Passport Seva kendra – My experience

In Bangalore, there are 2 Passport Seva Kendra (PSK)  offices – one at Lalbagh and the other in Sai Arcade (exactly opposite to Intel) in outer ring road.

My husband and I went together for re-issuing our passports. At first (as always), we did  a lot of research on the net before we went there and we found a lot of useful content on what documents were to be taken beforehand to avoid problems.

The prerequisite:

1) The first step is to create an account for yourself at PSK portal. The portal is very easy to use.

2) Fill out the online application form correctly and submit the same in the PSK portal.

You may face a problem while filling the online application. The number of characters for house address is limited, so this may mean that you will enter only half address information. That is okay. you can fill up half and then go the PSK in person and ask the personnel to change it for you.

3) Immediately after you submit the application, book an appropriate appointment time. This will ensure you have the earliest slot.

4) Get a list of mandatory and optional documents from the portal and also confirm the same after calling the toll-free number listed in the portal.

A general set of documents that helped me are

• Degree certificate (you can carry 10th, 12th as well; safety sake)
• Ration Card & Gas connection Voucher/Electricity Bill/BSNL phone bill/ IT acknowledgement
• If you are carrying a company letter head, please carry your office ID card as well.
• Marriage Certificate
• Affidavit (In case of name change etc)
• your Passport (Old passports), your spouse’s passport (especially for a lady, it is better to take husband’s passport along)

5) Take a photocopy (preferably 2 copies) of the aforementioned documents and scan each one of them.

6) Upload 4 of these scanned documents (mandatory ones) online in the PSK portal.

7) Take a printout of the appointment sheet.

Please Note: One thing you constantly need to keep doing is check if there is a vacant slot of time so that you can advance the appointment time. In our case, initially we had got a slot on 14-Sep-2010, but we monitored regularly for free slots and by God’s grace, we found a slot on 31-Aug-2010.

The Finale:

The PSK Office and Surroundings….

Today we finally went to the Passport Seva Kendra in Sai Arcade. This is exactly opposite the Intel Office on the Outer Ring Road. For an appointment slot of 11:15 AM to 12:00 PM, we both reached by 9:15 AM. The parking is a little away from the building but once the vehicle is parked, you can directly enter through the back gate.

It was pretty good to see that the Security did not allow us to enter inside the PSK office until it was the alloted time, thus ensuring manageable crowd. (We read that its better to go very early. The bane of reading a lot of online reviews, sigh! we had to wait at least 1.5 hrs).  We had to spend our time standing as there is no seating arrangement out there. We explored the area nearby and found that there is no good place for breakfast/tea outside.

Finally at 10:45, the Security announced that the 11:15 slot folks can submit the forms.

Inside the PSK office…..

Once you are in there,  it will take about an hour and a half. Everything went on smooth and for those who forgot to photocopy a few things, there is a photocopy counter inside the office  itself.

All in all, it was a good experience for us and we both came out before 1:00 PM. The only thing that can cause worry is if you are missing original documents.

Please take the originals along with the photocopy so that you will not be sent back to fetch the same. Avoid rework, save energy, save fuel 🙂 ….

Take care.

Addendum:

Atul commented on this post and I really thought that this has to be part of the content of this post. Thanks again Atul, for taking the time to note this 🙂

Atul would like to add few points here:

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1. There is no walk in at PSK located opposite to Intel office. You have to submit your passport application online and take appointment for available day and time.
2. It is not necessary to scan the documents and upload. At “counter-A”, they will scan required documents and upload. There is no need to carry photo with you. They have camera also at all of the “A-counters”. They will take photo there and upload. You will have to pay fees at this counter.
3. Your original documents are checked at “counter-B”.
4. I am not sure what is done at “counter-c”. The lady there checked my old passport and kept on looking at her computer for some minutes and then let me go.
5 Collect you acknowledgment near the exit section by showing your fees-receipt (don’t forget to collect it at “Counter-A”) and you are ready to leave.
6. Apart from photocopier, there is provision for baby care also. You can also buy tea/coffee/snacks while waiting.

Overall, it was a pleasing experience to apply for a passport at this place- very different from an usual government office.

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I would second Atul’s thoughts and say that my experience at the PSK was excellent. Thumbs up to TCS and to Govt for this initiative.