Ok, before I start raving about their services let me list what I went to the passport office for:
I had a passport previously issued at the Bangalore Passport Office back in the year 2000. I had to get a new passport because the old passport.
expires in 2010, and a lot of countries do not allow you to travel if your passport has less than 6 months validity. My address in the old.
passport was a Bangalore address, and I had completed police verification at the time I got my old passport. I am employed at a private firm, and I am not a Government employee.
Now for the new passport, I applied under the tatkal scheme. The Bangalore RPO site lists that for passports previously issued in Bangalore, there is no need for verification certificate(VC). I am not sure about this. I provided a VC and the guy at the counter accepted it.
These are the documents I provided.
Address Proof- My Degree Certificate(for ECNR)- Date Of Birth Proof(Old Passport Copy)
Verification Certificate
Photocopy of the ID Card of the issuer of VC- Annexure I
Proof of Emergency from my company stating that I will be traveling for business reasons, and I need a passport under tatkal scheme
A covering letter from myself stating the need for a tatkal service passport- My appointment letter
You get this only when you register online at the Bangalore RPO website.- Form 1 - Download from passport website- PP Form(2 copies)
Download from passport website, and do not cross sign on your photographs even though the form says so. - 3 photos - passport size - 3.5 x 3.5 - white background preferably: 1 to be pasted on Form 1, and 1 each on the PP Forms.
Now here are some tips:
Make sure the name you listed in the passport application matches the address proof, VC, degree certificate and any documentation you are
providing. Even a small mismatch could possibly lead to troubles.
The same applies to your address proof also. Make sure that the address listed on the address proof is the same as the one in your application.
Avoid using short forms as much as possible.
List Of Documents and what they mean - For address proof:
A letter from a reputed company stating your employment tenure, and address on the letter head of the company. For some reason, the passport
office accepts these letters only from state owned Public Limited companies. Private company issued letters are not acceptable. I wonder how they arrived at the definition of reputed!
Bank Statement of Savings Account - This means and includes only nationalized banks. Statements from banks like ICICI, Citibank will not be accepted. Make sure you have at least 12-15(minimum) transactions in the last 1 year to show on the bank statement. The statement must be
signed and stamped by the bank. Joint accounts are also ok, as long as it is a savings bank account from a nationalized bank.
Voter ID Card accepted
PAN Card - 50% chances that it is accepted
Rental Agreement - 50% chances that it is accepted
Driving License - No
Gas Connection Bill - Yes
Telephone Bill - Only BSNL
Electricity Bill - Yes
Ration Card - 50% chances that it is accepted
Student ID Card - Only for students - There must be a visible signature/seal of the head of the institute/institution somewhere in the ID card, and it must be valid.
There are other proofs also which are considered for address proof. However, I do not have any idea about them because I do not have them.
For Date Of Birth Proof - Birth Certificate/School Certificate/SSLC Marks Card SSLC/12th/2nd PUC/Degree Certificates for ECNR. Do not ignore this part because it is very important, and it saves considerable time at
customs. ECNR is a statement made from Government Of India, that they are OK with the holder of the passport to travel to their countries.
Minimum qualification is SSLC pass.
Verification Certificate - Points to remember
It should be issued on the official letter head of the issuer.
You need a photocopy of the issuer of the VC- The certificate is valid for 6 months from the date of issue by the issuer
It must be signed and sealed on your photo, and at the bottom
You need the office number, mobile number, residence landline number of the issuer of the VC along with the office name and address
If the issuer of VC lives outside the city from where you are applying for passport, make sure that they have a branch office in the city
where you are applying for a passport. For e.g., If you are applying for a passport in the Bangalore office, and the issuer of VC is employed
at an organization in Delhi, there must be a branch office of the organizatoin in Bangalore of the issuer of VC. Otherwise, the VC has 50%
chances of being accepted.
Make sure your name, address, date of birth, your parents’ & spouse name are in order.
Include a reference number for the certificate. This could be the date on which the VC was issued.
Now about my experience:
I took an online appointment(highly recommended unless you prefer to wait for long queues) and got all my documents in order.
The next day I went to the office, and reached Counter #1, and had my documents tagged.(info about this will be given once you register on the RPO website)
After that I waited for my token number(number allotted to you during online registration), and when it was listed I went to the next counter and had my documents verified. Then I waited for another 30 minutes before my name was called, and I had to go to the Assistant Passport .
Officer because of my tatkal request, and have my application signed from her. After that I headed to the payment counter to make the payment.
Upon payment I received an acknowledgment slip indicating my services required, fees paid, mode of payment, and delivery date.
I was given a delivery date of 3 days, and you can use the file number listed on the slip to track your passport processing on the site.
By 3 days they mean that they will post the passport on the 3rd day, and you will receive it the next day.
My passport arrived on time, and make sure you are at your residence at the time the post master comes home.(you will know this by using the online tracking. The status will say as your passport has been dispatched by speed post. It is a good hint that you will receive your passport in 1-2 days).
And my passport arrived when I was home. A 10 year validity passport and all details as listed.
Awesome service. It was not at all like other Government offices where we are sent back frustrated. Everything was perfect. Make sure you have done your homework before going to the passport office, and you will have a smooth journey.
I hope you find my review useful, and use this as a basis to make your journey to the passport office nice & easy.