How to Apply for an Indian Passport (2020)

Booking Appointments for Passport Application

After submitting the application, the applicant needs to schedule an appointment with the nearest Passport Seva Kendra or PSK. The applicant has to be physically present at the venue on the date mentioned in the appointment schedule.

To proceed with this step, go to the ‘Applicant Home’ page. Click on ‘View Saved/ Submitted Applications’. It will open a page stating the applicant details, as entered by the user in the previous step.

The details including ARN, Applicant Number, File Name and Appointment Date and Submission Number will be shown in a tabular format. The applicant has to select ARN for the form filled earlier.

Here you’ll be given a number of options such as Retrieve partially filled form, pay and schedule appointment, Print application receipt, view/ print submitted form, track application status, payment receipt, upload supporting documents and appointment history.

You have to click on ‘Pay and Schedule appointment’ from the given choices. It now initiates the payment process, whereby the applicant has to confirm a payment mode. You can either pay online or opt for Challan payment.

To book an appointment at the nearest Passport Seva Kendra, payments must be processed online. After the payment is made, an appointment date is allotted to the applicant when he or she has to appear at the office.

You can also pay by cash/ challan. After taking a print out of the challan, visit an SBI branch and pay the amount. Don’t forget to receive a copy of the challan from the bank. It generally takes 2 days to verify the ARN. Post verification, the applicant can schedule an appointment.

Passport Fee

There are separate charges, depending on the kind of passport you are applying. For a Normal passport of 36 pages, the fee is Rs1500. But, if you need a passport urgently, you have to apply through the Tatkal scheme and the fee would be Rs3500.

For reissue also you have to pay a fee of Rs1500 for Normal passports. You can easily get an idea of the passport fee by clicking on the Fee Calculator available on the site. All you have to do is fill up the required fields and tap on ‘Calculate Fee’ to determine the charges.

Passport Application for Minors

If you have a minor child and wish to apply for a passport, the procedure is slightly different. If one or both the parents hold a valid passport, attested photocopies of the passport has to be submitted along with the application form. But, spouse name must be endorsed in one of the parents’ passport.

If spouse name is not added, you have to apply for a re-issue and get the specified changes done. Once you receive your new passport with the changes, you can apply for your child’s passport.

If one parent stays abroad and requires to file a minor passport application, Annexure D or Annexure C has to be submitted by the other parent. These forms can be downloaded from the home page of the Passport Seva website.

For minor applicants, below 4 years, parents need to carry passport size photographs for processing the application. Other applicants, above 4 years, need not carry any photographs as it will be captured at the PSK or PO.

Documents Required at PSK

After scheduling an appointment at the PSK, applicants have to physically visit the center on the specified date. The applicant is required to carry a copy of the receipt, original and photocopies of all documents.

Proof of present address and a proof of date of birth is generally required for a fresh passport application. Applicants can provide their electricity, water or landline telephone bill as proof of residence.

Voter ID card, income tax assessment order, gas connection receipt, Aadhaar card, rent agreement and passbook of running bank account also come under the list of acceptable documents for proving present address status.

The date of birth of an individual can be proved with a copy of the birth certificate, school leaving or matriculation certificate, policy bond issued by Public Life Insurance Corporations, Aadhaar card, Election Voter ID card, PAN Card and Driving License.

Adults need not take photographs to the PSK as their photos will be taken at the PSK. All applicants must report before time and wait for their turn. Once the process is completed, adults are generally subjected to a police verification. Applicants can expect their passports within 15 to 30 days.

Other criteria

Apart from the normal passport application procedure, there are plenty of other criteria that applicants can choose, depending on their requirement.

For example, there are different rules of application for senior citizens, dependent family members of Government/ PSU/ Statutory body employees, applicants who have changed their names, convicted criminals, repatriated or deported individuals, applicants with ongoing court cases and so on.

There are also different rules for application if your passport has expired or damaged.

For lost or stolen passports, a report has to be filed at the nearest police station and the Passport Office or Indian Mission, if you are staying abroad. An application for reissue can be placed at a PSK and you can get another passport with a validity of 10 years.

Certain procedures also need to be followed if you have a change of appearance, name, date or place of birth, address and spouse name.

 The Passport Seva website has been designed to offer comprehensive service regarding passport issuance.

If you have any queries regarding the process, visit the website and click on the desired link for a detail briefing on each topic. The government has also recently launched mPassport Seva App which allows Indian citizens to easily apply for passports from anywhere in the country.

It can be downloaded from Google Play Store for Android users and iOS for Apple users. It takes away the hassle of accessing the site from a computer. The app supports services related to new user registration, passport application and application for police clearance certificate.