Passport Services
Public Notice for Indian Passport Holders regarding Machine Readable Passports and related matters.
Please refer to this public notice from the Ministry of External Affairs regarding the phasing out of non-machine readable passports, passport valid for less than six months and passports with fewer visa pages.
Public Advisory related to Handwritten passports and other matters
Before applying online for the issuing of a passport, please select the particular service you want from the list given below and read the information carefully.
All these services are processed by the Consular Wing of the Embassy
The Consular Wing
(For Passport and authentication services)
Opernring 1, Stiege E (4th Floor)
1010 Vienna, Austria
Telephone Queries ( Passport, Attestation,OCI/PIO & Miscellaneous Services etc)
Main reception Tel:+ 43 1 5058666 (from 1000 hrs – 1300 hrs & 1400 hrs – 1730 hrs)
Consular Section Tel: + 43 1 585 0793 (1400hrs -1600hrs)
Email: cons1.viennamea.gov.in
Working Hours
From Monday to Friday (except holidays):
Submission of Documents/Indian Passports: 0930hrs -1130hrs
Collection of processed Documents/Indian Passports & PIO/ OCI Card: from 1600hrs – 1700hrs.
Eligibility
An Indian Passport holder is eligible to obtain a new passport when his/her current Indian Passport expires. The earliest an Indian national can apply for a new ten-year Indian Passport is a year before the expiry of his/her present passport. The fresh Indian Passport that is provided to the applicant has ten year validity. To put it clearly, if an Indian Passport holder has his/her passport expiring on December 31, 2011, application for a new Indian Passport can be submitted with the Embassy on any working day (as per the timings) between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011. Please note that Government of India has stopped the practice of issuing Additional Booklets on existing Indian Passports. The practice of adding pages to existing passports has also been done away with. Hence, in case of either the pages of the existing passport getting exhausted or in case of completion of validity of the passport, the applicant is required to apply for a new Indian Passport only, as per the required process.
Process
The following may be noted while applying for new passports:- New Indian Passports, which are Machine Readable, are not prepared in the Embassy but are prepared and printed by authorities in India and sent to us for onward despatch to the passport holder (once ready). However, the application/fees are received by the Embassy. The process starts with the applicant depositing completely filled in Passport Application (after on-line registration) along with all the necessary documents; the case is then referred to authorities in India. If everything is found in order by them, the passport is printed and sent to the Embassy. (Applicants have to be careful about giving proper information in the application form, depositing necessary documents including photocopies wherever necessary and provide appropriate colour photographs. Photos that do not meet the prescribed specifications would be rejected, requiring the Embassy to again ask for fresh photographs of the applicants thereby delaying the printing of new Passports in India).
Note:
All the personal details should be filled correctly. Incorrectly or partially filled forms will not be accepted. Your Indian permanent address should be filled in the field of address to be printed and your local permanent address should be filled in the field of other address. Registration of birth of a minor child should be done at an Indian Embassy under Section 4(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955. In case of minors, the form should be signed by both the parents and their passport copies should be attached with the process. All individuals seeking to apply for a new passport are required to deposit the application form and documents in person at the Embassy. One photograph to be pasted on the first page in the given space. In column 14, applicants who are working should write their designation, company’s name and complete address with telephone number.
Processing Time
All passports are now being printed in India and therefore it will take about THIRTY DAYS for issue of a printed passport, i.e. if everything is found to be in order in respect of the application form, photo, etc., by the authorities in India. In case a reference is to be made to the original Passport Issuing Authority, it might take longer time. Applicants are advised to contact the Embassy 30 days after submitting their application forms to check the status of their new passport.
Documents required for issue of a fresh passport (after the expiry of validity or within one year of final validity):
Issue of new passport (Jumbo booklet with 60 pages and 10 years validity)
Eligibility
An Indian Passport holder is eligible to obtain a new passport when his/her current Indian Passport expires. The earliest an Indian national can apply for a new ten-year Indian Passport is a year before the expiry of his/her present passport. The fresh Indian Passport that is provided to the applicant has ten year validity. To put it clearly, if an Indian Passport holder has his/her passport expiring on December 31, 2011, application for a new Indian Passport can be submitted with the Embassy on any working day (as per the timings) between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011. Please note that Government of India has stopped the practice of issuing Additional Booklets on existing Indian Passports. The practice of adding pages to existing passports has also been done away with. Hence, in case of either the pages of the existing passport getting exhausted or in case of completion of validity of the passport, the applicant is required to apply for a new Indian Passport only, as per the required process.
Process
All individuals seeking to apply for a new passport are required to deposit the application form and documents in person at the Embassy. The applications should be completely filled. One photograph to be pasted on the first page in the given space. In column 14, applicants who are working should write their designation, company’s name and complete address with telephone number. Incomplete applications will be rejected.
Processing Time
All passports are now being printed in India and therefore it will take about THIRTY DAYS for issue of a printed passport, i.e. if everything is found to be in order in respect of the application form, photo, etc., by the authorities in India. In case a reference is to be made to the original Passport Issuing Authority, it might take longer time. Applicants are advised to contact the Embassy 30 days after submitting their application forms to check the status of their new passport.
