EMBASSY OF INDIA

FAQs


Question: What passport services are offered by the Embassy of India The Hague?

Answer: The following five services are offered:

Question: What is Re-issue of passport on expiry of full validity passport?

Answer: Full validity passports have a life of ten years (five years in the case of minors). The expiry date is always mentioned in all passports..

Question: How to avail the service of re-issue of passport on expiry of its life or exhaustion of pages or change of name/surname/signature or change/addition/deletion of name of spouse or change of address?

Answer: Use the prescribed application form (Please see the link ‘Forms’ in this section to download it). Fill up the application form carefully without leaving any column or item blank. Four colour photographs of size 2 inch X 2 inch with white/off white background are required to be enclosed. Paste one photograph on the application form and enclose the others in an envelope with the application. The Indian passport, requiring re-issue, needs to be enclosed with the application. The applicant also needs to produce document (valid visa/ILR) to prove that he or she has valid landing rights/ stay permit in the Netherlands. The prescribed fee is also payable by the applicants. Also please see the relevant page (s) for availing passport services.

Question: Can one apply for aMachine Readable Passport of normal 10-year validity as a replacement of 20-year validity passport or as a replacement of a hand written passport as this is causing difficulty in obtaining visa for many countries whose authorities are objecting to a 20-year validity passport or a hand written passport?

Answer: Yes. It is in the interest of the applicant to get a new 10-year Passport as the Government of India has dispensed with the issuance of 20-year Passport and hand written Passport in accordance with extant rules.Please follow the same procedure as is meant for re-issue of a passport on expiry of its validity. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has set a deadline of the 24th November 2015 for globally phasing out all non-Machine Readable Passports (MRPs).  From 25th November 2015 onwards, foreign Governments may deny visa or entry to any person travelling with a non-Machine Readable Passport. All handwritten passports with pasted photos, earlier issued by Government of India are considered non-Machine Readable Passports. All 20-year validity passports will also fall in this category. The Government of India started issuing Machine Readable Passports since 2001. All new Indian passports are ICAO-compliant Machine Readable Passports.Indian citizens residing in the Netherlands and holding handwritten passports as well as 20-years passports with validity beyond the 24th November 2015, should, therefore, apply for re-issue of passports and obtain Machine Readable Passports well before the deadline in order to avoid any inconvenience in obtaining foreign visa or immigration problem.

Question: What is a Short Validity Passport (SVP) and under what circumstances such a passport is re-issued?

Answer: A SVP is often issued to meet exigencies especially when certain requirements for the issue of full validity passports have not been met by an applicant at the first instance. Usually, a SVP is issued for a period ranging from six months to two years. For instance, SVPs are often issued to applicants whose Indian nationality has been established beyond doubt but have no valid landing rights/stay permit and yet their circumstances strongly indicate the possibility of obtaining such landing rights/stay permit from the competent Dutch authorities. Besides facilitating such Indian nationals in obtaining landing rights/stay permits in The Netherlands, short validity passports are also issued to Indian nationals under certain other circumstances to facilitate their journey to India.

Question: How to avail the service of change of Short Validity Passport (SVP) to Full Validity Passport (FVP)?

Answer: Please follow the same procedure as is meant for re-issue of a passport on expiry of its validity. The re-issue of such short validity passports is dependent upon the applicant having used the period of validity of their passport in meeting the conditions that could not be met at the time of issue of SVP. For example, a SVP issued in anticipation of a positive police verification report from India is upgradable to FVP on receipt of such report. Another example could be a SVP issued to facilitate grant of valid visa/stay rights by competent Dutch authorities is convertible to FVP when such rights are obtained by the applicant.

Question: What procedure is to be followed and documents enclosed with the application to obtain a fresh passport in lieu of a lost/stolen/damaged passport?

Answer:  Usually, the applicant is interviewed by an officer at the Passport Section of the Embassy of India before accepting the application.The most important requirement in lost/stolen cases is to provide documentary evidence of the applicant’s current nationality as an Indian. Needless to say, a photocopy of the lost Indian passport is of great value. In the absence of a photocopy of the lost passport, important details such as number, date of issue, place of issue are of great help. If neither photocopy nor the details of the lost passport are available, the applicant is advised to produce as much evidence as possible of being an Indian. Indian voter’s identity card, Indian driving license, PAN card issued by Income Tax authorities or any other photo identity paper/card issued by a Governmental authority in India may be produced. The other documents required would be a certificate from local police indicating registration of the loss of the passport.

Question: What if somebody who has applied for asylum asks for passport?

Answer: The applicant should truthfully disclose if he or she had ever applied for asylum. All cases where an application was made to Dutch Government for asylum would need disclosure about the current status of such application. The status could be either of the following: (a) rejected, (b) under consideration before an appellate authority after rejection, (c) accepted, (d) under consideration. The onus of proving the current status of such application with credible documents would be on the applicant. In case the applicant’s application for asylum has been rejected or withdrawn, an affidavit stating his recant from his earlier position against government of India would also become necessary. This affidavit can be made under oath before the competent officer of the Embassy of India on payment of the prescribed fee. Alternatively, such an affidavit can be made before a notary public.

Question: Is it essential to have valid visa/stay rights in the Netherlands to apply for a replacement passport in lieu of a lost/stolen or damaged one?

Answer: Generally speaking, yes. This condition is relaxable depending upon circumstances of each individual case. An applicant is required to satisfactorily convince the passport officer that grant of an SVP would facilitate obtaining of landing permit/ stay rights in the Netherlands.

Question: How much time would it take to get a replacement passport in lieu of a lost passport?

