Following procedure to change the name in Indian Passport was shared by Akshay.
Overview of the procedure to change the name in Indian Passport in India
- Change the Name in Gazette
- Newpaper Ads
- Apply for Name Change with Regional Passport Office
- Police Verification
- New Passport Issued
Change the Name in Gazette
Name change procedure is really simple at gazette level.
You fill out the form available at the counter, attach ID & residence proof, pay the requisite fees and it’s done! It takes around 4 weeks to get your info published in the govt. gazette.
Once your changed name is published in the gazette, you need to collect gazette copies from the Govt. press.
Three copies are given for free on showing the receipt, for extra copies you gotta pay Rs. 20/- per copy (as per the rules).
I took 10 copies including free copies, coz you dunno where u will need them in future.
The guy at the press took Rs. 100/- from me instead of 140/
- Rs 100 (India) about USD 2.14
I was so surprised!! Since when Maharashtra Govt started giving discounts?
I asked where shall I get the receipt for the extra copies?
He got angry! He said u got ur copies na? now go!!
Only then I realized he kept all 100/- for himself, and gave me copies illegally as there was huge pile of copies lying nearby!!
How many copies he gave away that way, for so many years who knows?
He had very expensive mobile, I observed!!
Now guys!! I really wanted to complain about him right there, but 2 other staff workers said “just go!”.
I was extremely angry and cursing myself why I didn’t video recorded this episode?
I usually do such things when I hit public offices!)
{Corruption Occasion No.1…I was helpless!!}
News Paper Ad
Anyway, Once Gazette work is done, what you gotta do next is make an affidavit, put advt.s in two newspapers, one local newspaper published in ur mother tongue language and one national daily preferably English newspaper.
Real pain begins from here!!!
Passport scrutiny is now made so tough and stringent u kick yourself in ur a*s every now and then why u changed your name!! basically what has changed is only the formalities have increased but not the vigilance.
Everything is fine until you submit online passport application form & take an appointment.
Passport Office
When you go to passport office to submit the required documents, fees and form, you begin to realize what mischief u have done!!
When my token number announced I went to the designated counter. Read on!
Passport officer (Lady): renewal huh? Ur passport expires in 2013 u have 1 more year!
Me: Mam, applying for a change of name too!!PO: Name change?? Why? Ur name looks nice? It’s a Lord Ganesha’s name!! why u r changing this beautiful name ur parents gave u lovingly?
Me: (Duh!!) Mam! My new name is also given by my parents only, everybody knows me more by nick name rather than my actual name, so decided to change!!PO: is that the only reason u wanna change ur name?
Me: Yes Mam!PO: do u have any criminal cases pending against you or have u been jailed etc?
Me: !!! ( I really lost my cool here!! Man I am decent and very innocent 21 y/o student, thinks 5 times before even killing an ant!!) ( and BTW, It was not her duty to ask or verify my background, it was the police job!)
Me: Not at all mam! All Qs related to this are answered in my application only!! You can check them!PO: (I think she took is as an insult!!) Please wait I will call ur name!!
Me: Ok mam! (she returned me my entire file!)
(Waited for 2 Hrs in that small cubical, interrupted PO 2 times, 1 st she said “I will call u”, me: OK!, 2 nd time: didn’t I say I will call u??Me: ok!! I was so sleepy, I was thinking of leaving the Passport Office and change back to my old name and reapply just for the renewal)
After 2 hrs, Now I almost lost it!! I went to her counter and asked her;
Me: Whats the matter Mam? Why u have kept me hanging while u r clearing other cases? Shall I see the Head Passport Officer?PO: Ok! Show me ur file!
Me: Gave all the documents.
She kept reading everything , gave me 2 stares which made me recall my past to find whether I have any rape cases on my name!!)
After 10 long minutes, she said ok!
I accept your application, visit the local police station after 7 days, pay the fees to the next counter!!
I paid the fees took my receipt, thanked PO profusely and ran away!!
U might think that’s it!!
Negative!!
