[Aroy]

Originally Posted by gopinathann

My passport is getting expired in Dec 2011. I need to take B1 visa before 6 months of expiry (before end of June) or apply for passport renewal and apply visa on the new passport.

My question is that if I apply for B1 now, will they give a minimum 2 years of B1 visa for multiple visit, or will it be till the current passport expires.

Which would be the best option, as I need to travel very soon.

Now a days visas are issued till the passport expires. There may be some exceptions, but do not bank on it. Better get your passport renewed, then you can try for a five/ten year multiple entry visa

[shankar.balan]

Passport Re-issue at PSK SAI ARCADE on Outer Ring Road - a relatively painless procedure:

Reasons: Change in personal particulars - address and inclusion of spouse name etc. Also request for Jumbo booklet because pages had got over.
Documents submitted:
A.One year's bank statement in original with Bank exec signature + Bank Seal. Also Photocopies of the same.
B.Two printouts of Postpaid Mobile Bills - one from previous year and another from current year both with the local Vodafone Store Seal of authentication. Also photocopies of the same.
C.Marriage Certificate in Original + Photocopies of the same.
D.Photocopies of actual passports - First 2 pages + ECNR Page + Last 2 Pages + Observation page.
E.Annexure D - Affidavit ref Marriage + Photocopies of the same - this last was not used by the PSK - they said since the actual marriage cert was there, this wasnt really needed.
F. No photos required because they take the photo there itself. (Photos are required later for the Police verification when they visit the house)

Experience:
1. We had the appointment for today at 0900-0945 slot. This was booked on 13th April 2011 under normal mode.
2. Presented ourselves at the PSK office, waited in the queue and were let into the PSK precisely at 0830.
3. Queued up at the Token counter where the process was painless - we had all our accompanying documents verified by the person there and were issued tokens.
4. 15 minutes wait inside the PSK and our tokens got called for Counter A.
5. Counter A - Krishnamoorthy - a most helpful and pleasant service person - completely painless procedure - verification of all documents done, all details entered, fingerprint biometrics done, photograph taken and we were good to go.
6. I requested if my passport reissual could be done on Tatkaal though I had got only a normal mode appointment. Was told absolutely no problem - all I had to do was to go to B Counter, get the documents verified, get the passport checked by the officer and he would pass the same if there were no issues.
7. Went to B Counter when my token was called - this took around 40 minutes time because B Counter staff only arrive by 945 and start work a bit later. Anyway went through the process above and was granted Tatkaal mode.
8. Back to A Counter now to meet Krishnamoorthy who requested me to wait while he looked after another customer. Once that customer was handled we went back to my application, he collected the extra charge for Tatkaal and gave me the receipt, asking me to go back to B Counter when my token was called again.
9. Went back to B counter and was met by a very pleasant lady there who checked my papers, made the stamps and said I was to move to C Counter when the token was called.
10. Waited another 7-10 minutes and was called to C Counter where I was met by an elderly gent who viewed my papers and stamped the whole lot granting me the Tatkaal mode.
11. Was guided to the Exit where I gave my feedback on the experience, collected the receipt copies and buzzed off.
12. Departure time exactly 1115am - the whole procedure had taken us 2hours and 45 minutes.

One more important thing to share here is that SAI ARCADE PSK has an ample paid parking area at the rear side of the building. Amount paid was Rs 40/-. Very well organized indeed. So no hassles about having to take an Auto or Cab and visit the PSK. there are signs leading one to the PSK off the Main ORR - directly opp the Intel Office. And there are clear signs ref Parking etc too. So it is really made as easy as possible for us customers. In fact I was pleasantly surprised that the experience easily surpassed my expectations - but then I guess I was skeptical in the first place about efficiency levels! Glad to say this skepticism was unjustified!

My wife also had an equally easy time of it except when it came to the Tatkaal part. Her request for Tatkaal was refused because her passport had been issued some years ago in Bombay and apparently the police verification had not been uploaded.

Hence she has to go via normal mode. the rest of her experience was exactly the same as mine - only her passport will come through in the normal way in 15-20 days while mine may come along within a week/ ten days.

Once this procedure was done we went along to our local police station and told them that we had applied for re-issual. They were pleasant enough. Said they would call us and come to our home to verify as soon as they got the advice from the RPO. In the case of Tatkaal the advice would normally come within 48 hours and in the case of Normal, within a week/ ten days.
At the time when they visit us at home, we need to show them copies of the documents that we submitted to the PSK as proofs for passport re-issual.
Given the fact that I know the local police station people, I am thinking this verification also will be quite simple but lets see.

Apparently there is a massive backlog in Bangalore for Police Verification as of now, so it is possible that the process may get delayed a bit - but I dont mind.
Now once the re-issued passports come, one is good to go for another 10 years!

[neo45007]

@ Shankar :-

I did a big mistake.

I was told by my friend who renewed his passport through tatkaal mode last week; that "they won't accept tatkaal request if you have booked appointment through normal mode".

I cancelled my appointment to get tatkaal. Now, I have been trying to get tatkaal appointment for last two days and I am not getting it.

I wish I would have done the same thing as you did.

