Thursday, March 12, 2009

Travails for a passport

Getting a passport made in India is the easiest possible thing. Really! And for a new born, even more simple. After all, no police check, no address proof, nothing. All you need is a birth certificate. That's all, right?

Wrong.

My son's passport application is in the works. In order to just complete the application, they require a NOC from me in the form of a sworn affidavit attested by the Indian Embassy in Dubai. In order the apply for the NOC, I needed a bunch of stuff, one of which was that my wife's name has to be attested on my passport. In order to get my wife's name attested on my passport, I needed my marriage certificate to be attested by the Home Department of Maharashtra.

See what I mean!

Anyways, the home department jig is done. Right now, my passport is gone for it's drill. Expecting that on Saturday. Once that is done, then will I finally get my hands on that 'coveted' NOC.

20 days they say for the passport to get delivered. Honestly, I don't trust that number one bit.

Oh, and after the passport is ready, I need to apply for my son's residence visa. But that does not take too long. Couple of days tops.

Guess it is another 4-6 weeks before my wife and son can join me. Alas, the wait continues.

p.s. Did I mention it took 1 month for the birth certificate to be issued? Well, that's another story.

Edited to add:
17-Mar-09: Got my passport yesterday with the endorsement. And this morning, I finally got the sworn affidavit issued by the Indian embassy. Hopefully, the passport application should be submitted today. Fingers 'still' crossed.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey came here via guffy mom blog..Congratulations for your baby...:-)

Is tatkal scheme doesnt work for baby passport..May be you can try that...

mindspace said...

what can i say,, we did our round of office office before leaving india... everything is so complicated god knows for what?????

Masood said...

Rashmi - Welcome. Glad you dropped by. And Thanks! :) It's been an amazing experience. You'll find out soon ;)

Tatkal scheme is there. But my wife is currently in Aurangabad while the passport office is in Mumbai which is a good 8 hours away. Tatkal requires the mother of the new born to visit atleast twice. She cannot travel. I can but I cannot. So don't have much options.

Tara - yeah, you know the drill. It's so freakin frustrating!!!!

Iya said...

this sounds so bureaucratic!!!
getting a passport was such an ordeal for me too, so i know what u mean but they can spare the new born atleast!!!

Masood said...

Iya - Yeah, I thought so too. But now it seems getting a passport for a new born is more complicated.

Anonymous said...

awww ... hope it's all sorted now!!

Anonymous said...

didn't they ask for the character certificate for the new born? My sister had to go through this for my niece.Laughable indeed

Masood said...

Roop - Not yet actually. Another couple of days I guess.

Lostonthestreet - I wouldn't be surprised at all!!!

Smitha said...

Oh Goodness! That sounds horrible.. You know what - it was easier to get an Indian Passport here in the UK. When my daughter was born here - we needed to get her Passport here - and surprisingly - we got it in a day. My husband's name was not attested in mine nor vice versa - but there was no problem! Guess we Indians get super efficient as soon as we leave our shores :) Hope all this gets sorted out soon!

Masood said...

Smitha - Yep. Here in Dubai, it takes 4-5 days to get the passport and the visa too. But cannot expect that in India. It's just unbelievable the kind of bottlenecks that come up!!! Apparently, I just found out, that the NOC that I sent now needs to be signed and stamped by a notary in India too. Errrggg!

Anonymous said...

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

Anonymous said...

Good dispatch and this mail helped me alot in my college assignement. Say thank you you for your information.

Anonymous said...

Easily I to but I think the list inform should prepare more info then it has.