Hello,
Recently I got my passport re issued in tatkaal. My passport had 3 years validity left on it as well as blank pages. But I managed to get it re issued. I would like to discuss the whole thing here with the process as well as the pre and post situation.
The situation:
My passport details:
Expiry - April 2020
Blank pages - Yes
Type - Ordinary
You can re issue your passport for below reasons:
Passport expiring within one year
Passport already expired
Pages exhausted
Passport lost
Passport damaged
Change of personal particulars (appearance, address, name, addition of spouse name, DOB, ECR status, etc)
As my passport is expiring in April 2020 and I had enough pages on it, I could not re issue my passport. I needed a reason to do this. So I researched online on ways to re issue passport more than 1 year before expiry. I found an article which said "If there is even a slight change in your address, you can get your re issued." I have found this to be wrong information. If your address has a minor change (house no, floor no., etc) you cannot re issue your passport. If you pincode is same, it is enough to just put a remark, no re issue needed. The authorities will just put a remark on your current passport. So, do not rely on this and waste your money. Re issue of passport cost INR 1500 for normal and INR 3500 for tatkaal.
My address is the same, only thing changed was the format of it. For eg. the street name and the way I write the house no and floor no. I thought this is enough to convince the passport authority. Aadhar card is accepted as proof of address. So, I corrected my aadhar card to the new address (same address with minor changes) and got my aadhar card updated within 3 days. It can be done online by yourself.
Old address:
ABC Apartment, Flat No. 12, 2nd Floor, Near Bhaji Market
New Address that I put:
ABC Apt, 12/2, Market Road
It is the same address but just with modification.
I applied for tatkaal option for re issue and selected "Change in address" as reason for re issue. I paid INR 1500 online. Taktaal fee balance has to be paid in person at the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK). This is done because tatkaal applications have to be approved by the APO. If your application is not approved for tatkaal, you can apply under Normal category having paid INR 1500 already.
So, here is the timeline of my tatkaal application:
24 Jan: Applied online for tatkaal. Did not get tatkaal appointment in Malad, so selected Thane for 25 Jan 2017 (next day).
25 Jan
10:30 am
10:30 am reporting time. 10:45 am appointment. Reached at 10:30 and went directly inside without queue. If your time is stated, you do not have to stand in queue, just go inside at your designated time.
10:35 am: Went to tatkaal counter to take token. He asked for papers and said no need to re issue, we will just put a remark on your passport regarding new District. Palghar district is carved out of Thane district, so change in district is a reason, but it didn't work. I was carrying a letter from a university in Canada which had given me place in their degree program. The program was 4 years in length, so the end date of the program was April 2021. So, I gave that letter to them to show that my passport expires before my study program, so I need re issued passport to have longer validity. He took my application and asked me to wait in the waiting room to get clearance from APO regarding my application.
10:40 am to 11:55 am: I went to the waiting room. Clean room with monitors displaying the token numbers. A small cafe available here. A xerox service also available. Once your token number comes on screen, you can go to the next room to the designated table number.
11:55 am: The person to whom I handed my application came back and told me to speak to the APO directly and apply in normal category. I was disappointed.
12:00 noon: I went to the APO cabin to speak to convince her. She said your passport is valid for 3 more years and pages are also available. I told her that I'm planning to travel abroad for studies for 4 years and I wont get my student visa with 3 years validity. I will have to go abroad and then renew passport and also apply for visa again. I won't have time to renew and apply again because I will be studying. So, I need to renew passport here itself so I can have more validity with the new passport. She was convinced with my explanation. And she stamped my application with "Tatkaal Approved".
12:05 pm: I went back to the token counter to get token (he did not give me token before because tatkaal applications have to be approved first). I did not stand in queue, just went straight to the counter and told him that my application is approved for tatkaal. He gave me a receipt with token number and my passport details.
12:10 pm: Back to the waiting area. As my application was tatkaal, my token number came within 10 minutes. Even normal category applications don't take long. Expect a wait time of 15-20 minutes.
12:20 pm: Went inside the room. 3 counters to be visited here - A, B and C.
Counter A: Take photograph and finger scan of all 10 fingers. Reconfirm details and reasons for application. Pay tatkaal fee. First photo was not great so I asked for another to be taken !
5 minutes spent here.
12:25 pm: Went to Counter B. Checking of documents again.
2 minutes spent here.
12:27 pm: Went to Counter C. An elderly lady again rechecks my application. She talks to me about what I do, etc. She then stamps my current passport with "Cancelled" stamp. A smile surfaces on my face.
2 minutes spent here.
12:30 pm: I collect my exit and acknowledgement receipt, fill out a feedback form and leave the PSK.
Actual process time: approx 20 minutes (excluding waiting time)
12:38 pm: Text received with details to track application. Application granted with no police verification basis.
01:33 pm: Passport printing initiated.
01:33 pm: Passport printed.
04:56 pm: Passport dispatched.
26 Jan: I tracked application on India Post website. No details updated till evening.
Also, Republic day, so no movement until evening. Package reached Mumbai Central TMO.
27 Jan:
11:00 am: Package received at my town post office.
05:00 pm: Passport received at my house.
Basically, I got my passport in hand the next day (not counting 26 Jan as it is republic day). Tatkaal passport in 2 days - not bad at all !
The working and the process is very streamlined. Tata has done a really good job here. Waiting time is not much because there are a lot of counters and the flow keeps on going.
So, if you want to get your passport re issued before 1 year of expiration date, make sure you have valid reasons for it. Just changing address won't help if your pin code remains same.
Hope this helps.
