5 Steps to apply for a Passport.

With a passport in hand, you will able to apply for a visa quickly enough that you don’t miss great academic opportunities in life. Here are the procedures involved in applying for passport from within India, if you are an Indian citizen.

How to apply for a passport?

The Consular, Passport and Visa (CPV) of the Ministry of External Affairs issues the Indian passport through Regional Passport Offices (RPO).  For applying online, you must register at Passport Seva Online Portal, download the application e-form, fill it, and submit it. It is mandatory for you to make payment online for booking appointments.

If applying in-person, you can submit the filled application at the District Passport Cell (DPC) along with the necessary documents.

How to Fill the Form?

As the application form is machine readable, there are specific instructions that you must follow. Keep the following points in mind:

• Fill the form in upper case, with a black or blue ball pen. Make sure not to make any spelling mistakes as the information filled in will be printed as is in the passport.
• One box must be left blank after each completed word to indicate space.
• The information must be clearly written within the box, without overwriting anything.
• Incomplete application is not accepted.

 Documents Required For Applying Passport

You must need the following documents when applying for a fresh passport:

• Original Passport Application Form
• Proof of address – You can provide your ration card, water /telephone /electricity bill, bank statement from an active account, Election Commission ID card, Gas connection Bill, etc. as your address proof.
• Proof of Date of Birth – As a literate applicant, you must submit either a Birth Certificate issued by an authorized body like Municipal Authority/district office of the Registrar of Births & Deaths, or Date of birth certificate from the school you last attended.
• Student Identity Card – In case if you are a student staying away from your parents’ current address, you must also submit your student ID card issued by Government Recognized Educational Institutions or a Bonafide Letter from authorized signatory of college.

Tatkal Applications

The applicants who need a passport within 1 to 14 days must submit a few additional documents like Standard Affidavit as per Annexure ‘I’ along with Verification Certificate Annexure ‘F’ or any three out of 16 documents in the list provided to you before applying.

Number of Pages in the Booklet

When applying for a passport, you can choose either a 36 or 60 pages booklet. The latter is ideal for students as they might be travelling quite frequently, moistly twice in a year. Your passport will get stamped at every immigration point, each time you enter and exit a country, in a different page. So, calculate the number of pages you would need as a regular traveller for the next few years.