Visit to Police Station
After 7 days I visited Police Station, only to find my application was not arrived! I said ok! It might take a bit longer so waited for another week, visited Police Station again!!
Guess what!! The lady at passport office literally yelled at me.
Why are you coming everyday? We will inform once the application is reached to us!!
(Wtf??) as per the procedure one has to visit the Police Station and present himself!!
I said I want to meet the DSP, that DSP was out so waited for 1.5 hrs.
When he arrived, I stormed into his office and told him that I applied a fortnight ago and lady saying my app has not arrived yet.
He summoned her, she brought that register, applications of ppl who had applied after me were already there but mine!
Only my application was missing!! DSP asked me to check next week.
I kept on visiting the Police Station every week for next 5 weeks!!
I was so tired to go to police station, once I called the phone No., asked for passport deptt, that lady picked up!
Me: Mam my name is ABC, I just wanna know whether my application has arrived or not!
She screamed at me that we don’t give any info on phone, u come in the evening at 6pm!!
I urged her I am visiting since 5 weeks, just let me know if application is arrived or not!! That’s it!! (it was so easy, inwards register was in front of her, all she needed to do was look into it and reply!!) But she blatantly refused!!
So I visited the PS for 2 more weeks with the same disappointment in return!!
Finally after 9 weeks, my application arrived at the police station!!
Reason for the delay as DSP told me, after the Kasab episode, name change is taken very seriously and CID checks all the records to verify claims of innocence are true!!
Now the Best Part !! the Climax!!
There were 3 people at the passport office all were entitled to do the same duty i.e. attend the applicant, check his entry in the inwards register, fill out the necessary forms of police clearance, and let him go! Just a 5 min procedure all in all!!
Guys it was my birthday on that day!!
I reached at 11:30am there!! The guy took out my application and started talking to his colleagues about whatever was coming to his mind, giving least attention to me!!
40 mins were passed, and no progress!!
He was looking at me, cracking general jokes etc etc. finally after half an hr, he took my form and yelled at me!!
You haven’t filled the witness application!!
I had submitted witnesses already in the original form!!
He told me, after Kasab and Company’s high profile visit to India, we have prepared a new application, 2 witnesses in the same society needs to fill that form and attach their ID docs only then I can get my application proceed!!!
He handed me a poorly readable photo copy of the application, asked me to get him 20 photocopies (for the office stock)
{corruption incident No.2, where I was totally helpless as my work was at stake}.
Within an hour huffing-puffing me got the photocopies, went back to my apartment, got the necessary signs and documents and rushed back to Police Station!! It was 2:30 pm, I had not eaten on my birthday!!
Torture continues guys!!
Once again I found myself sweating with racing heart sitting in front of that guy!!
That guy had a smirk on his face how he made me run for my life!!
He again started passing the time for 30 mins!! At 3:00pm he finally started filling the Police Clearence form!!
A very short form, nothing big to fill in it!!
One clause was, what is the intention for applying the Passport.
I answered “for MS in US”. Now!
He started lecturing me about brain drain etc!!! I kept nodding !!
He was sitting on that clause for 60 min!!! his colleague even interrupted twice to finish my work fast!!
But he kept telling story after story, all time pass!! It was 4:30pm when he went to fill next clause, my DOB!! And it dawned on him it was my birthday!! he proudly told me its his 3 rd time attending a birthday guy for passport application!!
I said “Great Sir!!” (in mind I told myself “if this guy continues teasing me like this for one more Hr I gonna have a murder case on me on my b’day!”
How helpless we find ourself in front of worthless govt. servants!!!)
Now he wanted party from me!! (I was almost about to ask whether he needed bribe to fill out my application, I had decided to pass 500/- or even 1000/- to him to get rid of this nonsense, I wanted to rush home-I was hungry, suffocated, tired!!)
I told him to come to my home, I will give him party!!
Finally he send me out to buy sweets!! ( I wanted to add strong laxative in those Burfees!!) I came back with that box of sweets, he made me give those sweets to all the staff there!! He took the bigger pie!!
