I recently made a trip to the passport office again to get a passport under the tatkaal scheme and it was as smooth as butter. No bribes, no harassment and no problems. I have decided to share my experience here so others can benefit from it. I have tried to cover all points and made it very comprehensive in nature. Ask in comments if you want a clarification on anything.
First things first, to get a passport under Tatkaal or even the General scheme, you need to have all your papers in order. People in the passport office had such gross errors on their documents and still expected the passport office to issue them a passport under the tatkaal scheme. I will given an example here :
This lady had a proof of residence which was made 30 days ago (Voter ID Card) , she claimed to have been born and brought up at the same place in Delhi but her 10th class certificate was from a Lucknow based school. If you do stuff like that , you will never get your passport. Do not conceal facts at the passport office. People like the above will then try to bribe officers and curse corrupt India. Its infact people like the one I have mentioned above who irritate the employees at the office. This lady had a fake Birth Certificate made which is a crime.
Here are the documents you will need :
1. Using a Verification Certificate : This is usually the option if you have parents in the Govt. who might be knowing people of the rank of under-secretary and above or if you know someone in the Army who is an officer above the rank of Major. If you have a VC, half your work is done. Dont forget to take the I-Card photocopy of the person issuing the VC.
The list of officers who can make the verification certificate is :
(i) An Under Secretary/Deputy Secretary/Director/Joint Secretary/Add. Secretary/Special Secretary/Secretary/Cabinet Secretary to Government of India.
(ii) A Director/Joint Secretary/Additional Secretary/Special Secretary/Chief Secretary to a State Govt.
(iii) A Sub-Divisional Magistrate/First class Judicial Magistrate/Additional DM/District Magistrate of the district of residence of applicant.
(iv) A District Superintendent of Police, DIG/IG/DGP of district of residence of applicant.
(v) A Major and above in the army, Lt. Commander and above in the Navy and Sq. Leader and in the Air Force.
(vi) The General Manager of a Public Sector Undertaking
(vii) All members of any All India Service or Central Service who are equivalent to or above the rank of an Under Secretary to the Government i.e. in the pay scale of Rupees 10,000-15,200 or above.
(viii) Resident Commissioners/Additional Resident Commissioners of all State Governments based in Delhi.
(ix) Concerned Tehsildars or Concerned SHO’s for an applicant staying in the area under his/her jurisdiction.
(x) The Chairmen of the Apex Business Organizations i.e.FICCI, CII and ASSOCHAM in respect of owners, partners or directors of the companies that are members of the concerned Chamber in prescribed performa as at Annexure “J”.
No one will make you a VC if they don’t know you well as its sort of a recommendation for a passport. Do not pester people you hardly know for a verification certificate.
Its recommended that the person issuing the VC be in the same city as you are (it wasnt true earlier, but recent experiences suggest this) and they can be in relation to you except your father/mother.
You will also need a:
a. Residence proof : This is where Tatkaal gets tricky, your address proof should be more than 1 year old for the Tatkaal passport issue. This is not mentioned anywhere on the website or in the offices but is very much the policy. If you haven’t been at your current place of residence for greater than 1 year or don’t have a proof of it, you will need to go via the General passport issue scheme.
For residence proof , private bank statements such as those of HDFC Bank and ICICI bank are unacceptable. It must be a government bank like SBI/UCO/Canara etc.
Also phone bills of Airtel/Reliance/Tata are not accepted. Must be MTNL or BSNL.
b. Proof of date of birth – The class 10th pass certificate is the de facto standard here. Wont go wrong with that. Illiterate people might be able to give a birth certificate as proof.
2. Using 3 ID proofs method : The information on the site is self-explanatory
The applicant also has the option to obtain a passport under Tatkal Scheme on submission of three documents from the Fourteen documents as mentioned below, provided one of the three documents is a photo identity document and atleast one of the three is amongst the documents indicated at (a) to (i) and a standard affidavit (Annexure “I”) on non-judicial stamp paper duly attested by a Notary:
(a) Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC);
(b) Service Identity Card issued by State/Central Government, Public Sector Undertakings, local bodies or Public Limited Companies;
(c) SC/ST/ OBC Certificates;
(d) Freedom Fighter Identity Cards;
(e) Arms Licenses;
(f) Property Documents such as Pattas, Registered Deeds etc.;
(g) Rations Cards;
(h) Pension Documents such as ex-servicemen’s Pension Book/Pension Payment order, ex-servicemen’s Widow/Dependent Certificates, Old Age Pension Order, Widow Pension Order;
(i) Railway Identity Cards;
(j) Income Tax Identity (PAN) Cards;
(k) Bank/ Kisan/Post Office Passbooks;
(l) Student Identity Cards issued by Recognized Educational Institutions;
(m) Driving Licenses; and
(n) Birth Certificates issued under the RBD Act.
