Willing to travel abroad? if yes then you should have a passport to get a visa from a particular country. If you don’t know how to make a passport in India, then you are in the right place. In this article, we will discuss passport authority in India, simple steps to follow to make and Indian passport and document required for making a passport in India.
Indian Passport Authority
The Indian Passport is issued by the Indian Government Ministry of External Affairs to the citizens of India. A passport is compulsory to travel document for the individuals, who travel to foreign countries as a student for education, as a tourist, as a pilgrim, for medical and business purposes, etc. As per the Passports Act, 1967, the passport certifies that the individual is a citizen of India.
In India, the passport services are provided by the Ministry of External Affairs through the passport offices of Central Passport Organization and Passport Seva Kendra’s (PSKs). There are 37 Passport Offices in India.
List of Passport Offices in India
| Ahmadabad | Coimbatore | Kolkata | Ranchi |
| Amritsar | Dehradun | Kozhikode | Shimla |
| Andaman and Nicobar | Delhi | Lucknow | Srinagar |
| Bengaluru | Ghaziabad | Madurai | Surat |
| Bareilly | Goa | Bhopal | Guwahati |
| Mumbai | Tiruchirappalli | Bhubaneswar | Hyderabad |
| Nagpur | Trivandrum | Chandigarh | Jaipur |
| Patna | Visakhapatnam | Chennai | Jalandhar |
| Pune | Vijayawada | Cochin | Jammu |
| Raipur |
Under these Passport offices in India, many Passport Seva Kendra’s (PSKs) are established at all the major post offices of India. Where Passport services are being rendered. This is step is raised by the Ministry of External Affairs to give passport service at nearest to the customer at post offices.
Types of Passports Issued in India
The Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. Of India, issue two types of passports in India.
- Ordinary Passport: Ordinary passport is issued to all general individuals who are willing to travel abroad for tourism, study, and business purposes.
- Official/Diplomatic passport: Official or Diplomatic Passport is issued to the individuals who are traveling abroad on official Govt. duties.
Passport Application Type
There are two types of application schemes
Normal scheme: under the normal scheme the passport can be received by the candidate within one month. This is for individuals who are not in a hurry to get a passport.
Tatkal scheme: If someone needed a passport in a short time then there is a Tatkal scheme where an individual can get a passport within one week or within a maximum of 10 days.
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How to Apply For a Passport in India
Register and apply online:
- Firstly, to apply for a fresh passport, an individual have to register himself on the online portal of the Passport Seva website Link by Clicking on “New User Registration” link at the left side of the page.
- If someone is already registered to the portal, then he or she needs to login to the portal using their login user name and password.
- After logging in click on “Apply for Fresh Passport/ Re-issue of Passport” link to apply for fresh or re-issue a passport.
- An individual needs to fill all the information asked correctly like Name and address as on the ID proofs.
- Please re-check all the information entered is correct and then “Submit” the form.
- Then Next step is to book an appointment.
How to Book an Appointment for Making a Passport in India
- Once you submitted the form, the next step is to book the appointment at the passport office or at passport Seva Kendra near to you.
- For that, you will require to make payment online for passport fees.
- Under the ‘View Saved / Submitted Applications’ tab click on the ‘Pay and Schedule Appointment’ link to schedule an appointment.
- Once payment is done your appointment is booked.
- Click on the ‘Print Application Receipt’ link to get the print out of application form receipt that contains the required Application Reference Number (ARN).
- After that candidate has to visit the Passport office or passport Seva Kendra where your appointment is booked, with all original documents.
Apply for an Indian Passport offline
One can also apply for an Indian passport offline by downloading or buying a passport form. And submit the duly filled form along with the all required document at a passport collection center.
Fee Structure for Applying for a Passport in India
| Application Type | Charges (36 Pages) | Charges (60 Pages) |
| For fresh passport/reissue of passport under Normal scheme | Rs.1500/- | Rs. 2000/- |
| For fresh passport/reissue of passport under Tatkal scheme | Rs. 3500/- | Rs. 4000/- |
Documents Required to Applying for an Indian Passport
When an individual applies for a passport, he/she is required to submit certain documents:
- Passport application form (Application Reference Number (ARN))
- Proof of date of birth
- Proof of address
- Documentary proof for anyone of the Non -ECR categories
Accepted Documents for Proof of Date of Birth.
- Aadhaar card/e-Aadhaar
- PAN card
- The voter ID card issued by the Election Commission of India
- Driving license
- A declaration was given by the Head of the Orphanage or Child Care Home confirming the date of birth of the applicant in its official letterhead.
- Birth certificate.
- Transfer certificate/school.
- The copy of an extract of the service record of the applicant (only for government employees) or pension order (retired government employees) which is duly attested or certified by the officer of the concerned department of the applicant.
- The copy of the policy bond that is issued by the Public Life Insurance Corporation/Companies having the date of birth of the holder of the insurance policy.
Accepted Documents for Proof of Address
- Aadhaar card
- A voter ID card issued by Election Commission of India
- Driving license
- Passbook of running bank account having the photo of the applicant
- Landline or postpaid mobile bill
- Rental agreement
- Electricity bill
- Water bill
- Income Tax Assessment order
- Proof of Gas connection
- Copy of the first and last page of parent’s passport, in case of minors
- Certificate from Employer of reputed companies on their letterhead
- Copy of the first and last page of the spouse’s passport mentioning the applicant’s name as the spouse of the passport holder.
Police verification and passport printing process
Once a candidate submits the application form along with the required documents at passport Seva Kendra, the office will send the request to the police department for police verification.
An individual will get a call from the concerned police station for the verification process. As soon as passport authority receives police verification then they will process the printing of passport.
Candidates are kept updated through email or SMS about the proceedings of passport creation by the passport office.
Finally, you will get your passport at your permanent address through speed post.
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