For many of us our Indian Passport is a document that is most important and there are a few critical pieces of information that we need to be aware of about Indian Passport:
- A regular passport is valid up to 10 years from the date of issue.
- It is illegal to hold more than one passport at a time.
- Under Passport Act 1967, it is illegal to provide false information at the time of application.
- All minors require a separate passport that will be issued up to 5 years or till they attain the age of 18, whichever comes earlier.
- After becoming a US citizen, you have to submit your passport for cancellation to the nearest Consulate/ Embassy. You will need a visa in order to travel to India.
- Persons having visa in B1/B2 Category cannot apply for renewal of passport without the approval of the Consulate.
- Applicants who wish to apply for services like Emergency Passport, Attestation, Transportation of ashes, and Life Certificate will need to contact Embassy of India/ Consulate General of India directly.
- AS6, AS7, and AS8 visa holders cannot apply for passport renewal in the US.
- IR 6 category applicants have to add spouse's name in the passport.
Tips for Indian Passport Holders
There are certain things you can do as Indian Passport holder to make the process of applying easy:
- Your passport can be submitted for re-issue a year before it expires. Submit it for re-issue as early as you can to avoid expiry of the passport.
- As soon as you get the passport in hand, check it for errors.
- If your Indian Passport is lost or destroyed, the matter has to be reported to the nearest Indian Mission and Police Station immediately.
- You should always keep photocopies of all the relevant pages of your current passport in a safe place away from where you keep the original passport. This will be helpful in case your passport is lost/stolen/damaged.