Five-day appointment window for passport applicants

The government on Monday announced a five-day appointment window for passport applicants according to which such applicants can "choose" their appointment date

"The applicants for passport related services have to fill up their personal particulars online, pay requisite fee and schedule appointment through Passport Seva system before they physically visit a Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) for further processing of their application," the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

"Currently, the appointment is assigned by the Passport Seva system based on its availability and on first-in-first-out (FIFO) basis," it stated.

Now, to further facilitate the applicants, the ministry has implemented a new solution which allows applicants to book their appointment according to their choice.

"The new provision would allow applicants to choose any appointment date from the earliest five available dates (working days), while scheduling/rescheduling an appointment for Passport related services," the statement said.

To avail of this facility, applicants must fill up their personal particulars online and click on "Pay and Schedule Appointment" link.

After the selection of payment mode either through debit/credit card/netbanking or through challan mode, an applicants will be redirected to the Appointment screen.

"They may choose any of their preferred PSK under the jurisdiction of the respective Regional Passport Office (RPO). At the next step, an applicant will be redirected to Pay and Book Appointment screen allowing them to choose a date from the displayed calendar," the statement said, adding that the calendar would highlight the latest five days available for the selected PSK.