Documents required for issue of a fresh passport (after the expiry of validity or within one year of final validity)
Issue of a duplicate passport, in case passport was lost, stolen or damaged.
If an Indian national who is legally resident in Austria has either lost, damaged his/her Indian Passport or the passport has been stolen, he/she is required to approach the Embassy of India, Vienna to get a duplicate passport. A duplicate passport, just like a new passport, is valid for travel to all countries and is valid for ten years.
If an Indian national who is on a short visit to Austria and his/her Indian passport is lost, stolen or damaged within the period of validity of his/her Austria/Schengen visa, the individual is required to approach the Embassy immediately for a travel document. Such individuals would be issued a short validity passport as they may not remain in Austria for 30 days, which is the time generally taken for preparing a full validity passport.
In case an individual on a short visit to Austria loses his/her passport wants to depart for India urgently, an Emergency Certificate is issued to him/her which is valid for return to India. Emergency Certificate issued to an Indian national by the Embassy does not validate travel to any other country and is meant for one way travel to India only.
Processing time
Processing time to get a duplicate passport is the same as that for re-issue of passports.
Documents required for issue of a duplicate passport
Addition of spouse name in the passport
Deletion of spouse name from the passport
Issue of passport in case of exhaustion of pages
The practice of issue of additional pages to a passport on exhaustion of passport pages has been discontinued. In the event of expiry of pages in a passport, an individual has to apply for a new passport booklet. The requirements are given below:
Requirements for birth registration and passport for child (newborn) in Austria
Indian nationals please note that children’s names cannot be entered in his/her parents’ passport any more. Please apply for a fresh passport for the child. For a child to be issued an Indian passport, he must be registered with the Embassy, as an Indian national within one year of birth.
Important, Please Note:
If the parents of the child fail to get the registration of the child done at the Embassy and thus not obtain his/her Birth Registration Certificate from the Embassy within the first year of the child’s birth, the process to obtain an Indian Passport and Indian Birth Registration Certificate for the child is subject to a different procedure which is time consuming as it needs to be referred to authorities in India.
Requirements for issue of new passport to children up to 15 year of age- 5 years validity
Surrender of citizenship/passport (cancellation of Indian passport)
·The Indian Citizenship Act, 1955 does not allow dual citizenship. Holding an Indian passport / acquiring an Indian passport / travelling on an Indian passport after acquisition of foreign citizenship constitutes an offence under the Indian Passport Act, 1967, and attracts penalties. Indian nationals, who have already obtained citizenship of another countries must renounce/ surrender their Indian passport immediately after acquisition of foreign citizenship.
·All the persons of India origin, who have acquired foreign nationality on or before 31.05.2010 must surrender their Indian passport. They will be issued 'Surrender Certificate' and cancelled Indian Passport.
·All the persons of India origin, who have acquired foreign nationality on or after 01.06.2010, must surrender their Indian Passport and Renounce Indian citizenship. They need to apply for a Surrender Certificate and Renunciation Certificate. Surrender certificate, cancelled Indian Passport and the Renunciation certificate will be given back to the applicant. Any delay in surrendering Indian passport and its use for travel shall attract penalty charges.
·All the persons of India origin, who are unable to produce Indian passport should apply for a sworn affidavit stating the reasons for not being able to produce the Indian Passport.
·Penalty for misuse of Indian passport shall be imposed if the last held Indian passport expired on or after 1.1.2005 and it is retained beyond three years from the date of acquisition of Foreign Nationality i.e. not surrendered or the person travelled on Indian passport beyond the grace period of three months from the date of acquisition of foreign nationality or the validity of the last held Indian passport was renewed after acquiring foreign nationality.
·The Government of India has prescribed imposition of penalty on a graded scale, depending on the number of trips made on the Indian passport, renewal of Indian passport after acquiring foreign nationality and retention of Indian Passport for more than 3 years after acquiring foreign nationality, for the violation of Passport Rules.
·Please note that date on the Naturalisation Certificate will be treated as date of acquiring foreign nationality and not from the date the Austrian/foreign passport was issued. The date of publication must therefore be mentioned on the Naturalisation Certificate.
Change of name (surname/middle name) following a marriage of Indian women in their passports
Upon marriage, if Indian women citizens wish to change their names (change/addition of surname), they can do so by following a procedure of submitting the following documents with the Embassy:
KINDLY NOTE THAT CHANGE OF NAME AFTER MARRIAGE AS PER THE ABOVE-MENTIONED PROCEDURE IS ALLOWED TO A FEMALE INDIAN APPLICANT ONLY. TO CHANGE THEIR NAMES, INDIAN MALE APPLICANTS IN ALL CASES AND INDIAN FEMALE APPLICANTS IN CASES OTHER THAN MARRIAGE ARE REQUIRED TO FOLLOW THE NORMAL PROCEDURE AS MENTIONED BELOW.
Change of name in the passport (normal procedure)
The applicant (both male and female) should submit:
Change in appearance (Issue of new passport)
If the appearance of an applicant has changed significantly since the issue of his/her last passport, an Indian national can apply for a fresh passport with a recent photograph. The following documents are required to be submitted:
Change of address
If an Indian national wishes to change his/her address in the passport, the following documents are required to be submitted: