Indian Passport

Process / Time :

18-Dec-21 to 19-Dec-21 : Prepare all documents as per VGF Guideline
20-Dec : make payment to VFS and print receipt
20-Dec- : got documents notarized

21-Dec : send documents to VFS

22-Dec [ Morning ] : documents reach to VFS
22-Dec [ Noon ] : VFS email :‘Under Process’ at Atlanta and will be submitted to the Mission for decision making.

23-Dec [ Morning ]: VFS Email : Your Application has been ‘Processed’ at the VFS India Consular application Centre and currently is ‘In-Transit‘ to the Embassy of India/Consulate General of India for decision making

23-Dec [ Late Evening 11 PM ] : Police verification Initiated [ auto generated email from passport office ]

24-Dec : in Morning , I casually checked status at passport portal and status was already : " Passport printed and will be dispatched shortly". it seems reached to 23rd Dec noon to embassy , verified and passport printed.

24-Dec to 26-Dec : Long weekend

27-Dec [ late noon ] : VFS Email : Your Application has been reviewed by the Embassy of India/ Consulate General of India & will be dispatched using the courier service you had opted. also status at passport portal was like : sent to OSP provider for further dispatch.

27-Dec [ late evening ] : VFS Email : Your document (s) is dispatched using the return label purchased or sent by you. If using VFS courier, please check for email from "[email protected]" for details

28-Dec [Noon] : both passport received.

Note :
- There was no change in passport at all.
- in online passport form , I opted 'Printed address' as of India just to have address proof of india however in new passport issue place is 'Atlanta'.
- other address details , I provided USA Address.
- there was no police verification done yet but passport received. there could be three reason
   - my Previous Police veri. must be cleared
   - since there is no address change , PV may not happen however system may generated auto email every time.
  - It may happen later as well.

I am planning to ask friend to visit Police station after 1 week and ensure they close file and issue clearance if at all received by them.

Applied for passport renewal in normal mode at Washington DC. The status is stuck at "Passport application is under review at Indian Embassy/Consulate" for the past 4 weeks.
Is this normal? I emailed the embassy and unfortunately, there is no response. Anyone in a similar position? Is there any other way to reach them?
I live close to the city. Thinking to appear in person and check. Not sure it is even allowed now with the covid restrictions.

Applied for renewal for my wife in Tatkal mode in SF consulate. We were going to India in 2 weeks and her passport was expiring in 5 months. Since she cannot reenter US without passport validity of minimum 6 months, we had to either renew in US or renew while in India. Unfortunately she did not have any address proof for her current address in India. So we decided to take a chance and apply in the US. We were residents of California but while renewing we were at Texas visiting a cousin. Did the whole process from there (got documents notarized from Texas notary. It didn't matter).

Nov 26, 2021 - Filled forms, opted for using VFS prepaid label (their service is good, standard one day Fedex shipping), used the label and dropped the package at Fedex. Missed the 6PM last pickup at Fedex. So it was set to be picked up and shipped the next day
Nov 29, 2021 - Package reached VFS.
Nov 30, 2021 - Was checking status in VFS website. They had updated that some documents are missing. 1) My wife was in F1 and we had sent visa copy as US status proof. But looks like for F1 students in OPT, EAD card copy also needs to be sent. 2) Had used federal tax return as US address proof. We hadn't signed the form as it was digitally filed. They had asked for it to be signed. Sent both the documents the same day with fastest shipping method (reaching next morning).
Dec 1, 2021 - Documents reached VFS. Later in the evening, status changed to application in transit to embassy.
Dec 2, 2021 - Status updated to application in processing at embassy. Started checking status in embassy website (https://embassy.passportindia.gov.in/ - choose country and then "Track Status" option) which was showing the same status.
Dec 6, 2021 (Monday) - By afternoon, status changed to "Print has been initiated"
Dec 7, 2021 - By afternoon, status changed to Passport printed
Dec 8, 2021 - Not sure if it was by evening on dec 7 or morning of dec 8, vfs website status updated to passport is in-transit back to them. After some time, status changed to passport is being shipped using label sent by you. Later that day, fedex picked up the passport.
Dec 9, 2021 - By afternoon, passport was delivered by Fedex to us
Dec 10, 2021 - We were able to make it to our flight to India :)

