Indian Passport

Hi folk,

I have applied for passport renewal via normal processing at SF consulate. My passport is valid, but was within 6 months of expiry. My timeline so far is as follows:
January 4: Dispatched documents via Fedex
January 5: Documents received by VFS in San Francisco
January 12: Documents received by SF consulate, status changed to "Passport application is under review at Indian Embassy/Consulate." on passportseva website.
February 4: Received email for police verification, although there is no change in address on passport. The status on PassportSeva website is still the same as above.
February 7-8: My family checked with the police station that received the verification request, but unfortunately my India address falls under a different police station. The police station was unable to transfer the application to the correct one. They told us to ask the CID department in Mumbai to make the transfer. However, the CID department was unsuccessful in transferring it too.

Does anyone have an idea about how I could get the police verification request transferred? If the renewal process is done in India, you can simply ask the Passport Seva Kendra to make the change during your appointment. However, I can't find any documentation on how to go about it from the US. Is there a way to contact the SF consulate, given that they are not responding to emails or phone calls? I need to travel to India for a Visa stamping appointment in about 2-3 weeks. Would you recommend cancelling the application instead? If so, how do I go about cancelling it, so that I can at least have my original passport back? Thanks in advance!

Hello Friends,

Need help. I have applied for passport renewal for my son under tatkal services. The documents reached VFS San Francisco on 1st feb and on 3rd feb status changed to " its under review with embassy". Post that there has not been any update either on passport seva website or vfs, its still showing under review. As per tatkal timelines i was hoping to get passport back within 5-6 business days since wanted for urgent travel. Can someone share their experience with tatkal service with VFS SFO and what steps can be taken at our end. I did email them but did not got any update.

Any idea how many days it will take ? Any help on this would be highly appreciated.

01/03 - Mailed application via FedEx
01/04 - Application reached embassy via FedEx
01/06 - Your application is being verified and currently under process at the VFS Indian Consular Application Centre
01/07 - 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.
             As soon as VFS India Consular application Centre receives an update, the status on the ‘Track and Trace’ page will be revised accordingly.

Further on, kept tracking the status on Passport seva website (instead of VFS)

01/09 - Your application has reached at the Embassy/Consulate and is currently under review process
02/01 - Print has been initiated for passport. (status changed for the first time after almost a month's time)
02/02 - Passport has been printed.
02/03 - Passport is printed and will be delivered shortly.
02/03 - Got SMS and email notification of fedex tracking info.
02/04 - Received old and new passports.
            FYI - I chose the FedEx shipment, the paid version that embassy offered. Its overnight shipment which is a good thing.
            But the shipment option didn't ask for signature. The person delivering it just left it at the doorstep.
            It's scary to think that your passport lying at your doorstep when you're not home.
            However, fedex provides the option of collecting the package at facility rather than getting it delivered. Folks can choose that if needed.
            And also the shipment is weekday delivery only!

Doesn't look like there was Police verification initiated. I had provided adhar+pan info (not needed, if your Indian address is the same. I sent them anyway). Not sure if that is the reason for them to not do police verification.

Looks like they are taking longer time to process compared to recent past months. I reached out to Pramit worrying there were no updates (during late Jan). Pramit gave a very generic response and looks like PRAMIT portal is for NY embassy only. And they don't seem to have full insight of other embassies.

Tips:
1. Its easy to get frantic when we don't see any updates/email notifications. Guess we have to just be more patient.
2. the forms that VFS global has under "contact us" never worked for me. I was not able to submit a request at all.
    I had all the necessary required field info but nothing worked. Looks like a bug in the UI.
3. Here are 2 emails that I have that people can use to reach out to SFO embassy for concerns and queries (as VFS global forms didn't work for me)
    [email protected]
    [email protected]

Hello friends, i have submitted the Passport renewal application for my Son (15 year old) for 10 years validity passport on Jan 12, 2022. Currently it is under process with Houston Embassy with the status in Govt website -> "we received the application along with fee details and the application is under review at embassy / consulate". The same status was shown for past two weeks. I reached out to Embassy / VFS last week and found that the Normal processing time is 3 weeks. They wanted me to wait until then.

i have below questions, could you please share your inputs / experiences for these questions.

1. when can i expect next update from Embassy.
2. Will they initiate "Police Verification" for minors also (with 15 years old - asking for 10 year valid passport) ?
3. How much total time it may take to complete this whole process and receive my sons passport.
4. I need renewed passport by Feb end, to file AOS (I485) for my son along with us. if i don't get the renewed passport by Mid of Feb, is it possible to cancel the whole renewal process and get my son's old passport back from embassy? If this is possible, how much time it will take to cancel the renewal process and get the old passport from Embassy? My son existing passport has validity until May 28, 2022. So i planned to use current passport for USCIS needs (485 filing / Biometrics / getting State ID as alternate id etc..). What is your expert advice on this. Sorry for asking too many questions,

Appreciate your guidance in this regard.