[shankar.balan]

thats very sad indeed!
and this is precisely why I didnt cancel my normal appointment in favour of tatkaal. I thought I would take a chance to request tatkaal at the PSK when I was submitting the documents under normal mode and if it went through it would be great. But mentally I was quite prepared to wait the 20 days for normal mode passport to come back to me. Looks like I just got a bit lucky and the job was done.

Of course, clearly the fact that my passport was issued here in Bangalore must have helped, going by my wife's experience today. Also the fact that I ve been living in the same area for 9-10 years or so.

now you will have to go online every morning at 755am and try to barge into the appointments at 8am to secure a tatkaal appointment! but dont give up, keep trying! To get a normal mode appointment nowadays it seems very difficult - one is able to get an appointment only 50-60 days into the future from the date of application!

Originally Posted by neo45007

@ Shankar :-

I did a big mistake.

I was told by my friend who renewed his passport through tatkaal mode last week; that "they won't accept tatkaal request if you have booked appointment through normal mode".

I cancelled my appointment to get tatkaal. Now, I have been trying to get tatkaal appointment for last two days and I am not getting it.

I wish I would have done the same thing as you did.

[ajayr]

@shankar,

For the address proof, do they require BOTH the one year bank account statement and the postpaid phone bills? I did my passport renewal a month back in the same PSK and I submitted just my bank statement and they accepted it.

The reason I am asking is because my wife is going for renewal tomorrow.

[shankar.balan]

It is on Either OR basis. However I found it useful to have carried both since they have taken both from me today. Be sure to have whichever document it is, properly stamped and signed by the relevant authority - Mobile Phone store from your service provider in case of Mobile Bill and Bank Exec in case of Bank statement.

Originally Posted by ajayr

@shankar,

For the address proof, do they require BOTH the one year bank account statement and the postpaid phone bills? I did my passport renewal a month back in the same PSK and I submitted just my bank statement and they accepted it.

The reason I am asking is because my wife is going for renewal tomorrow.

[neo45007]

Shankar,

can you tell - what documents you submitted ? (Original / Photocopies etc)

[shankar.balan]

have added this info to my original post on the experience

Originally Posted by neo45007

Shankar,

can you tell - what documents you submitted ? (Original / Photocopies etc)

[neo45007]

1) I am surprsied, they didnt ask you for Annex I & F ? (for tatkaal)
2) did you self attest all the photo copies ?
3) One year bank statement (15-20 pages of photocopies) - really ? they take this huge bunch of papers (Original & Photocopies both)?

[bluevolt]

How much time does it take to issue a fresh passport in Delhi when applied through normal procedure by speed post?

[VW2010]

My passport expired in March. Can i renew it now? or should i apply again as a fresh request?

Sorry if the question has been answered already in this thread. Tried searching.

[shankar.balan]

please find my answers below;

Originally Posted by neo45007

1) I am surprsied, they didnt ask you for Annex I & F ? (for tatkaal). NO they did not ask for these documents from me.
2) did you self attest all the photo copies ? Yes I did.
3) One year bank statement (15-20 pages of photocopies) - really ? they take this huge bunch of papers (Original & Photocopies both)? Yes they took these. About 20 pages or so because this is not my primary bank account.

[shankar.balan]

According to the passport website you should be able to apply for re-issue if you apply within three months of the passport expiry. check the website and go over the details carefully. otherwise the forms and procedure for re-issue is more or less the same as that of fresh passport application.

Originally Posted by VW2010

My passport expired in March. Can i renew it now? or should i apply again as a fresh request?

Sorry if the question has been answered already in this thread. Tried searching.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by neo45007

1) I am surprsied, they didnt ask you for Annex I & F ? (for tatkaal)
2) did you self attest all the photo copies ?
3) One year bank statement (15-20 pages of photocopies) - really ? they take this huge bunch of papers (Original & Photocopies both)?

1)AFAIK the annexures are needed only when you dont have a police verification record for the passport. For eg if you are a first time passport applicant and you need the passport on tatkal basis, you will need the annexures else not needed if applying for nomal mode of delivery. If you already had a passport and are applying for reissue and if you have a police verification record already available then you would not need the annexures for tatkal basis. Even if you dont have the police verification record you can still apply for Tatkal without the annexures on the grounds that the police verification will be done later.
2) Self attested copies are a must.
3) I had given the bank passbook pages where my residence was mentioned and not the complete account statement pages.

@Shankar,

I was surprised to know that they accepted mobile bill records which is not anywhere mentioned on the passport website or is it?

[gopinathann]

I have booked an appointment for passport renewal next week, but now I want to take the Tatkal scheme. After filling the online application for tatkal it says that there are no dates.
1. In that case can I use the same application form and convert them into tatkal ?
2. Though cash is accepted, my friend told that they will not accept cash in Chennai. I have already taken a printout of the form, once I take DD can I mention the DD No in the form, striking out CASH. Will they accept this ?
3. In my passport spouse name is updated, for passport renewal should I still need to show the marriage certificate as a proof ?

Originally Posted by neo45007

@ Shankar :-

I did a big mistake.

I was told by my friend who renewed his passport through tatkaal mode last week; that "they won't accept tatkaal request if you have booked appointment through normal mode".

I cancelled my appointment to get tatkaal. Now, I have been trying to get tatkaal appointment for last two days and I am not getting it.

I wish I would have done the same thing as you did.