Indian Passport

Hi All, thought to share my experience with minor passport renewal with the Houston Embassy. The previous passport also issued by Houston. Regular and no Tatkal.
Latest updates on top.

2024-05-28 - Your passport has been printed and being forwarded to Embassy/Consulate. The Embassy/Consulate will contact you once they receive the passport for dispatch.",
2024-05-27 - Passport is printed and will be delivered shortly
2024-05-25 - Escalated to CPPF
2024-05-21 - Print Initiated
2024-05-21 - Heavy rain at home town & 18th Saturday PV did not happen,Police came for verification on Monday 20th asked for Proof - Minor Birth Certificate showed
2024-05-17 - Local Police station contacted India contact saying will come for PV on 5/18.
2024-05-14 - Email received for Police Verification submitted
2024-05-10 - Application Form Submitted"

VFS status
2024-05-08 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.
2024-05-08 - Got the VFS email - We have ‘Received’ your Application and your application is now ‘Under Process’ at Houston and will be submitted to the Mission for decision making.
2024-05-07 - Fed Ex tracking showed as received that afternoon
2024-05-05 - Sent the package via Fed Ex

Applied for Passport Renewal TATKAAL at Houston and here are my dates. My old passport was also issued at Houston and had US address.
I visited VFS Office in Downtown Houston to submit the application IN-PERSON.
2024-05-16 [Thr]- Your Consular Application tracking id no 24-XXXXXX has been received at the VAC.
2024-05-16 [Thr]- We have ‘Received’ your Application and your application is now ‘Under Process’ at Houston and will be submitted to the Mission for decision making.
2024-05-17 [Fri]-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.
May 22, 2024 [Wed]- Your Application has been reviewed by the Embassy of India/ Consulate General of India & will be dispatched using the courier service you had opted.
May 22, 2024 [Wed] Night- Initiation of Police Verification Request email. Police came to my fathers house in India for basic verification like since when I have been in US and asked for few something else :). Got to know about it Thr morning when I woke up.
May 23, 2024 [Thr]- Your document (s) is dispatched using the return label purchased or sent by you.If using VFS courier, please check for email from Fedex for details.
May 24 [Fri]- Received the fedex package with old and new passport. There was no tracking number from Fedex but I have fedex advanced delivery noticifation which showed package coming from VFS.
Looks like processing time is really fast especially if you pay $$$ for Tatkaal.

I received my new passport in 5 days from Atlanta and police verification is also cleared in time. but, its almost 3 months that my status is still showing as Passport application is under review at Indian Embassy/Consulate on the seva portal (which is for NRI's). is this normal?

Hello I have submitted my passport for renewal at Washington DC and today I have received an email that application has been put on hold as photos were blurry,so do I need them physically or I can upload them as they haven’t mentioned clearly just said send 2 photographs? Any help is appreciated

I sent my application for passport renewal using Fedex label provided by VFS on 4/10/24 and it was delivered on 4/11/24, till date there is no acknowledgment or email from VFS that they received the application. When I track on their tracking website using ARN number, it says invalid input. Is this normal wait time ?

Applied for my kid passport renewal in the month of November but still i didn't get any update on it. Can some one guide me whom should i reach out. I tried to call embassy but no one is Answering over phone/Email. its frustrating

03/26/24 - Passport and application shipped
03/28/24 - Status update VFS - Received
03/28/24 - Photo rejected email VFS
03/29/24 - Digital photo updated through the link given by VFS
03/29/24 - Email acknowledgement of photo update VFS
04/02/24 - 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.
04/03/24 - 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.
04/03/24 until today (04/06/24) on VFS tracking website - Your application has reached at the Embassy/Consulate and is currently under review process
04/03/24 (on Passport Seva tracking website) - Passport is printed and will be delivered shortly.
04/08/2024 - Received the old and new passport by FedEx.
To my surprise, the passport has my old photo which the VFS rejected saying the exposure is not good. Why did they ask me to send new photo then and I paid $7.99 + Tax for that.
But I am very satisfied with the speed of the overall process. 14 days total from the date of shipping the application to the date I received the new passport. This includes weekends and the rejection of my photo and sending new photo.

Notes:
1) Looks like after sending passport to Embassy, VFS tracking link simply says "Your application has reached at the Embassy/Consulate and is currently under review process". I was wondering why. Only then checked on passport seva tracking website. That has more up to date updates.
This is the link: https://portal3.passportindia.gov.in/Online/index.html
2) As you know for passport renewal we need to paste photos on the application and appearance form. Since my photo got rejected, I was worried I need to send the documents also. But the email from VFS states if you wish upload the photo on the link. I had to pay $ 7.99 though even though I have already paid 7.99 while submitting the application. I assumed it is for resubmission.
3) There are 2 forms. Appearance and signature change form & Annexure E. On the appearance change form, we can able to enter long names as the font size reduces itself. But on Annexure it does not happen. So i printed out empty forms and wrote with pen. One of my friend abbreviated the names (last names as initials) on Annexure E form. That got rejected as well. He had to resend. He uploaded a scanned copy and also send the original document as well. It is OK now.
4) I got notary signature at Chase Bank. The Notary stamped and signed on the same page on Annexure form, Appearance change form. Address proof copy he signed and stamped (my utility bill).
5) I am changing my US address on the passport that is what going to be printed on the passport. For Indian Address I have given my relatives address. I am going to send them my old passport copy, Aadhar card copy and a passport photo (same I used for the application).

This is the first time I am contributing in this forum after using this forum so long. Thought someone might find it useful.
Anything else you like to know please reply.

Thanks. I will update more after getting passport.

When checking my application at granular level I am getting this status "Grant On Hold Send to EO". Does any one know what it means? It has been with htis status for over a month now.

My passport application for renewal is received by VFS on 2nd February and sent to Embassy on 6th February. Since then no updates, granular updates are blank.
What could be the reason or is this a normal timeline for a renewal ?

Thanks everyone!

Documents sent to VFS (VFS UPS Label)- 02/05/2024
Documents received by VFS (According to UPS Tracking)- 02/07/2024
Receipt confirmation email sent by VFS- 02/10/2024 (They don’t touch received packages for a full 48 hours due to COVID policy. Details posted on their website)

All updates from here on were pulled from VFS and Passport websites using ARN.
Documents sent to the embassy by VFS for review and processing- 02/12/2024
Passport printing initiated- 02/13/2024
Printed and will be delivered shortly- 02/14/2024

Email and texts received for the next updates
VFS return UPS label generated- 12/15/2024
New and old passports received- 12/16/2024

Total processing time- 7 business days
Total time from shipping to receiving- 12 days