General Instructions on Passport & Visa :

1. (a)   Passport is a valuable document. It should be kept renewed/valid at all times irrespective of fact whether any travel is required or not.  It should always be either in the custody of passport holder or in the custody of a person duly authorized by the passport holder. If lost or destroyed, the fact and circumstances should be immediately reported to the nearest Indian Mission and to the local police.

(b)   A photocopy of the passport should be kept in a safe place.  In case of loss of passport, this is required to be submitted alongwith the application for expediting the process for issue of a new passport. 

(c) It is an offense under the Passports Act 1967 to give false information in the Application. Passport facilities can be denied on grounds of suppression of factual information, submission of false particulars, willful damage of passport and for making unauthorized changes in the passports.

(d) Your passport can be impounded or revoked by the Govt. of India under the provisions of the Passports Act 1967 in which event you will have to surrender the passport to the nearest Indian Passport authority.

2. TIMING:    Applications for all passports / consular services (Like issue of new / duplicate passports, renewals and miscellaneous services on passports, legalization / attestation of documents) are accepted ONLY  between 9:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on working days.   Except issuance of New Passports, PIO Card, PCC, J1 Waiver, same day service is rendered for all miscellaneous consular matters if  application is deposited up to 12:30 p.m. No application is received after 12:30 p.m. except in cases of emergencies i.e. death in the family against payment of Emergency Fee (US $35 per service for visa and US $90 for issue of each passport). 

 

3. Mailing Service:   Applicants residing within the jurisdiction of this Consulate may send their application(s)for passport/consular service by mail except for duplicate passport in lieu of lost/damaged passport and expired passport  for more than 1 year, attestation of PoA, Life Certificate. Marriage Certificate(in the form of Affidavit only) & Birth Certificate(in the form of affidavit only) are accepted only in person  & not by mail.

Mailing charges to be included if the applicant wants the documents to be mailed back to him or her after service:-
           Priority mailing: $10.00 (No Tracking Number Provided)
           Express mailing: $20.00
Note: Self addressed envelops if provided by the applicant must have appropriate value of stamps pasted on them.

4.  Mode of Payment: Fee should be paid by Money Order / Bank Draft / Certified check in the name of the Consulate General of India, Chicago.   Cash is accepted only at the counter. Payment through any other mode viz personal checks, credit cards etc. is not accepted at counter as well as through mail.  The current rate of fee for various consular/passport services is applicable as of Monday April 01, 2002

Incomplete/incorrect applications, short of fee/mailing fee or supporting documents, including photo copies of required documents etc will be returned back at applicant’s cost.  Consulate will not repeat not be responsible for loss of documents in mail.

IT IS ILLEGAL TO SEND  OUT YOUR PASSPORT OUT OF THE COUNTRY OF YOUR PRESENCE EITHER  BY POST OR COURIER.

Please tender the exact amount in the form of Money order/Bank Draft/ Certified Check in the name of Consulate General of India or by cash at the counter. Please retain  your receipt for any money paid at the counter and present the same for collection of passports / documents between 3:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on the day of collection.

5. Photo: Passport size coloured photographs (of 3.5 cm X 3.5 cm), against white background,  showing full frontal view of the face are only acceptable for Consular/Passport Services.

6. Extension of validity of current passport:  Validity of the passport can be extended upto 10 years from the date of issue (if the current validity is less than 10 years).  For this "Application Form for Extension of Validity", along with two photographs, photocopies of first five pages of the passport and U.S. visa pages/Green Card should be submitted. If you are holding a short validity passport, If the application is found in order and if no prior reference is required to be made to the original Passport Issuing Authority, the validity of the passport will be extended in the normal course. (GRATIS)

7. APPLICATION FOR CHANGE IN DATE OF BIRTH IS NOT ACCEPTED UNLESS ACCOMPANIED BY A DICTORIAL COURT ORDER ISSUED BY A JUDICIAL OFFICER NOT BELOW THE RANK OF FIRST CLASS MAGISTRATE IN  INDIA. Kindly note that any affidavit, original birth certificate etc. are not sufficient for this purpose.

8. Emergency Services  

Ø      During working days:   Additional amount of $90 is charged for rendering emergency service for passport  and  $35 for other miscellaneous consular & visa services.  This service is available only in cases of genuine emergency such as death or serious illness in the family and cases not falling under prior approval categories. Applications for emergency can be submitted between 9 am to 4 pm on working days.  

Ø      On weekends and Indian National Holidays are rendered to persons of Indian origin only between 11.00 am and 1.00 pm in case of a genuine emergency like death or illness of a blood relation, subject to production of proof and confirmed air ticket. This service is not available for applications already sent by mail or for any other purpose. The applicant may wish to enquire (on phone number given below) from the concerned officer-on-duty about arrangements for such emergency services. The decision of the Officer-on-duty shall be final in the matter. 

                        Contact telephone numbers: 312-595-0413 or 0411 (only during 11 am to 1 pm)

9. Incomplete/Flase Information:  Application forms should be filled in fully , legibly (In capital letters) and accurately and submitted with the passport. Misrepresentation of the facts may result in denial of passport / Consular service. Applications received with incomplete details will remain unprocessed.

10. Refunds: Fee, once paid, is non-refundable even if the application is withdrawn or application rejected for service.

11. Forms:  All forms are available at the Reception Desk as well as on our website  www.indianconsulate.com under the title “Download Forms” on Home Page.

12. Appeal: The Consulate earnestly appeals to the members of the Indian community not to pay more than the prescribed amount of Consular fee to anyone or encourage any middlemen or agents as it spoils the reputation of the community. In any event, public should not make any payment for which receipt is not given by the Consulate. The community should take every precaution against accepting forged/counterfeit travel document from unscrupulous elements.

13 REQUEST: Passport holders are requested to periodically check their passport(s) and make sure that the revalidation/renewal is done within one year before the date of expiry/latest within 6 months from the date of expiry.    Delay in renewal of passport may cause hardships to the applicants.

14. STATUS INQUIRIES:

15. FOR TOURIST INFORMATION ON INDIA: Please write to Govt. of India Tourist Office, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Suite 15, North Mezzanine, New York, N.Y. 10112. Tel. (212) 586-4901. Fax (212) 582-3274.

NOTE: PHOTOCOPYING FACILITY IS NOT AVAILABLE IN CONSULATE’S   PREMISES.

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