Passport Reissue for Dummies - Part 2
Now that you are all set and ready for going to the passport office ... blah blah blah ...
Abandon all hope, ye who enterth!
PART II:
Step 3: Going through the actual process:
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1. Now that you have got the forms, copies, shaved, taken bath etc. etc., you are all set for the big day.
2. This big day is not a particular day, but any working day for that matter. When you fill the online form, it will give you some date for an appointment. Note that this date is almost entirely utterly useless. You can go any day before, after ... the appointment is a sham. You still need to stand in the queue the whole day, no running away from that.
3. So you reach the regional office, which is near Siddhi Vinayak temple, Dadar. This used to be Bengal Chemicals factory some years ago, and is now converted as the new passport office. The old passport office is in what is called the Manish Buidling, which is further down the road, after the glass building of Crompton Greaves. All special work is done in the old building. The 'normal' work of passport issue and re-issue is done at Bengal Chemicals.
You can park inside the compound, but only after 9:30am. A better suggestion is that you take a smaller by-lane behind the complex, esp. if you have a bike.
4. The office opens at 9:30am. You need to reach at least half an hour before, if not an hour. When you have reached and park, you will get the first rude shock. You will see that people have already lined up. No matter how early you go there, there will always be a queue before you. Your luck will only decide how long that queue is.
5. So you wait till the gates open. You can strike a conversation with the fellow queue-members since these will be your company for the day, whether you like it or not. This is period of slight anxiety and a lot of sun. A cap and some drinking water would help.
6. The queue moves quickly once the gates open. The gates are open only till 12:30pm. You need to get inside the building before that. The queue goes inside, goes around in the Bengal Chemicals compound, and comes back to the main entry of the building. Once you go inside, there are 2 halls - Hall 1 and Hall 2. Hall 2 is for special purpose. So for all normal work, you need to go to Hall 1. You are frisked, searched and then sent in.
7. At the entrance of Hall 1, your papers will be checked. Only people who have work will be sent inside here. Your friends and relatives who have come to give you company will need to wait outside now. Once you are in before 12:30pm, you are safe. Your work will be done today. If not, good luck for tomorrow.
8. You enter Hall 1, and the whole scene changes completely. All the queues and discipline vanishes in the chaos and confusion. There are at least 16 numbered counters, out of which only 3 or 4 may be functional. One of these is specially reserved for senior citizens. Does not mean that there is less queue at that one, only that you will see old people all throughout. Ensure that the queue you are standing in is the queue going to your counter (which the guy at the gate of the hall has told you to go to).
9. Now is a period of utter boredome, standing and standing and more standing. The queue moves at a snail's pace -- that too a snail who is known as a 'slug' in her social circle (behind her back, of course). In case you have to go out, you can, at your own risk. You will get a coupon from the security which you have to show when you come back, otherwise you will not get entry inside again.
You wait for godot, and hope that before 1:30pm you will get to the seats. There are some 15 seats before each window / counter.
10. Why 1:30pm? Because 1:30pm to 2:00pm is lunch. A puny man comes from behind the desks and gives you numbers. Writes then on your form. This is cool now. You can roam about. Go have lunch at some local places around. There is not much around though. Only one pizza place in one of the by-lanes behind the complex. It is a take-away and home-delivery joint, so no place to sit and eat. You need to manage. Else go someplace else.
11. You need to be back around 2pm. The queue will move in a more orderly fashion now. Suddenly with the lunch inside, all seems to be nicer and more relaxed.
12. After another couple of hours wait, say by 3:30pm - you reach the window. If you have followed the paperwork as narrated before, this would be a quick experience. One thing must be mentioned, that the people across the window are rational and reasonable. They give you a lot of leeway. They ask questions, get satisfied, ask for options if you are falling short of documents, and overall present a very professional face. Very impressive.
I think what you need to convince yourself is this:
a. You are genuine
b. The papers are genuine
c. You are convinced of the above two.
Check for the ECNR stamp on the receipt before leaving.
13. Your form will be stamped, signed and you will be asked to go to the counter next to this window - this is to pay the fees. This is easy, the queue moves faster. It will stil take you an hour to pay and get the receipt. Check if ECNR is written on it. You will pay the money only if your form has moved from the earlier window to this, which happens most of the time unless you are especially unlucky and have to wait.
14. Also check if your name is written correctly on the receipt, as this will be the name on the passport. Once you have the receipt, say by around 4:30pm -- you are a free bird!
Now you just need to wait for like 25-30 days before you get the passport by post to your house.
Now now now, just as you think that you have conquered and the ordeal is over, a disturbing thought creeps up behind the back of your mind -- this passport will again will be vaild for 10 years. So do I need to go through this again afer 10 years? Oh my, oh my !!!
But then again, who has seen 10 years? Who knows, maybe people will adopt John Lennon by then, and you will not need a passport, cause the World will be as One???
