Passport Saga V

The Passport Saga is over. I got the passport on 25 Aug. This was after I did not get it on the promised date and had to speak to the RPO on 23 Aug. They said I could collect the passport directly on 25 Aug, which I did.

I can't believe I went through all this for just getting a passport.

The lesson here is actually something I already knew. Know the rules well and follow them from the very start. I should have insisted on the 10+2 certificates remaining in my application and checked the spelling of everything on the acknowledgement slip at Bangalore One. That would have got me the passport one month earlier without the mistakes.

Next lesson, the authorities can, and will, mess up.

Next lesson, the authorities may not have all the information.

Last lesson, exhaust all options. The passport was actually at the RPO for two months in delayed processing while I ran between police stations thinking the police verification wasn't done because the officer had asked me for a bribe.

I'm sure there may be some more lessons, and I hope I will find them if so.

Passport Saga IV

That's right. I still haven't got the passport. At least not the one I had hoped for.

What I did with the mistakes in the passport? On 24 July I had to apply again for reissue in tatkaal (faster service if you pay Rs. 2500). That's not it, I have to stand in line at 4:00 am in the queue with the online application printout and other documents at the new Passport Seva Kendra till 8:00 am for an appointment at 12:00 pm, since they only accept the first 30 applicants each day.

By 7:00 pm I got an acknowledgement form and was informed I should be getting the reissued passport in a week.

I get the passport on 11 Aug. Happy, only to find out that my father's name is corrected, but "Emigration Check Required" still not changed to "Emigration Check Not Required", meaning I cannot go to UAE for purposes other than visit.

Rushing back the same day at 3:00 pm to Passport Seva Kendra, I am assured that Regional Passsport Office, Koramangala, will correct it for me. So the next day I go and secure my spot at 6:00 am outside, to be allowed in at 10:30 am. There, by around 12:00 pm, after filling forms and writing letters I am assured the passport will be ready by 17 Aug.

All this just to get a simple passport with no spouse or child or family or any other complication.

Today it's 21 Aug, I still haven't got it. Ramzan season has started in UAE and I've been informed that I will have to wait to apply for visa till 9 Sept, when it ends.

Getting passport is the last chance India had (I hope) to be rude to me, and they have made the best use of it.

They have shown me clearly what kind of race I "belong" to. I truly understand now.

Indians are Rude

I want to get this off my chest.

Indians are rude.

They treat you based on how you look: fair/dark, rich/poor, young/old.

They have no shame. Period.

In case you are wondering, like an Indian would, if I am an Indian, then no, I am not, I am an NRI. I know how to treat everyone with courtesy and respect no matter the color, financial status, sex, age or race.

I am an NRI, not an Indian.

Again, shame on you Indians.

I hope you have the common sense to realize I am talking about the general Indian population, not every one of the 1 billion individuals. So don't be stupid and point out to me the exceptions.

Update 10/09/2011: Why Are Indians Rude?

Passport Saga III

Got the passport. In complete ecstasy for a few hours. Till I found out that the ECR (Emigration Check Required) stamp on my passport means that I have to either:

1) go to Protector of Emigrants (PoE) in Delhi/Mumbai/Chennai/Trivandrum, an organization well known for its corruption, who will give me a suspension of ECR or an emigration clearance

2) go to Passport Office, Bangalore once again, stand in line at 9:00 AM, give attested copies of my 10+2 certificates and Rs. 300 to get an ECNR (Emigration Check Not Required) stamp, hopefully on the same day

3) go to UAE only for purposes other than employment, show the return ticket to airport officials

And how did I get the ECR stamp in the first place? ECR stamp would not be affixed if I had submitted a copy of my 10+2 certificate in the application. I had submitted the copies and under Document for ECNR had mentioned 10+2/PUC certificate. However the Bangalore One person said the certificate was not needed since my old passport, which was being submitted with the application, already showed that I was ECNR.

An over-smart Bangalore One official who thought he knew everything better than me will cost me more delay and Rs. 300.

