India passport renewal at NY

[kaanta]

hi,
i have to renew my indian passport at new york consulate. consulate has now engaged VFS for passport renewal services. there are 2 address fields in form. address to be printed in passport and other address. VFS ppl are telling me that for address to be printed in passport, i have to mention US address. i dont understand this, US address is not my permanent address, so why should I mention US address in that column. they say india address is to be given in other address column.
i am confused about this. vfs ppl say that this is new guideline from consulate.

can you help?

[sunny1000]

I renewed in Dec 2011 and I put Indian address as my permanent address. May be the rules changed recently.

[san3297]

I renewed in March i too kept my permanent address as indian address. I submitted for renewal at NY center itself, approved and received it with no issues.

[Archie73]

I submitted my passport for renewal and received it in exactly one week. The staff were very polite, however there is some lack of information online on their website about how to prepare your documents for processing. Here's my experience and I hope it will be of help to others who want to obtain consular services at VFS.

I did the online scheduling for an appointment and arrived about a min late. If you arrive late or miss your appointment, let them know and patiently wait your turn, they'll call you. The VFS center is very small and sparse with three representatives seated behind the counter. There is a desktop computer to look up information online however they have no printing/xerox/scanning services in there, so be prepared to go out and make copies if you miss a document. They probably have an affiliated copy center outside but you can ask the rep for more details. Luckily, I was helped by another woman who sat beside me, waiting her turn to submit all her documents and pay her renewal/ application fees. While we waited, she helped me order my documents, fill in incomplete details that I didn't find info about on their website, and generally just prepare my application properly. To be brief, here's what you need to do for RENEWAL.

FOLLOW THESE STEPS

1) Contrary to what the website says - FIRST go here and schedule an appointment at your preferred US branch. You will receive a 30 min appointment.
https://www.vfsglobalonline.com/Scheduling-IHCUS...


2) Now fill out the online form and download all additional docs from this link
http://www.vfsglobal.com/india/usa/passport_aft...

Use the checklist.

(a)Fill out their ONLINE application- be sure to put your U.S address as your permanent address and your Indian address as your alternate one. There has been a change in rules at the level of the high commission, so DON'T dispute this.

(b) When you print out the application, it will show many extra lines of incomplete details not previously visible while you filled out the form online, so you will need to complete those details as well. Paste one photograph on the form.

(c) Print out the Verification of Nationality form and fill it out. Provide 2 addresses of friends in India (NOT RELATIVES). Paste one photograph over there.

(d) Gather all of your other documents. PLEASE BRING ORIGINALS for verification if you don't want to bring attested copies.
If you forget this one small but crucial step, you have to return back and reschedule an appointment.

Use the checklist to see if you have everything in there.
**In any case, if you forget to bring a form or a document that needs to be filled out from the checklist, they provide you a copy for $1.00


(e) Retain an extra photograph for submission.

(f) If you plan to pay the service fee in cash, keep EXACT FEE. They don't return change.


(3) So once you're at the VFS, you'll see three reps behind the counter. The lady on the left calls your name or by appointment time ("anyone with the 10.15 appointment? come to the counter!"). She looks at your forms, originals, attested copies, etc. verifies everything is okay, places it in order, tells you how much your total processing fee is, and gives you a number.

(4) You need to keep your documents ready and fill up anything that's incomplete or needs revision, and have your processing fee ready. Wait for your number to be called.

(5) Once your number is called, the guy or lady rep in the middle or right hand corner will take your forms, and verify your details such as your name etc. before taking your fee and issuing you a receipt. Your tracking information is on that receipt. He/she will guide you if you have any queries- they are courteous.

That's all there is to it. It's just lack of information and how to go about the process that's missing on their website. Once you've been there you can guide people on how to go about this experience smoothly.

[gcstudent]

Just thought I will share my experience sending application over mail..My wife got her passport renewed last week.. She sent everything thru UPS and got it back thru UPS in 2 weeks.. Few things:

1. You just have to get the document copies notarized if u r not sending original(like old passport). Your bank can do it for free.

2. Fill out nationality verification form.. Its not there in the application process of VFS site but its there in the checklist..

3. You need 4 photographs.. Not 3.. They missed out the one required for nationality verification form.

4. Once VFS receives the package they will send u an email with tracking #...