General Advisory for Passport Applicants (Updated as on 5.7.2012)

Ministry of External Affairs[CPV Division]

General Advisory for Passport Applicants (Updated as on 5.7.2012)

General

• Online Registration & Appointment
• Walk-in appointments with online Registration
• Manual submission of applications
• Passport applicants - General Obligations

1) General:

i) There are 37 Passport Offices in the country delivering passport services to citizens. Besides, the Ministry of External Affairs (CPV Division) in respect of diplomatic and official passports issuance and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Administration also act as Passport Issuing Authority.

ii) With the implementation of the Passport Seva Project, 77 Passport Seva Kendras are working as extended arms of Regional Passport Offices. An applicant may ascertain the jurisdiction of Regional Passpot Office and Passport Seva Kendra before submitting an application.

iii) Under Passport Seva, the new measures and procedures have been introduced in order to improve governance in Passport Offices. The new measures and procedures are aimed at ensuring citizens’ comfort, improvement in delivery of passport services, transparency and enhanced security. Applicants are now required to present themselves at the respective Passport Seva Kendra to enable the Passport Issuing Authority to obtain applicants’ photographs, bio-metrics and granting decision in their presence.

2) Online Registration & Appointment:

 
The online appointment system has been introduced to ensure avoiding congestion at the Passport Seva Kendras and cutting down waiting time for applicants. Appointments are allotted according to handling capacity of a Passport Seva Kendra and are based on an electronic queue management system. Following steps may be followed to obtain and manage appointment:

Step 1: Visit the website www.passportindia.gov.in ;

Step 2: Register ‘user name’ and assign a ‘password’;

Step 3: Log in using your ‘user name’ and ‘password’;

Step 4: Fill online application form as the case may be and submit online (alternatively, download e-form, fill up and upload the same at the portal). Uploading of documents is optional;

Step 5: Take printout of Application Reference Number (ARN);

Step 6: Now take an appointment to visit the nearest Passport Seva Kendra (appointments are released region-wise). It is advised that the citizen should be ready with step ‘1’ to ‘5’ above before the ‘appointment release time’. As soon as appointments are released (please see region-wise timings), they should click on ‘manage appointment’ button to book the appointment as per available slots. In case you are not able to obtain appointment for a particular date, you may revisit the portal to take appointment again;

Step 7: Visit the Passport Seva Kendra with requisite original documents and their photocopies. Photograph is not required. The list of requisite documents is available at the website;
___________________________
Step 8: Some categories are allowed as Walk-in applicants and obtaining online appointment is not mandatory. [Please see below:- Walk-in Appointments with online Registration]
________________________________
Step 9: In case you are unable to secure appointment or don’t fall under Walk-in category, you may visit concerned Passport Office for submission of manual passport application form. [Please see below:- Manual Submission of Applications]
__________________________________

3) Walk-in appointments with online Registration:

 
In order to facilitate submission of passport applications at Passport Seva Kendras, some types of services such as ‘Tatkaal’ and issuance of Police Clearance Certificates and some categories of applicants such as senior citizens, minors and differently-abled persons are allowed to submit their duly registered online applications with ARN number as Walk-in applicants. Applicants falling under these categories are also required to
register their applications online and obtain ARN number and visit the nearest Passport Seva Kendra at their convenience (no prior appointment required). In addition, applicants should also refer to any advisory issued by the concerned Passport Offices from time to time.

4. Manual submission of applications:

i) As an interim measure, in order to address rising demand for passport services, Passport Offices may also allow manual submission of applications at Passport Offices. Applicants should refer to advisories and notifications issued by concerned Passport Office from time to time.

ii) The procedures and modalities for acceptance of applications for passport services is as under:

iii) For manual submission of passport application form, an applicant is required to visit Passport Office in person with duly filled in passport application form, a complete set of self-attested copy of requisite documents and original thereof along with a recent colour photograph of the size 4.5 cm X 3.5 cm with white background. Applicant will have to submit application with requisite fees. Further details as well as the prescribed application form could be obtained from the website: www.passportindia.gov.in .

iv) Manual submission of applications will be accepted by Passport Offices until further orders.

5. Passport applicants- General Obligations:

i) Applicants having confirmed appointments and who are unable to visit PSK due to some reason, are advised to reschedule/cancel their appointments at least 15 hours prior to the scheduled date/time. In case of ‘no show’ of the applicant on the scheduled day & time, the data captured for that applicant will be deleted from the system including ARN number and such applicants will be required to fill up the ‘data’ again for obtaining fresh appointments.

ii) Statutorily, all passport applicants are required to submit their applications with correct information and valid and genuine documents. As per provisions of the Passports Act, 1967, an applicant should not furnish any false information or suppress any material information with a view to obtaining passport or travel document. Any such action shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years with fine which may extend to Rs. 5000/- or both.
                                  *****