TOTAL PROCESSING TIME :- 1 MONTH MINUS 1 DAY

I realised that my passport has expired last year on Diwali :) . Luckily it fell under < 3 years of expiry and didnt need anything new.
My TimeLine is as follows:-
4 Nov 2021 - Realised my passport has expired, Filled Forms on VFS and Ministry of External Affairs Website
5,6,7 Nov 2021- Prepper the documents,photos/notary etc
8 Nov 2021 - Dispatched the physical package via Fedex to NY Consulate
11 Nov 2021- Got Notification from VFS that We have ‘Received’ your Application and your application is now ‘Under Process’ at New York and will be submitted to the Mission for decision making.They gave a tracking number
12 Nov 2021 - Got Notification from VFS that - Your Application has been ‘Processed’ at the VFS India Consular application Centre and currently is ‘In-Transit‘ to the Embassy of India/Consulate General of India for decision making.
I tracked the update on this website emailed by VFS sent on 11/12 November - https://visa.vfsglobal.com/usa/en/ind/track-application

The Status was always "Embassy/Consulate and is currently under review process" for 2 weeks
24 Nov 2021 - Then had a family emergency and wanted to bump to tatkal but didnt know how to.
Thats when I stumbled upon real gem the PRAMIT system. Its Ticketing/Support system with any/all issues at Consul General of India , New York
https://pramit.indiainnewyork.gov.in/
I wrote to them and open a PRAMIT request.
This is Wed before Thanksgiving but was surprised to see their response by the end of the day. That was simply amazing. I got one of the Std replies stating my application is under printing process and after that it needs to undergo certian procedures . And I was asked to contact them the next week for updates.
I was joyous.
However that night I got an email from passport.admin (Ministry of External Affairs Portal) saying Police verification of my Indian Address.
I was taken aback. I contacted my family in India .
25 Nov 2021 - India - They went to police station with the documents mentioned in the email but the officer said that they will come and do the verification when they can.
26 Nov 2021 - Fri after Thanksgiving - was surprised to see reply from PRAMIT system - I had asked them why is Police Verification needed. My passport has been expired <3 years , neither lost nor stolen nor my address has changed. I asked this because I had renewed my passport in 2010 at NY Consulate and it didnt go through this steps.
I got reply saying - Even though Passport is being printed it will be pending a Police verification which is Integral part of the Passport Renewal Process. Also now that it has gone to India - its under control of Ministry of External Affairs so please ask your Friend/Family to do Police Verification at earliest.
26-28 Nov 2021- nothing from local Police in India
29 Nov 2021- IST - My Dad goes to Police station and they send a constable to home for verification. However the passport handling police officer is on leave so asked my Dad to come next day to give the documents
30 Nov 2021 - IST Dad goes and submits all needed documents - Old Passport Print, Aadhar Card,PAN card et all
1 Dec 2021 - I update PRAMIT ticket and tell them about same - during which they reply its being Printed and shall be dispatched to VFS soon.After being printed it has to undergo certain procedures and was told to contact next week for update.
 I replied to PRAMIT saying its almost a month (sent on 8 Nov 2021) and questioned abt contacting them next week (which seem like std response) to which they reply they will dispatch to VFS soon
2 Dec 2021 - Got update on PRAMIT system that it will be dispatched to VFS tommorow
Note that all the while from 12 Nov 2021 till now I have std reply "Embassy/Consulate and is currently under review process" when tracked using https://visa.vfsglobal.com/usa/en/ind/track-application
3 Dec 2021 - I update PRAMIT system saying that I have not got any update from the VFS tracking site
6 Dec 2021 - Finally get update from VFS tracking website that "Your Application has been reviewed by the Embassy of India/ Consulate General of India & will be dispatched using the courier service you had opted."
Another update in few hrs saying you will receive Tracking update from Fedex (I had chosen their default mailing )
7 Dec 2021 -Finally got the passport in Hand

Total time - 1 month - 1 day from sending the documents to reciving passport in Hand.
PRAMIT system is amazing and CGI NY replies to it extremely proficiently and in timely fashion . Extremely impressed by it.
The delay when it goes to India for Police Verification is what seems to be out of control to both CGI NY and us here. If that portion can be streamlined further may be it would take little lesser time.

