Hyderabad: The Regional Passport Office (RPO) in the city which earlier decided to issue 250 appointments, half online and half offline has now decided to issue all of them online.
Currently, the RPO is issuing 250 appointments each day – 125 via walk-ins and 125 online, however, all RPO appointments in Hyderabad will be accessible on the Passport Seva website, effective December 1.
The Regional Passport Officer of Hyderabad, J Snehaja, in a press release, pointed out that those with applications pending for various reasons have been visiting the RPO in Secunderabad.
Highlighting the difficulty faced by people, Snehaja said that in case of offline appointments, tokens were issued on a first come first served basis.
Applicants were bound to come early in the day to get their tokens and those who failed to get a token had to visit the office again.
To rule out the hassle, the Hyderabad RPO has decided to issue all the appointments online.
Enquiry appointments
Accordingly, the number of enquiry appointments on Monday, Tuesday and Friday will be 250 online appointments as per the time slot given, to visit the RPO, Hyderabad for all categories.
The official also said that there will be no limit on enquiry appointments between 9:30 am and 12:30 pm on Thursday.
“Applicants with documentary proofs such as those with medical emergencies, students providing admission proof for foreign institutions/hall tickets for exams, and individuals with visa expiry, can walk in for enquiry,” added Snehaja.
The RPO has further informed that the inquiry appointments will be free of cost and advised people not to approach any middlemen (brokers/touts) for passport-related queries in Hyderabad.
Furthermore, the applicants unable to personally visit the RPO were requested to communicate their concerns via email (rpo.hyderabad@mea.gov.in).
Steps for passport application at RPO, Hyderabad
For individuals interested in applying for a fresh passport or renewing an expired one, the process starts on the Passport Seva website and ends at the Regional Passport Office or PSKs in Hyderabad. Following are the steps.
- Visit the official website of Passport Seva.
- New users should register while existing users can log in to the portal.
- After logging in, click on the “Apply for Fresh Passport/Re-issue of Passport” link.
- Fill out the application form online or download it, fill it out offline, and then upload it.
- Once the form is completed, proceed with the payment, which varies depending on the category of passport.
- After making the payment, applicants can book their passport appointment slots at the PSKs.
- At the PSK, applicants will go through various stages of processing.
- Following verification by the Hyderabad police, the RPO will dispatch the passport to the address specified in the application form.
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