And the request to correct my father's name spelling, which I had submitted to the Passport official after all the waiting in line and getting token and such was not done. And that too, a Bangalore One official had misspelled my father's name. True, I had to check if it was correct when they gave the receipt, but they had to copy the spelling from my application correctly as well.

The only thing the Bangalore One people were concerned about was following their own list of documents to be submitted, to be submitted in triplicate!

Because of them I have a misspelled father's name and an ECR stamp on my passport.

Passport Saga II

Turns out the police here did their job on time with their verification report. I had to go and put my application on priority (indirect tatkaal). Otherwise it would have taken me another month and a half to get the passport.

I have been promised the date of 22 July. Everything did go amazingly smoothly on 15 July. One amazing instance in which the tatkaal form counter was about to close at 12:00 pm and I was there exactly as the time turned 12:00 pm. If I was a minute late I would have had to come back next day.

I suspect the long delays are caused by the staff being directed towards the new Passport Seva Project issuing the quick e-passports. They are so very eager to make the new project a success that a 3-month delay over the official 45-day time period for the older applicants is just not an issue.

Anyway, I am glad they pushed forward my application without extra charge.

Passport Saga

I had applied for passport through Bangalore One on 4 May 2010. The passport processing time mentioned on the website http://rpobangalore.gov.in is 45 days.

I knew that India being a third world country, things would be difficult. My strategy was to be accurate and correct in all the documents required to get the passport. In other words, do it in completely the right way. I should think it has worked for me.

But I have not yet got the passport. The only online status message I get is this since the past two months:

Your police verification report has not been received by us yet. You may like to follow up with the concerned police autorities. If you need your passport urgently, you have the option of applying under tatkaal, with a Verification Certificate (Annexure-F).

My inference from this scary-looking message, naturally, is that I need to follow up with the police authorities. 

This I did by calling up the police officer who did my verification. He asks me to go to the passport section of the commissioner's office. When he had done the verification on 12 May 2010, I gave him Rs. 200 at the station, he had demanded Rs. 500. I gave him the money because I was immensely happy at the time that I was getting out of here. After 15 long years, which I do not know how I manged to survive in this country. Back to Sharjah, which is my real home, even if it is only for a short time due to visa rules and what not. On my way out of the station, he threatened me that he will not help me in future.

But soon the reality sunk in that they are not going to give me the passport without putting me through a lot more hell.

I had been told to go to the Police Commissioner's Office, Bangalore. Spent a lot of money getting there. Curious thing there: Give your details to the guy sitting outside before 1:00 pm and come back at 4:00 pm for an answer. Waste your life till then.

I did so. Then he says, get the COP number from the police station where you did the verification. Great. I protested all I could but I had to go back, soaked in the rain to get it from the corrupt officer who did my verification. 20 km away, on my scooter.

The officer argued with me a long time before he gave me the COP number. For what?

By now it was too late anyway. So, the next day I go to the Police Commissioner's Office at 10:00 am and wait till 4:00 pm, as usual. Then I get an answer: Koramangala Office,12/7

What on earth could it mean? The guy didn't have the time or the inclination to be a little more clearer. I ask another applicant nearby who seemed to understand, and he says to go to the Koramangala Passport Office on 12 July 2010 to get your passport. I was happy.

Today it is 13 July 2010, 70 days since I applied for passport. However, the online status still hasn't changed: 

Your police verification report has not been received by us yet. You may like to follow up with the concerned police autorities. If you need your passport urgently, you have the option of applying under tatkaal, with a Verification Certificate (Annexure-F).

Hardships faced by others in getting an Indian passport and the stupendous inhuman corruption they face:

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/randomaccess/entry/passport-office-doesn-t-accept

Instrument of Evolution

What is pleasure, but an instrument of evolution to make you do what it wants?

Wanting or not wanting, which is better?

Of course, not wanting.

Every relationship is based on wanting, on inadequacies.

The higher up the evolutionary ladder, the lesser the wants.