Passport Office Chennai

The Regional Passport Office in Chennai was established in 1955. The RPO was shifted to a new Government-owned premises in 1966 to cater to the passport related requirements of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and the neighbouring states including Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. After the bifurcation in 1976, the neighbouring states moved out of Chennai's jurisdiction to form and manage their own jurisdiction. The bifurcation at this stage allowed the RPO in Chennai to have its own jurisdiction from the new office in Trichy in the year of 1983.

In addition to handling the issuance of passports, the Chennai RPO is also responsible for carrying out an extensive range of administrative tasks or citizens as well as various other civic bodies within its own jurisdiction. Few of the RPO's functions include, but not limited to:

Responsibilities and functions of the Chennai RPO

• Managing issuance of both new passports and re-issue of duplicate passports.
• Additional endorsement pertaining to passports with 'Emigration Check Not Required'.
• Liaising with the police stations within the jurisdiction area to issue Police Clearance Certificates. The Chennai RPO also manages the applications for pending, approved, and rejected passport applications.
• Administer the operations of PSKs, PSLK, and own (RPO) operations.
• Maintaining the service book and other internal records of the RPO.
• Supporting operations of the RPO and the subdivisions by procuring and managing all kinds of supplies.
• Preparing and publishing many types of reports along with circulars, public notice, press statements, etc.
• Organising events for Republic Day and Independence Day.
• Handling court related litigation cases pertaining to passport services.
• Reporting the data statistics and trends to the concerning authorities.

Additionally, the Chennai RPO carries out various other tasks which are directed by the Consular, Passport & Visa Division of MEA. The Chennai RPO is also responsible for supervising the operations of the three PSKs and one PSLK under its jurisdiction. In terms of processing capabilities, the RPO received 4,32,124 passport applications in 2016 from all the three PSKs and one PSLK. The RPO managed to process 4,31,069 applications out of 4,32,124 for which various types passport and miscellaneous services were rendered.

The Chennai RPO liaises with the rules and regulations of the Passport Act, 1967 and Delegation of Financial Power Rules, 1978. The following districts are listed under the jurisdiction of Chennai RPO:

Staff at Chennai RPO

The Chennai RPO has a total of 91 officers including Regional Passport Officer, Deputy Passport Officer, and other staff members. The details of the designations, officers and staff at the Chennai RPO can be obtained from the official website of Passport Seva - http://passportindia.gov.in under the section of ‘Passport Offices in India’. The section provides useful information and details of all RPOs in India.

Chennai RPO Website

The Chennai RPO's webpage inside the Passport Seva’s official portal offers a host of passport-related information to applicants, issuers, governing bodies, and media channels. The information on the portal is updated regularly by the website developers - Tata Consultancy Services Limited regulated by Consular, Passport and Visa (CPV) Division. The information available on the website is subject to change with or without any prior notice. You are recommended to verify the information before making any decisions or using the information for any other purpose. MEA or TCS Limited will not be responsible for any damage/loss or any impact arising from the usage of certain information from the website. Individuals with queries concerning the information on the website can get in touch with the Project Director, Passport Seva Project, CPV Division, Ministry of External Affairs, Patiala House Annexe, Tilak Marg, New Delhi-110 001, E-mail: dirpsp@mea.gov.in, Fax: 011-23386082.

Applying for a Passport

The applications for passport services are accepted at three of the Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) located in Saligramam, Aminjikarai, and Tambaram along with one Passport Laghu Kendra located at Pondicherry. All the passport applications are required to be registered online on the Passport Seva online portal - http://passportindia.gov.in. Once the registration process completed and the application is submitted online, the applicant will need to make the online application fee payment in order to generate a unique Reference Number (ARN) for scheduling an appointment to submit the passport application. Applicants of certain categories such as infants, senior citizens, etc., are not required to book an appointment, instead, they can walk-in with their ARN between 30 A.M. -11:00

The application process for an Indian passport can be divided into the following steps:

• Submission of Application - The completed passport application form and the required documents of PoA, PoI, etc., can be submitted to one of the PSKs which holds jurisdiction in your area of residence.
• Fee Payment and Appointment - After the application is successfully submitted, the applicant will need to pay the required fee (differs based on specific passport requirements and eligibility factors). As soon as the fee is paid, the portal will generate a payment receipt and allow the applicant to schedule an appointment. Without an appointment, applicants are not allowed to submit their documents (exception may be granted due to certain reasons).
• Passport Issuance - The applicant receives periodic notifications on his registered email/phone number informing him/her about the progress of the application. After clearing the police verification successfully, the passport is sent to the applicant's physical address through registered mail.