In the 3 ID proofs method, the scrutiny is much more, and much smaller mistakes will get your passport rejected outright.
(All above documents to be produced in original along with self-attested copies)
You also need a standard affidavit in which you pledge your allegiance to the republic of India. Annexure I .
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After all your documents are ready :
Fill your passport form completely, printouts from the website are valid as well. Fill the police verification form as well as all other forms. The photos must be on a white background. Get it checked by your friends or relatives, cross out all info that isnt applicable. While filling the form do read the instructions very carefully.
Next step if to take the filled up form,an application for passport under tatkaal, all documents, 2 self attested photocopies of all documents to the RPO. Take care that for Tatkaal you must yourself be present , someone else cant apply for the Tatkaal passport on your behalf.
Go to the passport office (Bhikaji Cama Place, RK Puram, its 200 meters from the ring road) in the morning (around 10 am), move onto the backside of the office and get your form stamped , the stamp has your token number and date. This token number is your queue number.
Now you can enter the office with your form. Move inside and towards the right to get to another room, here is where the Tatkaal counters are, currently counter number 3 and 4 work for this. Wait for your token number and move to the counter that displays your token. Some people will be breaking the line, push them towards the back and politely tell them that its your turn by the token number and they can go after you. For people who don’t understand , tell them the concept of token number. Some people mistakenly believe its a queue system.
Incase your form is rejected at counters 3 or 4, don’t be rude or shout, just ask politely how you can rectify the errors. They are very helpful and unlike the Sheikh Sarai RTO (which is pure unadulterated bull excreta and the officials are unhelpful), they will try and help you get your passport. If you lose your temper, no one will help you. If its something that cant be helped, like documentation incomplete, no amount of shouting or argument will get you accepted, better to leave at this point.
After you are done here , join the line at counter number 2.Here your documents will be checked again, always offer to show them the originals. If your documents and form are in order, you will be asked to make the payment, move onto the cashier who sits in counter 1 and pay him Rs. 2500 , he will issue you a receipt. Check father’s name , your name and DOB on the receipt. The receipt also has your file number.
If you are at this step, congratulations, your passport will reach you in 3-4 working days via India Post if everything is in order. The postman may ask for a bakshish. In my case he asked for Rs.50 which we gave to him. This bakshish business is very flourishing BTW. Even the private courier company which delivers Driving Licenses in Delhi asks for bakshish. While it makes sense to give some to the postman, you should generally scram the courier boys if they ask for any.
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Conclusion and Important points :
Getting a passport is easy, I got done in 3 hours flat. Do not hire agents and do not pay bribes.
The main reasons for passport application rejection are :
1. Errors in spelling of name on different certificates, ensure a uniform spelling everywhere.
2. Photograph not having a white background, the passport office will only accept photos which have a white background.
3. Form not fully filled or incorrectly filled, everything has to be fully filled including names of references on the Personal Particulars form. Put NA or ‘– ‘where the info is irrelevant to you.
4. Withholding information, if they detect a mismatch in information provided and the certificates, passport is rejected straightway and depending upon seriousness, other action might be taken. Issuance of passport under Tatkaal is no joke, be prepared for consequences of forging info.
5. Bank Statements must be from a public sector bank.
6. Phone bills must be from MTNL/BSNL.
7. Residence proof must be more than 1 year old.
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If you have anything to add, feel free to comment. Also all this info was true for me, I am not responsible for any actions taken after reading the above.
January 30th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Thanks for this post, I had my passport pending for a long time. I wanted to apply but wanted a post like this to be able to apply in a foolproof manner.
Thanks for the useful post detailing the passport process.
