Team-BHP - Passport Renewal Procedure

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Originally Posted by carboy (Post 4010574)

That's the same case for electricity bill, gas bill also, right? The electricity bill & gas bill in my flat which has been rented out is still in my name.

That's right.

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Driver's license is not accepted as proof. And the utilities are in her husband's name.

This is kind of a chicken and egg situation.
If the property is jointly registered in her name, she can have her name included on the utility bills and even Property Tax receipts.

Alternative, is to start with a Notarised affidavit for the address and use that to update the bank account or PAN. I guess the Bank statement/PAN/IT returns can be used as address proof for passport ? (it is allowed as proof of residence for Aadhaar though).
Aadhaar even allows these, so check if this will work:
Certificate of Address having photo issued by MP or MLA or Gazetted Officer or Tehsildar on letterhead
Insurance Policy
Signed Letter having Photo from Bank on letterhead
Signed Letter having Photo issued by registered Company on letterhead
Signed Letter having Photo issued by Recognized Educational Instruction on letterhead
Vehicle Registration Certificate
Registered Sale / Lease / Rent Agreement
Address Card having Photo issued by Department of Posts
Caste and Domicile Certificate having Photo issued by State Govt.

*Even if husband's passport is updated with new address, spouse can use that as address proof along with the marriage certificate.

Hello guys,

I am in the US currently and my passport expires in 30 May 2017. I got my passport renewed and got my old passport with the cancelled stamp alongwith the renewed passport.

My new passport has issue date of June 2016 and goes upto June 2026. I was under the impression that the new passport would have issue date continuing from the day my current passport expires, that is, from 30 May 2017 or 31 May 2017 itself.

Is the issue date on my renewed passport correct, or no?

-Bhargav

Quote:

Originally Posted by Octane_Power (Post 4011123)

I was under the impression that the new passport would have issue date continuing from the day my current passport expires, that is, from 30 May 2017 or 31 May 2017 itself.

The issue date will be around the time you applied. I get asked sometimes at immigration why I renewed my pp when I had a few years left..

Turnaround time of <1 week for getting the renewed passport.

Had visited the passport office on last tuesday (5th July) to apply for my passport renewal with no address change. Received it today morning (11th July).

Question:
The passport layout has changed. The photo and family/address details appear on the inner page now (and not on the inside of the cover jacket unlike before).

Where is the ECNR or Non-ECR section now? It no longer appears in the passport?

Also, its still not clear whether we have to carry the old passport (with no valid visa in it) or not. Its not mandatory, but advisable to carry is the feedback. No clear cut information anywhere formally. What is the offical stand on it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by null (Post 4013243)

...Also, its still not clear whether we have to carry the old passport (with no valid visa in it) or not. Its not mandatory, but advisable to carry is the feedback. No clear cut information anywhere formally. What is the offical stand on it?

Why do you need the old passport? It would be cross checked as "Cancelled" right? It doesn't make any logic to carry the old one. I don't even remember where is the old one now (mine).

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Originally Posted by swiftnfurious (Post 4013359)

I don't even remember where is the old one now (mine).

Once an immigration officer was irritated with my three passport bunch saying I was making life difficult for him with unnecessary bulk. Told him my US visa is in the oldest one and only then he stopped complaining.
However now on applying for a UK visa I am being asked for travel detail in the last ten years to all countries visited apart from the UK. If not for the passport entries I would never have got the dates right. My three passports date back to about 20 years, but I switched one prematurely as I had shifted residence and getting a new home proof was easiest with a fresh passport.

Quote:

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious (Post 4013359)

Why do you need the old passport? It would be cross checked as "Cancelled" right? It doesn't make any logic to carry the old one. I don't even remember where is the old one now (mine).

If you don't have valid visas in the older passports it is not required to be carried, however many times Immigration officials' confidence levels of you not overstaying does improve when they glance through the older passports with visas, entry and exit dates. Even helps with transit permits & visas sometimes. Kind of an unwritten rule :)

It's my 4th book now. Carrying them all together is a pain. Till now, I have had no use of the old passports ever. Only time when an old passport came in handy (which had a valid us visa) was to save a page in stamping (call it random stamping by those at the immigration counters). An officer in US told me he is stamping in the old passport so that I will save a page and has used the old passport. When returning, they again stamped next to entry stamp as I had placed the entry form there without any questions. When I landed in Mumbai, the guy ended up stamping on fresh page all together randomly in the new book.

The debate is never ending. There is no clear mention anywhere. Foreigners never carry multiple books, where as we Indians end up carrying a stack of them. Since i had a valid visa in one of the older ones, i ended up carrying them all till now.

Back to my more important question - what about ECNR/Non-ECR? Used to be a big fuss 10 years back. Not important now (since it doesn't exist now in the PP)?

Edit: answer :p
ECR status will be printed in the passport of the applicants who fall in the ECR category.For those falling in the Non-ECR category, there will be no specific mention in the passport.
The practice of putting Non-ECR (previously ECNR) stamp has been discontinued.

I generally take only my current passport and any old booklet that has a valid long term visa in it such as a ten year US B1.

No official has cared about the rest of the booklets so far in about a decade of traveling multiple times a year. Certainly not at foreign airports and not chennai immigration which is where I fly out of.

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Originally Posted by CelerioBoi (Post 4028881)

My wife's name is XXX YYY & surname ZZZ in her passport. My passport has her name as XXX YYY. Can I apply for a passport for my kid without changing my wife's name in either passport?

Shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as you have a marriage certificate with your wife's name in whatever format you want.
*Note - the passport officers are very well aware of our complicated Indian names - with expansion of initials, first/given name, middle name & surname can be jumbled/swapped, etc so they are a bit lenient :)

Trying to retrofit our names into such a format is a bad idea anyways :D

I have gone through the thread and could not find out the procedure for changing the photo on my passport. The photo taken during the passport application, was right after tonsuring my head and they would not allow me to submit a photo with my normal looks (head full of hair). And I had to wait in the queue outside the PSK office for 3 hours in the sun before I could get in. Telling that I was slightly tanned would be the understatement of the year, as my complexion is not that wheatish to start with, in the first place. So needless to say, I look like a Nigerian drug trafficker in my passport, but I can assure you I am not.

My passport is fresh, no stamps or visas on it. Applied on Tatkal basis as there was an imminent travel plan which got cancelled. It was issued in the year 2011. So I want to know if there is a process for just changing the photo alone?

One of my brainy (not) friends suggested I just dunk the passport in water and claim for a damaged passport and reapply it. That did not sound so good to me at all, so I did not carry out Megamind's plan. Please advise.

Regards,
Doc_nikhil.

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Originally Posted by Doc_nikhil (Post 4029100)

One of my brainy (not) friends suggested I just dunk the passport in water and claim for a damaged passport and reapply it.

I think this is not such a bad option (monsoon or flood damage), unless you have any other valid reason such as change of home address. There were government camps held in chennai soon after the floods to replace such damaged documents!

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Originally Posted by comfortablynumb (Post 4029115)

Don't think there is a facility to change only your photograph on the same PP.

Cheers,
Vikram

Thanks Vikram, I'll have a look into the options available, including the one involving claiming for water damage. I heard that's a bit faster than applying for a re-issue. I don't know exactly.

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Originally Posted by diyguy (Post 4029120)

Whaddayaknow! Megamind was right all along then! I don't think I can claim the chennai floods affected my passport as it already too late. I'll have to look into the options then. Maybe I'll give a permanent marker to my 3yr old son and ask him to draw daddy's hair back stupid: on a serious note, I think I'll have to ask for a re-issue.