Steps to submit Online Passport Application Form

• Visit - http://www.passportindia.gov.in (Official website).
• Register or sign in to continue access to the application.
• Click on 'Apply For Fresh Passport/Normal/Express (Tatkal) Mode'.
• Fill in the application form with your details and click 'Submit'.
• Pay the required fee for the passport application (fee differs based on the purpose of the application - whether new/re-issue, 60 pages, etc.).
• After making the online fee payment, schedule an appointment to submit the documents.
• Once the appointment is scheduled, the portal will generate an acknowledgement receipt.
• Take a photocopy of the Application Receipt. The Application Reference Number (ARN) should be visible on the photocopy.
• Go through the security guidelines and rules of visiting RPO/PSK well before the appointment date to avoid any unwanted situation (RPO/PSK do not allow possession of personal belonging etc. inside their premises).
• Follow the details of the appointment to appear at the designated RPO/PSK with your application form and documents.
• Carry original as well as the self-attested photocopies of specific documents which you have selected on your passport application form under each document category.
• Submitted application and documents will be verified.
• The progress of the application will be communicated through emails and/or text messages
• The next steps require completion of police verification successfully.
• Based on the application processing speed selected by the applicant, the newly printed Passport will arrive through the registered mail of the Indian Post.

Documents Required For Application Of A New Passport

Until the last few years, all passport applicants were required to submit their Birth Certificate as the Proof of Date of Birth, however, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) under the Government of India decided to ease the passport and visa application policies. While providing flexibility to the applicants in submitting one out of many available documents as the Proof of Date of Birth, the Government also introduced special provision pertaining to passport applications for Married/Divorced applicants, Government Servants, Sadhus and Saints, etc. The ease in application policies of passport and visa resulted in an increased number of passport applications across India. The increasing demand for passports drove innovation and led to the launch of Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) across the nation.

• Proof of Identity (PoI) - Any one PoI document from the list of available options.
• Proof of Address (PoA) - Any one PoA document from the list of available options.
• Additional Documents - Based the applicant's profile and other factors, the application process may require/demand additional documents/details.

List of documents accepted as PoI and PoA

The passport application must include either the applicant's Birth Certificate, Aadhaar Card, Driving Licence, Ration Card, Voter ID, Bank Passbook (Nationalised Banks), Telephone Bill, Gas Connection Book, School Leaving Certificate, Board or College Certificates, Service record or pay pension order (applicable for Government employees) or any other recognised document that contains the applicant's date of birth and/or address.

Changes to Passport and Visa Policies

The Consular, Passport & Visa Division, MEA, has already proposed few changes to the passport and visa policies this year. From issuing different colour passports to ECR and Non-ECR categories to removing the last pages of the passport, etc., the upcoming changes to passport and visa policies are expected to improve transparency, facilitate social inclusion, and eventually contribute to the nation's overall growth.

MEA also reported a significant amount of growth in the Indian tourism industry for the year of 2017. The launch of eVisa (eTourist Visa, eMedical Visa, and eBusiness Visa) offered relief to the foreign tourists as they could now easily obtain a visa to India. With the processing time of eVisa applications dropping to as low as a couple of hours under the express/urgent category, the fast and reliable portal - https://indianvisaonline.gov.in of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) proved itself to be an important contributor to the nation's economy.

Additionally, the authorities are also planning to eliminate the requirement of biometric details from foreign tourists who are entering India through one of the eVisa-enabled seaports. When arriving through the seaports of Mumbai, Kochi, Chennai, Goa and Mangalore, tourists are wasting a significant amount of time while waiting for their turn to provide the biometric details. Considering the impact of growth in the tourism industry which is beneficial to the economy, authorities are finding it necessary to remove and amend certain policies which are sought to eventually provide a hassle-free visit experience to India. Undoubtedly, 2017 also witnessed a notable increase in the number of Indian travellers visiting other nations. Indian travellers are being welcomed by many nations and also remarked as one of the highest spenders among tourists from other nations. Many countries have already eased their visa policies and removed/adjusted the requirements for specific documents so that they can welcome more Indians to their country.

List of Holidays in 2018

In addition to the following list of holidays, the Passport Office will remain closed on National Holidays - Republic Day (26th January), Independence Day (15th August), and Gandhi Jayanti (2nd October).

Contact Chennai RPO

Chennai RPO Address and contact details are mentioned in the following table:

Addresses and contact details of three PSKs and one PSLK under the jurisdiction of Chennai RPO are listed below:

National Call Centre -

Call - 1800-258-1800 to speak to a representative between 08:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. or call anytime for 24/7 Automated Interactive Voice Response (IVRS).

Social Media Channel of Chennai RPO

• https://www.facebook.com/MEAINDIA
• https://twitter.com/rpochennai
• https://www.youtube.com/user/MeaIndia
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/meaindia

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