Oct 28: received email informing that police verification has started. It also said "You are requested to get in touch with the respective Police Office if verification is not done in three weeks"

Didn't hear anything for 3 weeks. When my family inquired at the police office, they said no verification request was ever received.

When reached out to the Houston Consulate last week, they said that application is with an officer in the external affairs ministry.

I don't have any document like an Aadhar card or Voter ID card.

Used the Madad portal to reach out but haven't heard back anything. Meanwhile the status still says "passport application is under review at indian embassy/consulate"

Would appreciate if anyone had a similar experience or what to expect.

Thanks in advance!

The passport renewal was done using the normal method from New Jersey using the New York Offices.

November 16 2021-Gathered all the required documents and notary the documents that were to be notary.
November 17 2021- Shipped the Application package with Passport using the VFS provided shipping Label ($30)
November 19 2021 (Friday)-Package was delivered but no confirmation email from VFS. I checked the status over the weekend and it shows "On Hold" because missing a document,
November 22 2021 (Monday)- I called VFS using the first free 5 minutes and requested them to check the package again and the document is there. Was asked to wait 48 hours.
November 23, 2021- The VFS status shows, that VFS NY has finished processing my application and it's in transit to the Consulate in New York
November 26, 2021- The status has been updated that the application has arrived in the Consulate of India.
November 30, 2021- I get a call from the Consulate that my new passport is ready for pick up.
December 01, 2021- New and old passport picked up. The staff at the consulate were nice and joked around a bit with me.
This process took two weeks for me and I was very nervous like most of the applicants would be. My recommendation for the applicants would be to gather all the documents required and notary the ones that are to be notary and make a photocopy of everything for your own reference. I was in the Consulate General of India in New York for around 20 minutes and I noticed people didn't listen to the staff behind the counter and were arguing with their advice. Listen to what's being said and you should have no problems.

Hi,
I found this website extremely helpful to learn about passport renewal experiences and timelines
Would like to share my experience below.

I had applied for passport renewal at SFO Embassy through VFS global using post with normal processing. It took 35 calendar days from sending docs to receiving renewed passport.

I incorrectly read somewhere that Tatkal is only for emergency cases and needs to be approved by the consulate. Probably that's not true and in hindsight should have done Tatkal processing.

10/27: Submitted documents along with shipping label to local FedEx store
10:28: Email from VFS that application is received
11/3 : Email from VFS that application is now 'under process' at San Francisco and will be submitted to the Mission for decision making.
11/4 : Your Application has been ‘Processed’ and currently is ‘In-Transit‘ to the Embassy of India/Consulate General of India for decision making
11/4 : Passport seva website showed application is under process
11/8 : In one of the email replies from the Consulate, they mentioned my application processing started on 11/8
11/19 : Status on Passport seva website changed to Print has been initiated for passport.
11/20 : Got an email about initiation of police verification
11/22 : My brother in India went to the police station and submitted all required documents for verification
11/24 : After some push by my brother, Police officer signed and submitted the documents to the passport website
11/29 : Status on Passport seva website changed to Passport has been printed
11/30 morning : Status on Passport seva website changed to Passport has been printed and will be delivered soon
11/30 evening : FedEx label has been created
12/1 evening: Received both passport (old & new) in FedEx

I had a flight on 11/29, which I had to cancel since renewed passport didn't arrive on time.
Had been continuously emailing at the consulate email ids, but unfortunately didn't get any response. VFS had been pretty responsive, but VFS can't do much until consulate gives them any updates.

Hope this helps.

Hi there,

I submitted my Tatkal passport renewal application at London VFS, on 8th October but the status still reads - 'Passport application under consideration at the Embassy/ Consulate'. I have tried contacting HCI, London through the various phone numbers or email addresses on the website but just get a generic message. Is there any other means to get in touch with the people at HCI, London?

Thanks in advance.

Oct 28 - Mailed to VFS
Oct 29 - Received at VFS
Nov 1 - Sent to Embassy
Nov 2 - Passport has reached embassy/consulate and under review.

No status updates so far.

October 4th sent documents
October 7th received by VFS
October 9th application has reached embassy and is in review process

November 3rd. APPLICATION has been dispatched through fedex. Received email also.

Hopefully we will receive it tomorrow