If you have doubts, feel free to contact me on contact@jatinthakur.com or jatin@zianholidays.com
Recently I got my passport re issued in tatkaal. My passport had 3 years validity left on it as well as blank pages. But I managed to get it re issued. I would like to discuss the whole thing here with the process as well as the pre and post situation.
The situation:
My passport details:
Expiry - April 2020
Blank pages - Yes
Type - Ordinary
You can re issue your passport for below reasons:
Passport expiring within one year
Passport already expired
Pages exhausted
Passport lost
Passport damaged
Change of personal particulars (appearance, address, name, addition of spouse name, DOB, ECR status, etc)
As my passport is expiring in April 2020 and I had enough pages on it, I could not re issue my passport. I needed a reason to do this. So I researched online on ways to re issue passport more than 1 year before expiry. I found an article which said "If there is even a slight change in your address, you can get your re issued." I have found this to be wrong information. If your address has a minor change (house no, floor no., etc) you cannot re issue your passport. If you pincode is same, it is enough to just put a remark, no re issue needed. The authorities will just put a remark on your current passport. So, do not rely on this and waste your money. Re issue of passport cost INR 1500 for normal and INR 3500 for tatkaal.
My address is the same, only thing changed was the format of it. For eg. the street name and the way I write the house no and floor no. I thought this is enough to convince the passport authority. Aadhar card is accepted as proof of address. So, I corrected my aadhar card to the new address (same address with minor changes) and got my aadhar card updated within 3 days. It can be done online by yourself.
Old address:
ABC Apartment, Flat No. 12, 2nd Floor, Near Bhaji Market
New Address that I put:
ABC Apt, 12/2, Market Road
It is the same address but just with modification.
I applied for tatkaal option for re issue and selected "Change in address" as reason for re issue. I paid INR 1500 online. Taktaal fee balance has to be paid in person at the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK). This is done because tatkaal applications have to be approved by the APO. If your application is not approved for tatkaal, you can apply under Normal category having paid INR 1500 already.
So, here is the timeline of my tatkaal application:
24 Jan: Applied online for tatkaal. Did not get tatkaal appointment in Malad, so selected Thane for 25 Jan 2017 (next day).
25 Jan
10:30 am
10:30 am reporting time. 10:45 am appointment. Reached at 10:30 and went directly inside without queue. If your time is stated, you do not have to stand in queue, just go inside at your designated time.
10:35 am: Went to tatkaal counter to take token. He asked for papers and said no need to re issue, we will just put a remark on your passport regarding new District. Palghar district is carved out of Thane district, so change in district is a reason, but it didn't work. I was carrying a letter from a university in Canada which had given me place in their degree program. The program was 4 years in length, so the end date of the program was April 2021. So, I gave that letter to them to show that my passport expires before my study program, so I need re issued passport to have longer validity. He took my application and asked me to wait in the waiting room to get clearance from APO regarding my application.
10:40 am to 11:55 am: I went to the waiting room. Clean room with monitors displaying the token numbers. A small cafe available here. A xerox service also available. Once your token number comes on screen, you can go to the next room to the designated table number.
11:55 am: The person to whom I handed my application came back and told me to speak to the APO directly and apply in normal category. I was disappointed.
12:00 noon: I went to the APO cabin to speak to convince her. She said your passport is valid for 3 more years and pages are also available. I told her that I'm planning to travel abroad for studies for 4 years and I wont get my student visa with 3 years validity. I will have to go abroad and then renew passport and also apply for visa again. I won't have time to renew and apply again because I will be studying. So, I need to renew passport here itself so I can have more validity with the new passport. She was convinced with my explanation. And she stamped my application with "Tatkaal Approved".
12:05 pm: I went back to the token counter to get token (he did not give me token before because tatkaal applications have to be approved first). I did not stand in queue, just went straight to the counter and told him that my application is approved for tatkaal. He gave me a receipt with token number and my passport details.
12:10 pm: Back to the waiting area. As my application was tatkaal, my token number came within 10 minutes. Even normal category applications don't take long. Expect a wait time of 15-20 minutes.
12:20 pm: Went inside the room. 3 counters to be visited here - A, B and C.
Counter A: Take photograph and finger scan of all 10 fingers. Reconfirm details and reasons for application. Pay tatkaal fee. First photo was not great so I asked for another to be taken !
5 minutes spent here.
12:25 pm: Went to Counter B. Checking of documents again.
2 minutes spent here.
12:27 pm: Went to Counter C. An elderly lady again rechecks my application. She talks to me about what I do, etc. She then stamps my current passport with "Cancelled" stamp. A smile surfaces on my face.
2 minutes spent here.
12:30 pm: I collect my exit and acknowledgement receipt, fill out a feedback form and leave the PSK.
Actual process time: approx 20 minutes (excluding waiting time)
12:38 pm: Text received with details to track application. Application granted with no police verification basis.
01:33 pm: Passport printing initiated.
01:33 pm: Passport printed.
04:56 pm: Passport dispatched.
26 Jan: I tracked application on India Post website. No details updated till evening.
Also, Republic day, so no movement until evening. Package reached Mumbai Central TMO.
27 Jan:
11:00 am: Package received at my town post office.
05:00 pm: Passport received at my house.
Basically, I got my passport in hand the next day (not counting 26 Jan as it is republic day). Tatkaal passport in 2 days - not bad at all !
The working and the process is very streamlined. Tata has done a really good job here. Waiting time is not much because there are a lot of counters and the flow keeps on going.
So, if you want to get your passport re issued before 1 year of expiration date, make sure you have valid reasons for it. Just changing address won't help if your pin code remains same.
Hope this helps.
If you have doubts, feel free to contact me on contact@jatinthakur.com or jatin@zianholidays.com
