You all might have heard the saying “Stamps on your passport make you richer than the greens in your account.” Undoubtedly, this saying is perfect for those who love travelling. If you are one of them who likes to explore new places, get ready with your passport and fly wherever you want to. But if you do not have a passport, then it is the perfect time to apply passport online. Most of us usually become upset thinking that it would not be possible to travel in the upcoming holidays.
Chill, it has now become easier to apply for passport online. All you need to do is follow the steps to apply for a passport. Generally, most people think that applying for a passport is a complicated process, and it will take a lot of time to receive it. But it is not true, now the procedure has become easier.
In this article, you will get to learn about the whole online passport application process that would help you a lot. Read the entire post to know all the steps.
How to Apply Passport Online
When it comes to apply passport online, it entails booking an appointment at PSK or the passport centre. PSK stands for Passport Seva Kendra. You can book the appointment by simply logging into the official website of PSK i.e www.passportindia.gov.in. Once you are logged in, you would require filling the application form online to apply for the passport. After filling up all the details, you have to pay the passport application fee.
After scheduling, paying and booking the appointment, do not forget to take the print out of the ARN receipt and visit the Passport Seva Kendra for processing your application.
Steps to follow to Apply Passport Online
Here are the steps which you will have to complete. After the successful completion of these steps, you will get your passport in your hands. Read the steps carefully to understand. These steps will definitely make it easy for you to perform the Online passport application process.
Begin with Logging in
• Visit the official website of PSK i.e www.passportindia.gov.in to apply passport online
• Find the “APPLY” term on the home page
• If you are already registered on the portal, then simply input your user ID and Password
• If you are a new user, register on the portal by creating an account for generation your unique user ID and password.
To register yourself, click on “Register Now” under the new user section. Once you will click on it, you will be redirected to the registration page where you will have to fill all the necessary details. You will find that there will be some fields marked with Asterix.
Such fields are mandatory to be filled in. In the first field, you will have to select where you are registering at, either passport office or the CPV Delhi. You might be thinking what is CPV. Well, it is basically for the application of the official passports.
Keep in mind to select the passport office which is relevant to your current residential address. Then you will have to input your basic details including your name, date of birth and email address.
• After entering these fields, you can use your email id as your user/login id. Make sure to set a password that cannot be guessed easily.
• Afterwards, confirm the password you have set.
• Add a security question and its answer as a hint. This is mainly used when you forget your login credentials. If you will give the right answer to the security question, you can reset your password.
• In the last step, enter the code appearing on the screen and click on “Register” button present at the bottom-right corner of the page.
Choose the Type of Your Application
• Are you done with the registration process? Now you have to log in to the site and go to the Applicant Homepage. On this page, you will have to choose the type of your application. You can choose only one out of the following:
1. Fresh Passport/Reissue Passport
2. Police Clearance Certificate (PCC)
3. Identity Certificate
4. Diplomatic Passport/Official Passport
On this page, you will get a link. Clicking on the link, you will be able to view your saved application. After submitting the online application form, you can view your application by returning on this page.
• If you will click on “Apply for fresh/reissue of passport” on the “Applicant Home” page, it will redirect you to the next step of the process i.e to fill up the application form.
Fill in Your Details in the Application Form
Usually, there are two ways to apply for the passport i.e Online and Offline. Offline is a complex process to apply for the passport, so if you really want to save your time, you must go through the online process.
In the online process of filling up your details in the application form, here are the steps you need to follow.
• Click on the link to fill the passport application form to apply passport online >> http://www.passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/welcomeLink
• Once you will click on the link, you will be redirected to the page where you will have to choose the “ Passport type”. The types include:
1. Fresh or a reissue
2. Booklet of 36 pages or 60 pages
3. Normal or tatkal
4. Validity period (10 years or Up to 18 years of age or you can choose “Not Applicable” if your age is over 18 years. If your age is 15 years to 18 years, then you can choose up to 18 years of age.
• Afterwards, click on “Next” button which you will find at the bottom right corner.
• This will take you take to the subsequent pages which will denote different sections of the applications like Passport type, details of the applicants, details of family, Current address, emergency contact, references, previous passport details, other details, self-declaration.
• Click on “Submit” to submit the form.
Note: It is mandatory to stay active to the internet connection while filling up the details in the form. If the Internet speed is less than 512 kb, this process will take a lot of time.
Book an Appointment
• Once you have completed all the previous steps to apply passport online, then you have to schedule an appointment for visiting the PSK. At the PSK nearest to your area, you will have to present yourself. You can search for the nearest passport office on the PSK portal.
• Go to the “Applicant Home” page.
• Click on “View Saved/Submitted Applications”. On this page, you will be able to view all your details on the application form submitted by you. You will see a table having the details including ARN, Applicants Name, Appointment Date, File No., and Submission no.
• You can select the ARN of the form filled by you.
• There are multiple options like:
1. Retrieving partially filled form
2. Pay and Schedule Appointment
3. Print Application Receipt
4. Track Payment Status
5. Track Application Status
6. Payment Receipt
7. View/Print Submitted Form
8. Upload Supporting Documents
9. Appointment History
• Click on “Pay and Schedule Appointment” to fix an appointment
• This will initiate the process of payment. But in this step, you will have to choose the mode of payment by clicking on “Choosing your mode of Payment”. Basically, you can choose either online method or challan method. In online payment, you can pay the fee using Internet Banking mode (from SBI only) or through a debit/credit card. But, if you will choose “Challan Method”, then you would require making physical payment, either throu8gh cash at any SBO branch or at PSK when you will walk-in.
Note: It is mandatory to pay the fee to book appointments at any PSKs. If you are making payment for a tatkal appointment, you need to pay the passport fee, it would be same for Normal appointments. Once your appointment is confirmed, you can pay the balance on the PSK through cash.
What to Do After Making Payment
• Once the payment is successful, you need to book the appointment.
• If you will choose the online payment method, you can immediately book an appointment.
• If you choose “Challan method”, make sure that you take the challan and pay the amount required in cash. Keep in mind that it would be done at least after 3 hours of generation of challan.
• The validity of challan would be 85 days from the date of generation.
• Do not forget to take the copy of challan from the bank personnel.
• The bank would take minimum 2 days for verifying the details of your ARN given on the challan.
• You can track the status of payment after successful payment. In addition to this an email will be sent to your email id and then you can schedule an appointment by checking the availability of the dates.
• Then you will be able to see your ARN (Application Reference Number).
• According to the available dates, select the PSK and enter the displayed code. Then click “Next”.
• Select the appointment quota and make payment to book appointment.
• Your application details will appear on the screen. Verify the details and make sure that they are correct.
Print ARN Receipt
The “Print Application Receipt” will give you all the particulars of your application including Application Details, Applicants Reference, and Passport Payment Details etc.
Wrapping it up!
Above are the steps that you need to follow if you are going to follow to apply passport online. Maybe the process is lengthy but it is not complex and will not take much time. If you will apply for the passport online, you will save a lot of time and efforts. Within 3 to 4, your passport will be delivered to your doorstep in case you applied for tatkal. For normal application, it will hardly take 8 to 10 days.
You might also check: