Reissue of Indian passport before expiry

Hi,

I applied for a reissue for my passport which expires on march 29, 2012. I handed over the application in the counter and they have stamped a cancellation in my old passport which expires only on March 29, 2012. Now does it mean my passport is no longer valid? Also does it mean I cannot travel anywhere until I receive the new passport. If so why are they accepting passport reissue before 1 year from the expiry date.

Thanks,
Srini

correct.

correct.

a passport takes anywhere between 30-45 days to be issued.
if you were to travel in them next 30-45 days - why did you give the passport to be reissued ?
your passport was valid for the next 12 months...

surely you dont think the RPO should take the onus because of your travel plans ??

it has proved to be very convenient for most, to be able to renew their passports a whole year ahead of the expiry date.
previously, one could only renew their passport 6 months before date of expiry.
before that, i think it was 3 months before expiry date.


what is your problem, exactly ?
:brishti

I absolutely dont have any plans of travel now. At the same time travel plans that too official never comes planned in advance.If a person tarvels abroad offically having a passport valdiity of 8 months.His travel is for 2 years and after 8 months his passport expires. Now if he applies for a reissue in a foreign country (possible in indian high commission in that country?)whether before or during his expiry, will his passort stand cancelled and the new passport be issued in 30 - 45 days. Is the person allowed to stay abroad for that period without passport. I am absolutely confused?

ah.
your query is about what happens in videsh. i am desi only
hang in there - someone will come along and answer your query, srini.



:brishti

I am just confused with teh system. I though they can give a new passport whose validity will start only when this passports validity expires. Else I feel applying for a reissue before 1 year or 3 months or even 1 month does not have any benefit as in any case (even if you apply after the passport expires), you have to stay without a valid passport for the time it takes for the new passport to arrive...real confusion of process I will say

Any passport is valid from the date of issue, so there is no question of renewing/re-issuing a passport and mentioning a start date and an end date.

OR of leaving a valid passport with you without cancelling it. That would have the risk of you ending up with two different passports, both of which are valid.

Considering that the passport site says that a reissue after expiry is like a new issue and not just a renewal, it will take between 1 and 2 months to get it. So quite safe/ok if applied when you have 3 months left. On the other hand some countries don't issue a Visa (short term visas mostly) if your passport is not valid for the duration of your intended stay in that country and some spare time.

If you applied in the anticipation that you may need to travel at short notice, you can only try to get it expedited or hope no urgent travel need comes up soon.

@Narendra - I think you did not get me.I had a valid passport till march 29, 2012.I applied for a re issue today and a cancellation has been affixed in my passport. Does it mean I dont have any valid passport till I get a new one?

I did understand the issue.
You applied for reissue about a year in advance. And because of that they canceled your current valid passport, lest you end up having two passports.

Yes, you are currently passport-less till you get the new one.

They should have a mechanism whereby the current passport is not invalidated while we wait for the reissue passport to be issued and received.

@Narendra :exactly - that is how they should have. I thought it is a good process to apply for a new one a year in advance so that even if there is some delay in receiving the new passport, I will have the old one with validity. Also I thought they will issue a new passport with validity starting next after the end of expiry of old one.

1)Now how is this handled when a person is staying abraod.Even there will he stay without passport for that period.

2) If I had applied a passport one month before expiry will teh cancellation not been affixed.

I feel the Ministry of extrenal affairs is not following a logical process here.

So even if a VIP goes for a tatkal, he/she should stay without passport for 3 - 7 days. Weird system

Correct !!! Even a US passport takes 3-6 week normally, less for expedited, and 48 hours for emergency for mucho denerio.

Planning one's trip with impending passport renewal has always been the passport holder's responsibility. An Indian mission outside the country will issue a temporary passport (emergency situation) to travel back to India within a very short time.

This is true of passport renewals in most countries. You will be without a passport for a period of time. However, some countries, for a valid reason, allow you to have two passports, both active to address political-snafu issues.

Why did you feel the need to renew your passport a year and a half in advance? That aside, how did they renew it because I think in order for it to be renewed, you need to have a year or less of validity (atleast that is what I remember from the SF consulate info a while back).

You are ok with your passport until it drops down to 6 mos or less (most countries require you have atleast 6 mos of validity the day you enter their port).

I guess treat it as a experience and live and learn. I don't even know how long it takes for renewal of Indian passports in India these days. The consulates outside do it a bit quicker to put up a face for the Indians abroad ( and if you are lucky).

I wrote I have renewed it with year to to befor expiry.I had some compulsions to do it now (not sure of my travel chances in September-October).But this way of cancelling the old passport, I feel is very absurd. As I have already written it doesnt matter when you renew your passport as you are sure to suffer a month or more without passport. It is already a month for me with no sign.Guess it will take a month more.

LOL dude, it is not mucho dinero for expedited passports ( $60 or so). You can actually book an appointment in a passport agency/center and show up and get a new one or renew it on the spot by paying the expedited fee of $60. They have those in lot of big cities all across the country.

I am aware of it. USD60 as opposed to free if done at a US Embassy outside, which also I have availed. Do you know how many drinks you can buy for sixty bucks