How to Renew Indian Passport at Overseas? Does Passport Number changes Upon Renewal?

If your passport has been expired or about to expire and you are living outside India then you can submit your passport renewal application at Overseas itself. Indian High Commission and their affiliate agent accept passport renewal application. Btw, when you submit an application for renewal of your passport then your passport number will change. The new passport will have a new number and you need to update this number to everywhere e.g. bank accounts and other places where you have submitted your passport details.

The charge of passport renewal is somewhere around 65$ to 100$ depending upon whether you are requesting 36-page booklet or 60-page booklet and whether a passport is for minor or adult. The passport renewal process takes around 15 days. 

It's also worth remembering that you need to renew your passport before your expiry date is 6 months away because international travel is not permitted on a passport which has 6 months of validity or which is going to expire in next 6 months

There is a difference between Re-issue and Renewal of a passport. Passports are Re-issued after the expiry of their 10-year validity period. In case you have issued a Short Validity Passport (i.e. a passport with validity of fewer than 10 years), it can be renewed to extend its validity for a period up to 10 years from the date of issue.

The Passport number does not change as the booklet remains the same. Only an entry is made in the passport extending its validity date. In the case of Re-issue of Passport, a new booklet is issued and your Passport number changes. A Passport which has completed its life of 10 years cannot be renewed.

Documents required for Passport Renewal at Overseas

Here are some of the important documents required for renewing passport outside India on an Indian high commission or their affiliate agents:

1. Passport Application Form
You need to submit a passport application which you can download online. Better you fill that form and take with you rather than filling the form there, it can save a lot of time there.

2.  Passport size photo
You need a recent passport size photo with white background, size (35 mm * 45 mm), the photo should not be older than 3 month time.

3. VISA or Green Card
Depending on your country of residence, you need to submit the VISA or Green Card e.g. If you are living in Singapore, Singapore residency copy is required (EP/S Pass/DP/ PR/LTV).

4. Applicant aged 5 and above are required to be physically present for submission of application
 
5.  If passport validity is more than one year, original company letter is required stating the reason for early renewal has to be mentioned.

6. Children who are below 18 years of age should submit the valid passport copy of both parents for the renewal of child passport. It's a  mandatory requirement

Important points to remember while renewing passport

Here are a couple of important things to know and remember while renewing your passport outside India.

1. You must renew your passport before 6 months of the expiry date.

2. You can renew your passport overseas on Indian High Commission and their affiliate/authorized center e.g. BLS India in Singapore.

3. The cost of passport renewal depends upon the booklet size as well. The cost of 36-page booklet is less than 60-page booklet but I suggest you go for 60-page booklet because you have to use that passport for next 10 years and it's worth paying 30$ more than going through the hassle of passport renewal again.

4. You can also add/remove your spouse name while renewing your passport e.g. if you have got an old passport before your marriage then you can add your wife or husband name in your new passport during renewal.

5. The passport renewal process takes around 15 days so plan it better keeping your traveling dates in mind.


6. The new passport will have a new number i.e. your passport number will change when you renew your passport.

7. International travel is not permitted if your passport is going to expire in 6 months, hence you must renew your passport well in advance, I suggest renew it 9 months before expiry to avoid any emergency, especially if you are living in Overseas.


8. Children up to age of 5 years are considered minor and they have issued passport with maximum validity of 5 years.

9. Adults have issued passport with maximum validity of 10 years.

10. If you are overseas when your passport is about to expire you can submit a renewal application on overseas itself. There are a lot of affiliated center from Indian high commission which takes your passport renewal application and submits to the high -commission e.g. BLS India in Singapore help you to renew your passport.

That's all about whether passport number changes or not during the renewal of passport. Yes, it does because you get a new passport. The validity of new passport is also for 10 years for adults and 5 years for children. I hope this information will help you when you are going to renew your passport if you have any question, then please drop a note and I'll try to find an answer for you.