must furnish your old passport, in addition to the supporting documents. A hole is punched on the passport’s cover with a cancelled stamp and returned to you, which invalidates the previous passport, thereby making it unusable. If you’ve submitted an application for passport renewal in India, it usually takes less time compared to applying for a new passport—4 to 6 weeks, the details of which we have already seen in the beginning of the article. In the case of passport renewal, there is no need for police verification, and only when you’re applying for a new passport, police verification is required. But there may be some exceptions in the case of request for change of name / lost passport /change in the details either on the passport’s front or last page, on the basis of the records present in the Passport Office System.
Watch out for the expiry date of your passport and renew it for a comfortable, hassle-free abroad travel. Avoid waiting till the eleventh hour to receive or renew the passport because you need to shell out extra money in this case, leading to delay or even cancellation of the trip. You can reissue or renew passport easily, as nowadays any passport service agency comes with paperless online service without any fuss or needless forms.