It will be truly unjust to not write an article on getting a new Indian Passport especially given the name of the blog! Luckily, I recently had a first hand experience getting mine renewed.

Getting an Indian Passport has become way more easier, convenient and faster than the the process 3 years ago. You basically have two type of applications: Normal or Tatkal (Expedite). The difference is the later takes 3-4 days to get the new book in hand and costs double ie Rs. 4000 as against Rs. 2000 for Normal which can take anywhere between week to a months time.

You start of by basically filling up a pretty straight forward online form, making the payment and booking the appointment. The site shows list of documents required based on type of change. A simple renewal due to expiry or page exhaustion with all details same requires basic papers whereas list gets longer if you have additional changes like name or address.

I was left with only 3 empty pages in my passport and had to do an address change as well. My first attempt was to do Tatkal. I visited the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) got in the Tatkal line, submitted my papers. Later I was informed by Passport Officer that my passport could not be processed under Tatkal as my current passport address was not marked Police verified. Unfortunately, this info is not available on website or during application!

4 months later after exhausting all the pages, I reapplied under Normal- my previous fees could be reused. The PSK is manned by young professionals from TCS and after hopping through 4 counters which include token, photo, fingerprints, Form review you are done.

Next step, police verification whose SMS came surprisingly in 2 days. First visit to station and officer handed out a completely new list of documents independent of PSK and not listed anywhere on website. Some not relevant to address change. These included home agreement (PSK accepted bank passbook), birth certificate / SSC certificate, PAN, Aadhar, Electricity Bill etc.

The application was then routed to Police Commissioners office next day and it sat there for 3 weeks. A follow up with the central Passport helpline helped move it ahead to approval, printing and dispatch.

Finally, after 1 month I had the new passport in my hand! A book with no stamps on it!! Another reason to pack my bags.