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My Experience - Renewing Indian Passport in USA in 2020

I had a surprisingly smooth time renewing my Indian passport which was last issued in Hyderabad, India in 2010.

One has to use Cox & Kings, who are the official partners of Indian embassy in US. 

I had to begin with the Application of Indian Passport online on Cox & Kings website where you start with the services required. In my case I chose Applying for 'Reissue', Type of Application as 'Tatkal' (you can chose normal depending upon urgency, as I needed within a month I chose 'Tatkal' and actual received within 15 days) and Type of Passport Booklet i.e. 30 or 60 pages. 

I used my Indian address even though I reside in US, since my Aadhaar Card already had my verified Indian address I wanted to keep the address on passport as my Indian address. BTW, I also shared my US driver's license as one of the address proof for a US address.

I also filled Affidavit for Change in Appearance & Signature, Annexure 'E', Authority Letter for Passport Collection, Indian Address Self-sworn Affidavit, and most importantly Government Online Passport Application Form. 

I got my notary done from USPS. And my passport picture taken in US visa size i.e. 2 inches X 2 inches, although I had my glasses on (note: in US visa/passport you're not allowed your prescription glasses).

I selected a UPS shipping for return service as well. And went to a UPS store, where I had my notary done and then the store associate put the old passport in a sealed plastic bag and rest of the documents in the UPS envelope. 

It was a fairly straightforward process. Just have your US work authorization documents, Indian address proof and a US driver's license and a simple Money Order from USPS will suffice.

Ensure if you want your Indian address on passport it should match the address proof you're using, in my case Aadhaar Card.

Make sure to verify the documents against the checklist printed as a last step after submitting the application online. Note: you still have to send the documents via UPS. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis I didn't go to either embassy or the Cox & Kings office; everything was done online. And customer care representatives from Cox & Kings were quite prompt in replying to my inquiries via email.

You get email notifications all along; and I had the following received as part of the entire process:

UPS Delivery Notification - 'Your package has been delivered'

Cox & Kings - following notifications 

Passport - Receipt of Package from UPS

Passport - Application In-Transit to Consulate

Passport - Application Under Process at Consulate

Passport - Application Returned to CKGS from Consulate

Passport - Dispatch of Shipment

UPS Update - 'You've a package coming'

I was quite satisfied with the entire process. And five stars to the entire process done online with proper communication throughout.

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