What say you?
Cheerio -
Shreekant
Abandon all hope, ye who enterth!
PART II:
Step 3: Going through the actual process:
------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Now that you have got the forms, copies, shaved, taken bath etc. etc., you are all set for the big day.
2. This big day is not a particular day, but any working day for that matter. When you fill the online form, it will give you some date for an appointment. Note that this date is almost entirely utterly useless. You can go any day before, after ... the appointment is a sham. You still need to stand in the queue the whole day, no running away from that.
3. So you reach the regional office, which is near Siddhi Vinayak temple, Dadar. This used to be Bengal Chemicals factory some years ago, and is now converted as the new passport office. The old passport office is in what is called the Manish Buidling, which is further down the road, after the glass building of Crompton Greaves. All special work is done in the old building. The 'normal' work of passport issue and re-issue is done at Bengal Chemicals.
You can park inside the compound, but only after 9:30am. A better suggestion is that you take a smaller by-lane behind the complex, esp. if you have a bike.
4. The office opens at 9:30am. You need to reach at least half an hour before, if not an hour. When you have reached and park, you will get the first rude shock. You will see that people have already lined up. No matter how early you go there, there will always be a queue before you. Your luck will only decide how long that queue is.
5. So you wait till the gates open. You can strike a conversation with the fellow queue-members since these will be your company for the day, whether you like it or not. This is period of slight anxiety and a lot of sun. A cap and some drinking water would help.
6. The queue moves quickly once the gates open. The gates are open only till 12:30pm. You need to get inside the building before that. The queue goes inside, goes around in the Bengal Chemicals compound, and comes back to the main entry of the building. Once you go inside, there are 2 halls - Hall 1 and Hall 2. Hall 2 is for special purpose. So for all normal work, you need to go to Hall 1. You are frisked, searched and then sent in.
7. At the entrance of Hall 1, your papers will be checked. Only people who have work will be sent inside here. Your friends and relatives who have come to give you company will need to wait outside now. Once you are in before 12:30pm, you are safe. Your work will be done today. If not, good luck for tomorrow.
8. You enter Hall 1, and the whole scene changes completely. All the queues and discipline vanishes in the chaos and confusion. There are at least 16 numbered counters, out of which only 3 or 4 may be functional. One of these is specially reserved for senior citizens. Does not mean that there is less queue at that one, only that you will see old people all throughout. Ensure that the queue you are standing in is the queue going to your counter (which the guy at the gate of the hall has told you to go to).
9. Now is a period of utter boredome, standing and standing and more standing. The queue moves at a snail's pace -- that too a snail who is known as a 'slug' in her social circle (behind her back, of course). In case you have to go out, you can, at your own risk. You will get a coupon from the security which you have to show when you come back, otherwise you will not get entry inside again.
You wait for godot, and hope that before 1:30pm you will get to the seats. There are some 15 seats before each window / counter.
10. Why 1:30pm? Because 1:30pm to 2:00pm is lunch. A puny man comes from behind the desks and gives you numbers. Writes then on your form. This is cool now. You can roam about. Go have lunch at some local places around. There is not much around though. Only one pizza place in one of the by-lanes behind the complex. It is a take-away and home-delivery joint, so no place to sit and eat. You need to manage. Else go someplace else.
11. You need to be back around 2pm. The queue will move in a more orderly fashion now. Suddenly with the lunch inside, all seems to be nicer and more relaxed.
12. After another couple of hours wait, say by 3:30pm - you reach the window. If you have followed the paperwork as narrated before, this would be a quick experience. One thing must be mentioned, that the people across the window are rational and reasonable. They give you a lot of leeway. They ask questions, get satisfied, ask for options if you are falling short of documents, and overall present a very professional face. Very impressive.
I think what you need to convince yourself is this:
a. You are genuine
b. The papers are genuine
c. You are convinced of the above two.
Check for the ECNR stamp on the receipt before leaving.
13. Your form will be stamped, signed and you will be asked to go to the counter next to this window - this is to pay the fees. This is easy, the queue moves faster. It will stil take you an hour to pay and get the receipt. Check if ECNR is written on it. You will pay the money only if your form has moved from the earlier window to this, which happens most of the time unless you are especially unlucky and have to wait.
14. Also check if your name is written correctly on the receipt, as this will be the name on the passport. Once you have the receipt, say by around 4:30pm -- you are a free bird!
Now you just need to wait for like 25-30 days before you get the passport by post to your house.
Now now now, just as you think that you have conquered and the ordeal is over, a disturbing thought creeps up behind the back of your mind -- this passport will again will be vaild for 10 years. So do I need to go through this again afer 10 years? Oh my, oh my !!!
But then again, who has seen 10 years? Who knows, maybe people will adopt John Lennon by then, and you will not need a passport, cause the World will be as One???
What say you?
Cheerio -
Shreekant
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