Answer: Issuing duplicate passports in lieu of lost passports would take different time in different situations. Normally, cases in which the photocopy of the lost passport or relevant details of the lost passport are available and readily traceable in the database of the Embassy of India, the time taken to issue duplicate passports could be 5-7 weeks. Other cases in which such details are unavailable or are not readily authenticated against a check of record in our database, more time would be required. In latter cases, often the personal particulars including the photograph of the applicant is sent to original Passport Issuing Authority in India or abroad for authentication of the lost passport particulars. In cases where such passport details are either not available or the lost passport is expired for more than three (3) years, an additional verification by local police in India to prove the Indian nativity/nationality of the applicant would be essential. Such cases, needless to say, would take more time. Usually authentication by passport issuing authorities take four to six weeks and verification by police takes as many as three to six months. Applicants should accordingly calculate their own time norm before enquiring about the status of their pending applications.

Question: What if the local Dutch police is not registering the loss of the Indian passport?

Answer: A self-certified statement detailing the date and time and the name of Police Station visited which refused such registration may be furnished. The Embassy of India would take up the matter with concerned authorities.

Question: What procedure is to be followed and documents enclosed with the application to obtain a fresh passport in lieu of a damaged passport?

Answer: The procedure followed in this case by and large is the same as the one followed in case of procedure meant for issue of a passport in lieu of a lost/stolen passport. The only difference being that in damaged passport cases, the applicants are not required to lodge police report.

Question: Is it necessary for the parents to also sign the application meant for issue of a new passport for a newborn?

Answer: Yes. Both the parents need to sign to the effect that the particulars of the newborn mentioned in the application are correct and parents are responsible for its correctness.

Question: Can Dutch address be reflected in Indian passport?

Answer: Usually Dutch address is not permitted on the Indian passport. However, in exceptional circumstances only when the applicant proves that he/she does not have any permanent address in India and additionally, he/she has permanent residence in the Netherlands, an applicant is permitted to reflect his/her Dutch address in his/her Indian passport. If necessary, the Embassy of India might ask for an affidavit from the applicant about he/she not having a permanent address in India. For others who would like to reflect their Dutch address in addition to their permanent address in India, the service is available by way of an endorsement on the Indian passport as an observation.
 
Question: How to change my old photo/ incorporate my new photo to match my current appearance which has changed?

Answer: In this case, a fresh passport has to be issued to provide this service. The application form is the same for general passport application form. 

Question: How to send a consent certificate to passport officer in India to help spouse in India in applying for passports of children in India?

Answer: The Embassy of India does not issue any certificate. However, it legalizes an affidavit to be sworn by the applicant in this connection. Strictly speaking this is a legalization service offered by the Consular Section of the Embassy of India.

Question:Can additions like change of address, addition/deletion of spouse namebedone at the time of re-issue?

Answer:Yes. This is, however, subject to requirements being met for such services.

Question:Is there just one application form for all Passport services?

Answer:Yes.

Question:Should the name in Visa document/sticker or Residence Permit match with that in the Passport?

Answer:Yes. Otherwise, a Short Validity Passport would be issued.

Question:Is it true that Passport would not be issued if there is a major difference in the name on the Passport and the name on Visa/Residence Permit?

Answer:Yes. If this is the case, then the applicant would be asked to rectify/clarify the anomaly. Any further service would be extended only after the rectification/clarification.

Question:Which documents are accepted as Proof of Identity/Nationality (if required)?

Answer:Any one or more of the following documents can be produced:
(a) Copy of Indian Passport (b) Damaged Passport in original (c) Photo Identity Cards issued in India such as Driving License, Election ID Card, PAN Card, Adhaar Card, (d) Letter from employer certifying applicant's identity (e) Letter of introduction from two Indian nationals based in the Netherlands (f) For students, a Certificate issued by the concerned educational/training institution; and (g) For short term visitors/tourists to the Netherlandsdocuments such as air tickets, boarding passes, itinerary and copy of Visa.

Question:Do photocopies of original documents need to be attested by the applicant?

Answer:Yes. All original documents must be accompanied by self-attested photocopies. The original documents should be presented for scrutiny at the time of submission of application. However, in the following cases, copies should be attested by a Gazetted Officer (if applying in India) or by the Consular Officer of the Embassy of India:

Question:Can I send my Passport application through a travel agent?

Answer:No. Embassy of India has not authorized any agent.  Application may be submitted personally or through a close family member (spouse or blood relative) bearing an authorization letter from the applicant and Photo ID of the bearer (proving the close relation between applicant and bearer). If the application qualifies to be sent by post, the same should be sent by post along with the prescribed documents. Travel Agents/Agents/Solicitors are not permitted to submit applications on behalf of applicants. Please report to the Embassy of India if anyone claims to provide such services. 

Question: In case of minors do both parents have to be present with the minor?

Answer: If applying in person for minor, both parents have to be present themselves at the counter. If one of the parents is unable to come to the Embassy of India then an authority/consent letter should be given by the parent not appearing, authorizing the other parent to apply alone. The minor being present is optional. If applying by post, all prescribed documents must be enclosed.

Question: Are all fields on the application form required to be filled even if they do not apply?

Answer:Yes, please fill all fields on the application form or N/A where not applicable.

Question:Can Embassy of India provide service to the applicants who are on a temporary visits/short visa in the Netherlands and require any service with respect to their passports?

Answer:Temporary/short visa visitorsare generally not provided any passport service. However, in lost/stolen/damaged cases and other exceptional cases, the service can be provided. Discretion rests with the Embassy of India of India.

Question:Do all applicants need a Change of Appearance Affidavit?

Answer:When there is a significant difference in appearance of the applicant compared to the photograph on the previous passport, a change in appearance affidavit is required. In case of minors, a change in appearance affidavit is required at every renewal up to the age of 15.