How to apply for a Tatkaal Passport

2009-09-11T06:38:00.000-07:00

If

A. you are stationed at a place called Kharagpur and,

B. believe you can do your bit by not bribing the middlemen and,

C. have fire up your bottom for lack of time having been blissfully ignorant in your (n-1) years of existence at Kgp; n being your final year of study OR,

D. cracked a third year Desi internship and assumed life will be smooth sailing thence and,

E. stating the obvious, have been ignorant (and not to mention lackadaisical and dumb) enough not to procure a passport till now.

As the penultimate semester arrives and thud! you hit the ground as the summer dreams vaporize, realization dawns that a passport must be acquired. And then you lax, a little more, a week later, after tomorrow's test, Do-I-really-want-to-study-further? ... bam! until a GRE mail in the inbox screeches out loud,

" All test takers in BANGLADESH, INDIA, and PAKISTAN must present valid PASSPORTS "

And here begins the ordeal.

If you opine (B) is an Utopian bubble or lack patience and have been blessed with decent bundle of cash, Agents provide a more time efficient procedure. Nearest one inhabits STEP on a weekly basis.

Having not taken this path, I am no expert to discourse. Outlined below is the most efficient algorithm to apply for a passport assuming you satisfy (err... ) conditions (A) and (B) as mentioned above. I could not help but seek the favor of touts who hang around in the Kgp Stamp Paper distribution office because of my lack of knowledge of procedures involved to get a non judicial stamp paper approved by a notary. However, the passport website very explicitly mentions how to apply for one and one can follow the same to seek a passport.

1. Garner the docs

These are the documents you will need and I assume, being an IIT student, these should not be very difficult to gather :

Class X and XII certificates in original

Passport Photographs (4) -3.5X3.5 cm - The old school polaroid prints are a must

Date of Birth Certificate, if available (else, Class X certificate should do with the DOB on it)

For tatkaal, additional documents are needed for which you could either :

Get 2 printed affidavits (linked) : A and B

Or, alternatively, Arrange for the affidavit A and keep ready any four of the following documents as outlined here (Read carefully as to which combination of documents is available with you and whether the same satisfies the criteria). Most of the students have a Bank passbook (which would need updation) and an Institute Identity card. Carrying an updated passbook, even though you might have other docs, is strongly recommended.

Affidavit A can be procured at the Kgp SDO which is located beyond the other end of the station. Having crossed the station via the overhead bridge, any local would help you to get to the SDO, not more than 5 minutes from the station. Catch hold of a typist and get the printed affidavit approved by the notary, an exercise which takes about 3 hours in the evening and would cost Rs 120. [Added on 14th April 2010: The tout's name is Sheenu. Phone number: 9614614886 ]

For Affidavit B, NCC officer on campus would be helpful for the required attestation.

2. Fill up the form

The site explains in much detail, as to how to fill up each entry in the form which may be printed from the website itself. The Main application form and two PP forms should suffice. All initials must be dilated and your name (and parents') must be in accordance to the DOB/ Class X certificate.

3. Get there and queue up

The main glitch in Tatkaal procedure is that only about 60-100 tatkaal applicants are accepted for a single working day and as it happens, quite shockingly, the queue lines up right from 4 AM in the morning. The Kolkata passport office is located on 4, BraBourne Road and an early morning prepaid taxi is the best option from Howrah Station. Any of the Kgp-Howrah trains before 2 AM should help one get to the passport office by 4-5 AM. After reaching the office, register and queue up!

4. The final (& the most painful) lap

Wait, wait and wait.

As it happens, Kolkata is a paradox. Multinational Banks and slum dwellers residing on the same streets going about their mundane daily chores is a sight I haven't witnessed in any of the metros. While I was left wondering (and terribly hungry) why this was the case, I tried to hunt for a decent eatery to satiate my morning starve, but all in vain. So packed food and biscuits would come in handy for the long day ahead.

The queue starts snailing at 8 30 in the morning. You'd be let in based on your registration number and then you're given a token inside. A tatkaal form is handed over to all tatkaal seekers which you'd fill up and wait for what would feel like an eternity. Finally, when your token number is called, you pay and get your documents verified and if all goes well ... A bright Red "tatkaal case" stamp is impinged on your application. Later during the day, receipts are handed over.

And then you realize you have made it indeed. You have successfully applied for a tatkaal passport in the seeming bureaucratic muddle of poschim bongal.

5. A few pointers

Be wary of the touts at the Kolkata office. If the documents are sound, there's no reason why one would be denied a fair application.
The online slot registration to apply for passport is NOT for tatkaal. A grave error that I committed, only to realize after I reached the office.
Obtain two photocopies of each document that would be needed for the application.
Reach the passport office by 6 AM at any cost. Anytime later is treading a risky path and if you miss the quota for the day, square one! all you can do is return back to Kgp tired and frustrated ... only to go back all over again in the following days to come.
Find a friend to tag along, would help the boredom.

The algorithm is based on the real life experiences of Nilesh, Shreyas and mine and will definitely work if adhered to. Matter of fact, given the above information in place, it should not take one more than a week to ready the documents and finally apply for a passport. Hoping this documentation proves useful in future.

This is my third and final attempt to blog some sense (whenever the need arises).
Hope to keep the keyboard busy.

minus 6.5 dioptres

How to apply for a Tatkaal Passport