The Passport Renewal
A common tale of every NRI
On 30th of April 2024, I found out that there’s been a name mismatch between my passport and my educational documents. This mismatch wasn’t in my name, rather it was my mother’s surname. I felt that approaching a visa consultancy was a valuable decision due to their identification and highlighting of the aforementioned mismatch. I felt they were adding value, and was elated about the same.
The name change in passport can be done only through a certain procedure. For the change of the name, you have to give an newspaper advertisement, one in local language, other in English in the following format.
“I X(old name) S/W/D/O Y, Residential address as per you Aadhaar card or whatever address proof you will be submitting at the passport office, I have changed my name as Z (new name). Hereafter my name is known as Z.”
To get this advertorial published in news papers, you need to get a notarized affidavit from your court complex or any notary advocate of your choice. The contents of the notarized affidavit also remain same.
“Your name was X, your residential address is Y, and then you changed your name to Z for the reason B, Henceforth your name will be Z and both the names X and Z are yours.”
Once the paper advertorial is published, you will be able to book a slot under the re-issue section on the passport website. Here you have to pay 2000 INR for your slot booking.
There are few common misconceptions regarding the passport slot booking and passport application in general. Here are a few facts to bust some of the myths.
- You have to pay for the slot again if you are missing a document during your current slot: False. Once you have paid 2000 INR for your slot, you don’t have to repay again for the purpose of slot booking. You can visit the office during your slot timing, get the application print from them. You can visit their office again the same day, or the next working day with the help of this application print out. No need to pay any extra or to book a slot once again.
- You have to book again if you cannot produce the requested documents within 3 Months of the day of your first slot: Once again no need. You will receive an email saying that your application is closed after 3 months since the date of your first visit, which may prompt you to rebook the slot again. This email doesn’t mean that your file is permanently closed. It just means that your file will no longer be active in the office docs. If you visit the Regional Passport office, you file will be activated once again, and you can get your passport for that application itself without having to pay and rebook the slot for a new application.
- Tatkal for re-issue with changes: Tatkal is available for fresh applicants and people who are getting their passport for the first time. But for re-issue or renewal, which is also under the re-issue category, is not preferred to apply tatkal. For tatkal, you pay the regular 2000 INR while booking your slot, but the remaining 2000 shall be payable at the final checking counter at your centre after your application is processed. The officers at the final checking centre will determine if your application is valid to avail the tatkal scheme or not. In the cases of re-issue, most of the times, the officer will dee, you application ineligible for tatkal, putting brakes to your plans. So it is wise to plan for the timelines associated with normal process while applying for a re-issue.
After the advertorial, I visited the passport office and after two hours of process, my application was escalated to the back office, i.e, the regional passport office. Once your application is escalated to the RPO, you don’t have any slots there. It’s on first come first serve basis. You will be reporting to the RPO on their next working day, and queue in line and wait for your turn.
The process at the RPO is little complicated. It is not straight forward as it would be in the regular passport office where you will first visit the reception to get your token, then you will visit counter A, B, C in that order to get your application processed.
At the RPO, things are different and there is no particular order in which you will be doing things. You may visit the same counter twice. The process is to understand your reason for change. They take time to observe candidates before a decision to approve or process the application is taken. In certain cases, you may have to attend an interview with one of the officers at the RPO to clarify your situation.
All of this process takes about 3–4 hours. Once this is done, you will have a police verification. For re-issue without any changes, there will not be any verification. But for people with changes you will have a police verification which will be done in the next 10–15 days from the date of your application process confirmation from the RPO. Once police verification is done, you will receive your passport within 3 working days from the date of your verification.
Passports can be re-issued from any Indian Embassy at any country. The process remains the same. You will visit the website, and book your slot. In case of NRI, they will book their slot at the Indian Embassy rather than a passport office.
“If the passport index were to be judged on the level of service and timely support people receive, we would have a completely different index and India would be in the top.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar.”
That’s it from me.
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