January 31st, 2010 at 12:21 am
so vivid description of the process ..bravo!!..ya i have also the same kind of experience ..the process for applying just took 2 hr..
and in 3 days ..i got my passport ..
imp thing ..in tatkal is the character certifcate ..from a gazetted officer ..so it must be authentic
February 3rd, 2010 at 6:47 pm
Great post man, anyone who is applying for a tatkaal passport in India can learn from this post, all the stuff about the affadavit , photos, proofs is so true.
February 5th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Welcome all of you, I have tried to include all aspects of getting a passport in the page. Hopefully anyone looking to get a passport at the Delhi RPO will find the article very useful.
February 8th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
does a comisiioner of sales tax office in mumbai qualify to give a verfication certificate….. And can a DCP provide this as well
February 8th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
@Saji
Yes and Yes.
February 15th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Hi all,
This is the best information blog I have ever seen for Tatkal. I was trying to apply for Tatkal for my Wife in Hyderabad. I came to know at my SP office that they are not giving Verification certificates anymore. I would like to know whether my my father who is an ATO (Assistant Treasury Officer) is authorised to give Tatkal Verification Certificate for my wife? All the passport agents said verification certificate given by only the Police officials is valid. But it is a contradiction as list of officers given in Tatkal Verification contains many others..
I am really worried about this as agents say it is only SP but the SP says they are not doing it anymore. Please advise me.
Regards
Syed
February 15th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
I was trying to apply for Tatkal for my Wife in Hyderabad. I would like to know whether my my father who is an ATO (Assistant Treasury Officer) is authorised to give Tatkal Verification Certificate for my wife? All the passport agents said verification certificate given by only the Police officials is valid. I am really worried about this as agents say it is only SP but the SP says they are not doing it anymore. Please advise me.
February 15th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
The passport agents who say only police can give the certificate should go and sell vegetables.
Any govt. officer above the rank of under-secretary can give the certificate. I do not know the ATO rank but if its above the grade or equal to grade of Under Secretary , he can give the certificate. I myself have used the certificate given by a Deputy Director in Ministry of IT
February 15th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Also buddy agents cannot apply for the tatkaal passport on your behalf.
February 15th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
Hi WiseTechie,
Thank you for your help. According to RPO website the Tatkal application process has been changed since 30th dec’09
http://www.ap.nic.in/passport/TatkaalNote.htm
I have gone through other blogs and found that only the agents are getting the slots, this is ridiculous. I think you have applied after 30th dec’09 so didnt you gone through the online application registration process!! Can you please comment and advise on this…
February 16th, 2010 at 12:07 am
I applied offline, the online thing is a big hassle in delhi , they give the same time to everyone and anyone, I would suggest you to try and go offline in the morning on a day in the middle of the week.
February 16th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Hey Buddy,
This is indeed great information. I am applying for a passport for my wife and daughter (1 year 4months old) tomorrow. I have a verification certificate from a Major in the army, but army personnel cannot share a potocopy of their I cards in lieu of that i have got a certificate from his senior stating that this xyz i card belongs to Maj. abc serving in a particular regiment on their official letterhead and the certificate is duly stamped and signed by a Lt. Col.
Is this ok or do you have any more info on this
Keep up the good work.
This blog would really help thousands of applicants
Cheers
Hitesh
February 16th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
I am not sure about it Hitesh. The info I have is :
My uncle had given the letter to my brother some 3-4 years ago. He was a Col., I remember him saying the same thing about not being able to share the I-card My uncle has confirmed there indeed is an army order barring the giving of the I-card photocopy. I do not remember what we had done at that time.
Since you are going tomorrow, it is not enough time for me to check from my sources. Your best bet is the passport office, the people at the RPO Delhi are incredibly nice people unless you tick them off. Just talk to them politely, and even if they reject the app, ask them politely about the reasons and how you can rectify.
Dont tell them about the I-card thing unless they ask you. They might give you a small form to fill which will be sent to the officer concerned to verify that he issued the certificate.
Best of luck !
February 16th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Hi Friends,
I want to apply for the tatkaal passport, can i know that the VC from MRO will work or not. The Agent is saying that only the letter from District SP will only work. I request you to reply as soon as possible.
February 16th, 2010 at 11:42 pm
@Vijay – The agent is a fool then. Why do you people go through agents and increase corruption in India, the system is very easy for honest citizens who have complete documents. Also agents cant apply for you for a tatkaal passport, either he is looking to use an illegal route or he will pocket your money and ask you to stand in line.
