Wednesday, November 7, 2012

All about Passport appointment & online Registration

Online Registration & Appointment
The online passport appointment booking system has been introduced to ensure avoiding congestion at the PSK and cutting down waiting time for applicants. Passport Appointments are allotted according to handling capacity of a PSK and are based on an electronic queue management system.

Following steps may be followed to obtain and manage slot:

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 passport appointment to visit the nearest PSK ( Online slots are released region-wise). It is advised that the citizen should be ready with step ‘1’ to ‘5’ above before the ‘ passport appointment release time’. As soon as passport appointments are released (please see region-wise timings), they should click on ‘manage appointment’ button to book the slot as per available slots. In case you are not able to get passport appointment for a particular date, you may revisit the portal to take slots again;
Step 7: Visit the PSK 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 not able to get passport appointment or don’t fall under Walk-in category, you may visit concerned PSK for submission of manual passport application form. [Please see below:- Manual Submission of Applications]

Walk-in passport appointments without online Registration:
In order to facilitate submission of applications at PSK, some types of services such as ‘Tatkaal’ and issuance of Police Clearance Certificates and some categories of applicants such as senior citizens, minors and physically-challenged 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 PSK at their convenience (no prior appointment required). In additionapplicants should also refer to any advisory issued by the concerned PSK from time to time.

Manual submission of applications:
i) As an interim measure, in order to address rising demand for passport services, RPO may also allow manual submission of applications at PSK. Applicants should refer to advisories and notifications issued by concerned PSK from time to time.
ii) The procedures and modalities for acceptance of applications for passport services is as under:
iii) For manual submission of application form, an applicant is required to visit PSK in person with duly filled in 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 PSK until further orders.

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.

General:
i) There are 37 RPO 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 Issuing Authority.

ii) With the implementation of the Passport Seva Project, 77 PSK are working as extended arms of RPO. An applicant may ascertain the jurisdiction of RPO and PSK before submitting an application.

iii) Under Passport Seva, the new measures and procedures have been introduced in order to improve governance in PSKs. 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 PSK to enable the Passport Issuing Authority to obtain applicants’ photographs, bio-metrics and granting decision in their presence