Also i feel nervous , feeling anxiety / stressed with this passport renewal process (i never felt like this during my H1 ext).

No Accountability from VFS,
No response from Embassy even you reach out to them by email / phone / twitter , I get only generic responses - not specific to the our application status,
Lot of Uncertainity about Police Verification process (simply asking applicant to talk to Local police if the verification is not done in 30 days) making applicant reponsible for completing the Police Verification process..

I submitted passport renewal for my son, and used 2 address:
1. Print Address - USA
2. Other Address: India

LIU (District Police), received the request for Police Inquiry, but "Police Station" (local PS) information is not showing to them in application. And they(LIU) were mentioning that your local PS might not have received the request. And until, LIU receives the request from the local police, they will not be able to submit police verification (PV) to passport office.

While providing India address (as other address), police station is mandatory, but not sure why this is not visible to LIU.

Did any one encounter similar situation? Any help/suggestion?

Freinds,

Below is my experience of getting my Indian passport renewed at the NY embassy/consulate.

12/28 - Got all paperwork done and notarized (where necessary)
12/29 - Dispatched documents to vfs via Fedex return service
12/30 - Checked Fedex package status on their website where it showed delivered
01/04 - Got text and email from vfs of receipt of documents and "under process" at New York and will be submitted to the Mission for decision making.
01/05 - Got text and email from vfs stating "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."

No more updates from vfs, after this I used to login and check the "passport seva" website for updates
01/12 - Updated as "Application has been received and being reviewed"
01/18 - Updated as "Application has been reviewed and sent for printing"
01/19 - Updated as "Print for passport imitated"
01/20 - Updated as "Print for passport completed"
01/21 - Updated as "Passport has been handed over by the Embassy/Consulate to the OSP executive for further dispatch to the applicant." By evening I got an email and text from vfs of receipt of my passport and was given the Fedex return shipping tracking number.

Fedex shows the package will be delivered on 01/24 before 8 PM EST. Awaiting my passports (old & new).

Few points specific to my passport -

1. My passport was expiring in 06/22 so since I'm renewing before expiry there were no hassles with police verification
2. The address in my passport was the same Indian address as before (no changes)
3. No other changes or additions made to my new passport

My experience so far with the whole process has been excellent. The communication was seamless and regular keeping me at ease. There was no need to followup with anyone. Really impressed with the fantastic, seamless and excellent service provided by the Indian government.

Dec 31st : VFS received Application and Under Process’ at San Francisco and will be submitted to the Mission for decision making.
Jan 4th : In Transit to Indian Embassy
Its been under review status on Government website since 1/10. Sent an email to embassy.. They responded that normal processing will take around 30 days excluding police verification(if required).
Feb 1st: Govt Website status : Print Initiated..
Feb 2nd: Govt Website status: Passport printed
Feb 3rd: Received shipment notification from FedEx
Feb 4th: Received Passport.

I think it is better to be mentally prepared to wait for 1 month after application is received by the consulate, if applied in normal processing. If there is any urgency better to apply in tatkal. Good luck everyone!!

Hi all...I had sent my passport for reissue to Washington DC for normal process. Can I change my normal process to Tatkal ?

My passport renewal application was shipped on Nov 30th 2021, Dec 2 passport was processed

Since Dec 4 my application is under review at the consulate, it’s already been 6 weeks.

What can I do at this point, I need to travel in Feb.

22-DEC Application filled, notarized and handovered to fedex
23-DEC Application reached to VFS SFO. Tracked via fedex
24,25,26 LONG WEEKEND
28 DEC Received email from VFS stating "We have ‘Received’ your Application and your application is now ‘Under Process’ at San Francisco and will be submitted to the Mission for decision making."
29 DEC Received email from VFS stating "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."
31 DEC Tracked status on passport seva Indian website "Passport application is under review at Indian Embassy/Consulate"
2 JAN Tracked status on passport seva Indian website "Print has been initiated"
3 JAN Tracked status on passport seva Indian website "Passport print completed"
4 JAN Tracked status on passport seva Indian website "Passport is printed and will be delivered shortly."
7 JAN Received email from VFS "Your Application has been reviewed by the Embassy of India/ Consulate General of India & will be dispatched using the courier service you had opted."
10 JAN Received both old and new passports.

Key takeaways:

1. Three changes from old passport to new :
       Added wife name, updated Indian address, change of appearance
2. No police verification was requested.
3. I havent contacted vfs for updates (application process was fast I didnt have to reach them for updates).
4. Fedex tracking said "weekday delivery", so if you are on time crunch and hoping for passport to deliver on the weekend I would recommend otherwise.