I do not know what a MRO is , if he is a Govt. officer of or above the rank of under secretary in the government , it will work 1000%
Also , I will not answer any queries pertaining to people who have been told xyz by agents, agents are corrupting our passport issue system and you people by hiring them are encouraging corruption.
February 17th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
I’m residing in Gurgaon on rent . As said by you the residing proof is must , so what can be the various documents i should provide for the proof? Please reply its urgent ….
February 17th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
@Abhijit – For tatkaal, you must be at the place for >1 year and have proof for the same :
1. Driving license more than 1 year old
2. Election ID card more than 1 year old
3. Telephone bill from BSNL more than 1 year old and recent
4. Govt. bank statement , more than 1 year old and recent.
February 17th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
rent agreements are NOT accepted
February 17th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
sir the problem is that i have shifted to gurgaon last year and work in maruti Suzuki India limited so , can i provide a address proof from my company signed by a senior manager.
February 18th, 2010 at 12:07 am
I am sorry Abhijit, it wont work, only govt. issued address proofs older than 1 year would work for the tatkaal passport, infact someone in the RPO on the day of me going had a letter from his company, the officer refused saying that private proofs of residence are not acceptable.
You can get an election ID card and try in the normal passport scheme. Tatkaal is meant for people whose background can be vouched for as police verification takes place later. In cases such as yours, a private company’s word (no matter how big or reputed) cannot be taken and put above national security. Also if you have not been at this place for more than 1 year, you will not be granted a tatkaal passport under any circumstances.
If you have doubts, you can try the application, at most it will cost you 1 day, the passport officer would be able to tell you your options.
February 18th, 2010 at 12:38 am
The main problem is that I have all the documents but they have an address proof of my home town. Generally how much time will it take the general way?I’m in this place for the last two years.
February 18th, 2010 at 12:48 am
It takes around 45 days to get the passport under the normal scheme of things if all docs are in order and police verification is OK.
If you are at this place for 2 years, you should have got the election ID card made atleast.
February 18th, 2010 at 12:55 am
I already have my own Election Id Card..but da problem is dat i can make it in my own place kol but i dont have that much tym ..
February 18th, 2010 at 12:56 am
thanks for all your support till now but it seems dat i have less options….i have to try out…
February 18th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
can a vehilce registration number be applicable
February 18th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
nope, waise when u get a vehicle registration done on this address, what proof did u use there ?
February 19th, 2010 at 7:44 am
the rent agreement and the owners electricty bill..
February 24th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Hello Wise Techie,
I would like to apply for a passport from tatkal scheme, as my ration card and date of birth certificate is from west bengal (birapara) thats in my permanant add
currently i am resisding at delhi. And my current residence proof is my citi bank staments one year old and rent agreement. will they agree for same? because as per instruction we can sudmitt 3given documents and 1 verfication certificate with standard affidavits. Is affidavits should be in the formart given by the gov in site? Is it compulsory to take residency certificate bcos its writtebn that we can submitt any 3proof. In which i have birth certificate, ration card and pancard? I need to submitt my qualification certificate also?
February 24th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Hi Priya
Firstly Citibank statements will not count as a proof of residence neither will your rent agreement. Unless you have a fixed line mtnl line to your name for >1 year or a govt. bank statement/passbook. Infact dont even try citibank, they will just scold you for wasting their time.
For the three ID method, sorry I forgot to mention this in the post, Ration cards are not accepted as a proof of residence, its due to a government notification that ration cards are no longer accepted. Even the passport guideline states if rationcard is submitted additional proof of residence is needed.
Birth certificate + pan card is ok, you will need one item from (a) to (i) , as things currently stand you will not be able to get a passport under tatkaal. If you have a SBI passbook, or a MTNL phone line or electricity line in your spouse/father’s name, that may also work. I am sorry for that, but if papers are incomplete no one can do anything no matter what they promise. Tatkaal is strict about documentation. Your papers wont even work in normal 45 day passport procedure from what I understand.
Anyway, goto the RPO with a filled form and all the stuff done, the passport officers will be able to tell you what you can do, I have tried to help you to the best of my abilities.
