Indian passport renewal from US(BLS)

I know there are quite a few posts on the Indian passport renewal from US. I just want to post here the process I followed, as some of the really good posts are outdated and some forms have been updated.

This blog is only for those who are looking to renew their passport before the expiration date of the passport. For others, whose passports have already been expired or those who lost their passport, might need some additional steps. Also, if you find any mistakes, please suggest, I am more than willing to make the correction. 

To start, this is the official website you need to refer for the renewal.

http://www.passport.blsindia-usa.com/reissue10.php

Find out your application center, this depends on your state of residence. This can be found from the BLS website, in my case it was New york. Some application centers require more documents or special affidavits, please refer to your application center requirements for complete list. I have tried to list out the documents in the order I found it easy to complete.

1. Online Application Form:

 The first thing you need to start is your Online Application, please follow the url from BLS website.

Page 1:

         Indian Mission: <Select your Application center>
         Service Desired: RE-ISSUE OF PASSPORT
         Remember to fill in your DOB in dd/mm/yyyy and not in mm/dd US format.

         Address To Be Printed in Passport:
            This is the address where your passport will be mailed.
            Should be your US address for which you have a valid address proof 
            NOT your Indian address.

Page 2:

     Other Address: Your Indian Address

      Phone No.
     Mobile No.
     E-mail Address
          Provide your US phone number and email address.

     Applicant's Family Information
               These fields are self explanatory and unless you want to make a change in the 
               parents names, fill up parents names from your old passport.

      Passport Details:
      File No:
         The last page in your passport, refer to this
          http://sudee4u.blogspot.com/2012/11/how-to-renew-indian-passport-in-usa.html

Once you enter all the fields in the page 2, click "Save & Continue". In the next page you can skip the upload photo and click "Save & Continue" again. Click the "Generate PDF".  This should generate you a pdf with 3 pages.
Take a print out of this pdf, you need to manually fill up some of the fields in this document.

       In the printed online application form:
        Specimen Signature: Your signature

        Payment of Fee:

         Refer to the BLS website for the exact amount you need to pay and the from of payment.          

          This is what I did for NY application center(Regular processing)

          Amount Paid: $91.20 by Money Order(more details on Processing fee section)

          7. Particulars of person to be intimated in the event of death or accident:
          Give the address of a local guardian or close friend

          9.Local car driving Licence No...<US licence No>.....Date and Place of issue..
          <Your License Details>

         10. Education Qualification: 
          Your qualification. (eg) Master of Science or Bachelor of Engineering.

         11. When did applicant first leave India? 
         The first time you entered US (Check your first US immigration stamp date)

         When was he/she in India last? 
          The date you last left India (Refer your latest Indian immigration stamp date, 
           before leaving to US)

         12. How long has applicant continuously resided abroad?
         Years or months from your latest entry in US.

         13. Present Emigration Status: 
         ECNR for degree holders, I am not sure about others.

         14. Profession and business address:
         Provide your office address and phone number

        15. Please mention, if citizen of India by birth/descent/Naturalization/Registration.
         Circle that is applicable to you, most likely "birth"

        16, 17, 18 Based on your passport detail and in majority of the cases it will NA, No, No

        19. Give two address of your friends or relatives in India who know you personally.

        20 to 25 Pretty straightforward questions, if something isn't applicable, you can write NA

        26, Declaration:
        Sign and Date the form.

        Don't forget to sign the two boxes in 29.

2. Nationality Verification Form

      You can get this form from:
      http://www.immihelp.com/nri/indianpassport/nationality-status-verification-form.pdf

       You need three copies of this form.

        Most fields are self explanatory

        12) Date of leaving India: 
        Your last India exit date(refer to your latest India immigration exit stamp)

       13) Period of stay abroad: 
       Years/months from your last US entry.

       15) Travel agent: 
       NA if you made your own travel arrangement in your last trip or name your travel agent 
       who booked your itinerary in case it was sponsored by your company.


