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An Indian passport is valid for only 10 years (shorter in some cases). When the passport is about to expire, most people think they need to renew passport. However, they actually need to apply for reissue of passport.

Let me explain the difference between passport renewal and passport reissue –

Passport Renewal to Extend Validity

This is only applicable for short validity passports. If your passport has been issued for a short period like 1 to 5 years, and you need to extend the validity, you can apply for renewal. In case of renewal, changes will be made to the existing passport and the passport number will remain the same.

Passport Reissue

When you apply for passport reissue, you receive a new booklet with a new passport number. You can apply for reissue in the following cases –

• Passport has expired
• Passport is about to expire within a year
• Exhaustion of pages
• Passport is lost or stolen
• Passport is damaged or soiled
• Change in personal details

So, when most people talk about renewal, they actually mean reissue.

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How apply for reissue of passport?

You can apply for reissue by visiting your nearest Passport Seva office (one which has jurisdiction over your place of residence), making the application, and paying the fees in cash. However, that way you won’t be able to choose your appointment slot.

It is better to pay and book the appointment online and then go the Passport Seva office at the allotted time. Please follow the given steps to do so –

1. Online Registration

You must have an account on the Passport Seva website to use this method. If you are an existing user, enter your login ID and password, and log in to your account.

If not, it is very simple to create one by following the given steps:

• Log on to the official Passport Seva website.

• If you are not registered on the website, click on ‘New User? Register Now’. After that, the ‘User Registration’ page will open. Enter all your required details, and then click on ‘Register’.

• You will receive an email to activate your account. Clicking on the link to activate.

Application Form for Reissue

• Log in to your account and then click on ‘Apply for Fresh Passport/Re-issue of Passport’.
• You can either fill up the application form for reissue of passport online on the website itself, or you can download it as a PDF and then fill it up. In case you are using the downloaded PDF form, after filling it up, you have to upload it to the same page you had downloaded it from.

Payment

To book an appointment, you have to make the payment online. After submitting your form, click on ‘View Saved/Submitted Applications’. Then ‘Pay and Schedule Appointment’.

Fees for Reissue of Passport (for reason – validity has expired or is due to expire)

Age of Applicant	Validity Required	Normal Charge	Tatkal Charge
Less than 15 years	All	Rs.1000	Rs.3000
15 years -18 years	5 years or till the age of 18 years	Rs.1000	Rs.3000
15 years -18 years	10 years (36 pages)	Rs.1500	Rs.3500
15 years -18 years	10 years (60 pages)	Rs.2000	Rs.4000
18 years and above	10 years (36 pages)	Rs.1500	Rs.3500
18 years and above	10 years (60 pages)	Rs.2000	Rs.4000

The payment is non-refundable. You can make the payment via –

• Debit or credit cards (VISA or MasterCard)
• Internet banking (SBI and associate banks)
• SBI challan

For payment via challan, you have to deposit the fees at the nearest SBI branch 3 hours after generating the challan or within 85 days.

Payment via debit or credit cards incur an additional charge of 1.5% plus service tax. Payment via internet banking or SBI challan has no additional charges.

Make an Appointment

After making the payment, you can track the payment status. Payments made via challan may take two working days to be processed. 

Once the payment is successful, you can schedule an appointment. You can select your preferred passport office and time slot.

Appointment at the Passport Office

• Reach the passport office 15-20 minutes before your appointment time with the required documents (explained below).
• You will be allotted a token number. Go for your verification process when your token number is called.
• If additional police verification is required, you will be informed via SMS.
• After the verification, your passport will be couriered to you at your new address.

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Documents Required

In case of reissue because validity has expired, is due to expire, or exhaustion of pages, you need to submit the following documents –

• Old passport -original
• Copy of your online application and payment/challan receipt
• Self-attested copy of first 2 and last 2 pages of old passport
• Self-attested copy of ECR – Non-ECR page
• Self-attested copy of page of observation (if any) made by the Passport Issuing Authority
• Self-attested copy of validity extension page (if any)

In case of lost, stolen, damaged or soiled passport, or change in personal details, you need to submit other additional documents.

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How to apply for passport renewal?

The process to renew passport is similar to that for reissue. You just have to choose the option and form for renewal instead of reissue after logging in.

Also, in addition to the documents listed above, you have to submit proof that the reason for issuance of short validity passport is eliminated.

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To read about how to get minor passport issued in India, please click here.
To read about how to change name on passport in India, please click here.
And to read about how to change address on passport in India, please click here.