Affadavit is as per govt. site, print it on a proper non-judicial stamp paper and get it notarised after signing it twice at deponent signature.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Hello Wisy,
Thankyou so much for your information, however as per the instruction we need to provide three documents from the 14 metioned and one from (a) to (i) serial. It means that if we submitt, Birth certificate, pan card, 1 verfication certificate, standard affidavit and ration card , we can be able to get the passport from tatkal scheme. As per instruction in (a) to (i) serial Ration card is also mentioned. Any additional proof apart from this?
February 25th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Service Identity Card issued by State/Central Government, Public Sector Undertakings, local bodies or Public Limited Companies…
It seems that I can prodive my companies ID Card also as an additional proof.
but its a Pvt. Ltd. Company.
February 25th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
WiseTechie,
It is really a nice post to understand more about Tatlkal passport scheme.
My passport is going to expire in Nov2011. I would like to apply for new passport under Tatkal sceheme. My current passport was issued from Ghaziabad but I’ll be applying it from RPO Delhi as I’m staying in Gurgaon from last 2yrs. I would like to know if there is an alternate of Verification certificate. I don’t have any source from where I can get the verification certificate. I can attach Passbook of post office, Pan card, Copy of ration card &10th Certificate. Ration Card is not having my present address mentioned.
Pls advise on the basis of these doc can I apply for a passport under Tatkal scheme.
Thanks…
February 26th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
Yes, infact instead of the verification certificate , you can use the 3 ID proofs method, from the list above , get any 3 ID proofs and atleast one of them should be from (a) to (i) and if its a ration card, you need an extra address proof.
I think you may need a new ration card, or need to get the address on that corrected. Is the postoffice account more than 1 year old ?
February 26th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
@Priya – I am not too sure about Ration Cards since I have had a very bad experience with them. Also I am pretty sure that Ration Cards were denotified as proofs of addresses. You can try one day, max cost = 1 day.
Your company’s ID proof will not be accepted, you will end up getting scolded by the passport officer, happened to some people around me. Only PSU/Govt. IDs are recognised.
Since you will have a verification certificate, they will be nicer to you and will tell you how to rectify in case of problems.
February 26th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Is they required our qualification certificate as well?
February 26th, 2010 at 11:53 pm
@Priya – attach it, I had attached it, there is no harm in it.
February 27th, 2010 at 11:45 am
Hi Wise Techie,
I have to apply for the passport under the tatkal scheme under the Option B.
I have these three documents:
Voter Id card.
Canara Bank Pass Book
Pan Card.
But the problem is that my Father’s name on the Voter Id is incorrect and not matching with the actual name on the other documents say Pan card, 10th class certi.
I dont have any other proof from (a) to (i). Will the voter id serve as one of the valid document??
Please help. Its really urgent.
February 27th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
@Yogita – Worth a try, maybe they wont notice the difference,
Voter ID should work as a valid proof if its only a brief spelling mistake. If its a different name altogether, then it can be a problem.
February 27th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Actually, there are 2 additional letters in his middle name. To be more specific, his middle name is Chand and its mentioned as Chander in the Voter id. I think thats only a brief spelling mistake.
February 27th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
@Yogita – It should not be a problem, just dont point it out yourself. In my opinion it will depend more on the mood of the staff than anything else
March 10th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Hi Wise,
I have one more query like..If u do not have a residential proof then is there any other alternate way.
Thanks,
Priyanka
March 11th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Ya, my post office passbook is almost 1yr old. Will it work and can i apply for passpioet under tatkal scheme
March 11th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Hi! I hv applied fr a fresh p.p in tatkal. Also I am seperated but wd the consent of my ex-husband and to avoid the problems I hv mentioned my marital status as married and given his name. Will there be any problem in Police verification?
March 11th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
@Priya – I dont think so.
@Rohit – It will work, get a latest statement from the post office also if possible.
@Ritu – No problem will be there in police verification from what I can tell, but it can cause problems in future. If you get remarried, then your old divorce decree would reveal that you had lied in your passport application. In the police verification, the policeman just asks you to get stuff signed by your neighbours.
March 14th, 2010 at 12:15 am
hi. I am applying for passport under the tatkal scheme.In the personal detail section where the name and address of two people who can vouch for me is required , i have given the address of two people living in the same town as mine but not the same area as i live in . is it ok?
March 14th, 2010 at 12:19 am
You should preferably give names and addresses of people in your locality only, the policeman can ask you to go and get your name and address verified from them when he comes.