NOTORIZING DOCUMENTS
Notorizing a document is nothing but an authorized notary signing that you are submitting the photocopies of the original documents. You can easily find someone who is authorized to notarize documents. Usually most big banks have a notary (be sure to call up and find out if they notarize photocopies before going, some banks don't notarize photocopies of documents). Most UPS stores have an in-store notary and they charge about $2 per document.

3. Visa Proof

  Get a color photocopy of your I797 or visa document and get it notorized.

4. Address Proof Document  

This should be the same address that you mentioned initially in your online application form. You can use your driving license, current lease photocopy or your energy bill(with your name & address). This document has to be notorized.

5. Marriage Certificate(Optional)

If you got married after the issue of your last passport, then you need the following two documents.

  a) Notorized copy of your wife/husband's passport
  b) Notorized copy of your marriage certificate.

6. Your original passport

You should enclose your original passport in the the package.

Photocopies of first 5 pages and last two pages of your current passport (This obviously doesn't need to be notorized, since you will be enclosing your original passport in the package you send to BLS)

7. Affidavit form for change of appearance: 

Required only if your appearance has significantly changed from your old passport picture. I think this is mandatory for Houston jurisdiction, please refer to the BLS website for application center specific requirements,.

Photographs:

Refer to the photo requirements here
http://www.passport.blsindia-usa.com/Passport%20Sized%20Photo%20Requiremens.pdf

In general, if you go to walgreens or any store and tell them to take passport photos, that should match the specifications mentioned. I would recommend not to wear a light colored tops or shirt, since it would blend with the white background.

You would need 1 photo for the online application form.
3 photos for the nationality verification form(one for each copy)
In addition, I attached 2 photos along with my application, since I wasn't clear about the exact number of copies required and wanted to be on the safer side.

Processing Fee

Refer to the processing fee section on the BLS site. For regular, ordinary booklet is $91.20. There are quite a few ways to do this, I actually took a moneygram money order from walmart. It is really economical(only 70 cents) and easy to take. Be sure to write the money order in favor of BLS INTERNATIONAL SERVICES USA INC.

BLS order Form

Application Type: Postal    Airway Bill no: <Tracking number from the label to sent to BLS>

Prepaid Delivery: Yes       Airway Bill no: <Tracking no from the return label >

The "Airway Bill no" is nothing but the tracking numbers, see my "shipping packages" section for more information.

All the other fields in the form are self explanatory, fill them and submit it.

Once you submit the form, you will receive on email with two attachments from the BLS.

There will be clear instructions on how to use these documents in the email from BLS.

     Attachment 1: BLS order form

         Take a printout of this and place this inside the shipping package.

     Attachment 2: Passport shipping Label

         Take a printout of this and this has to be affixed on the external shipping package

         (Fedex package) that is sent to BLS

Checklist:

Print the checklist from BLS site, verify you have all the documents and make a tick mark on whatever is applicable to you.

Shipping packages

You need the tracking numbers to be entered in the BLS order form. I think there are quite a few ways to do this. I used fedex and will list the steps you can follow.

1, Create a fedex personal account from their website.

2, Create two shipping labels (for the weight, specify 1 lb)

      (a)  Destination <BLS address > 

      (b) Other label for the return package(destination: your home address) 

3, Print these labels and you can see the tracking number on these labels, which you should use it on your BLS order form.

Go to fedex store and ask them for an envelope with a return envelope. They will provide you two envelopes, the bigger one and a smaller return envelope.

Place your return label in the return envelop and place it inside the bigger envelope.

Place all your documents inside the shipping envelope.

Affix the passport shipping label (Emailed by BLS after submitting BLS order form) outside the envelope.

You can drop the fedex package in any fedex drop box, you will not be charged immediately. Your credit card will be charged when the package has reached the destination / shipping facility.

Once you have sent the package, wait for a few days, BLS will send an email saying that your application has been received and is in processing stage, You can start tracking the status of your passport in the BLS website  http://www.passport.blsindia-usa.com/tracking.php