I was so exhausted, wanted to call my area Corporator now!! But anyway, he completed that one page form finally at 7 PM!
I asked his permission to leave, he surprised me that I have to wait till DSP signs on it!!
DSP arrived at 8:30pm…I was waiting OUTSIDE the police station for 1.30 hrs standing on my two feet, my head numb & dizzy!! he put my form at top priority for the signature!
That DSP signed my form and at 8:45pm I was free to leave!! I reached my home at 9:30PM straight went to my bed buried myself under the mattress and passed out without any food or drink!! (literally!!!) finally 10 HR long nightmare came to an end!!
Passport arrived after a month, even today when I look at that booklet, I get nightmares like I am denied passport!
*****
YOu have read how to change your name in the passport in India.
It was easy to change the name for a kid, but it took this person 10 months to change the name in Indian passport and other documents in USA.
Do you have similar passport application experience to share?
Its easy to share your experience now. Go here and post your experience to be published in this blog.
Note – Above experience is published with minors edits ( slangs and typo’s).
About Raghuram Sukumar
My name is Dhaninkula Manjula. My birth certificate has the name Danemkula(Spelling mistake) Manjula,i got an affidavit done saying it’s Dhaninkula and not Danemkula.
The problem is that,all my educational docs have my name as D.Manjula.
Now there are two different names Dhaninkula Manjula (Birth certificate) and D.Manjula(Edu Docs).
Appointment for passport is scheduled on 30 april.so i wanted to ask which name should i get on passport? The one the birth certificate has i.e, Dhaninkula Manjula or the one my acad docs has i.e, D.Manjula.
If i get it done as Dhaninkula Manjula and register for GRE then later there might be a problem in application and VISA process because of these two different names.
because of this confusion i have not yet registered for GRE.
Please Tell me what to do.
I have to register for GRE as soon as possible.
I have changed my name and got new passport as my old passport expired. Now my question is the visa in my old passport has my old name so will there be any problem going to India with that visa name and re-entering USA? do I have to go for new visa stamping on the new passport with new name? btw here in my county I didnt require to go to court for advertising in newspaper. They didn’t take any proof and still my Ad was published. Please respond to my query.
if there is just a internal spelling change (like from Sandip to Sandeep) you can just do an affidavit and change it in passport. Its not called change of name its called name correction, you might need some proof to show the right name of yours. When you want to change entire name like “Sanjeev” in the place of “Sandip” its called name change. In such case you do all what i did.
Also, if you want to delete or add some part in your name or surname like lets say your surname is “das” and you want to add “gupta” in it so that it will become Dasgupta or your name is “Sandipkumar” and you want to remove kumar and keep only Sandip, then its called name change. And it needs entire procedure to follow.
I want to correct my surname. It’s very minor change which i need to do. Does it required Change the Name in Gazette and Newspaper Ads.
OK, I know all these bad things and more, that’s why I once wrote the amazingly disputed blog post about why I don’t want to go back to India.
This said, I wonder how many persons reading this blog appreciated that the poor DCP was working until like 9PM.
I leave work at 5:30 everyday and feel like I have worked real long hours when I leave at 6PM.
very bad experience. but was there any strong reason for you to change the name? now you must be having your 10th board certificate, college marksheets, transcripts, degree and in all those documents you will have to change your name also. also universities and embassy become confused that your transcripts are of different name and your passport with different name. add to that if you have applied previously for US visa or travelled abroad on your old passport, more problems will come in future.
There is no need to change the name in any documents nor previous visa name will have any impact in future.
Points i want to stress upon thru this blog post are,
1. As i said they have increased formalities but NOT the vigilance. How? The Newly added form of witness is required to be filled in by two neighbours living in the “same” building. Now, there is a big loophole. One can easily fake it and attach light bill photocopies with it! Since electricity board simply drop piles of bills of a particular society openly, anyone can steal them! Same with the telephone bills. Police NEVER visit for the verification of the identity (due to shortage of personnel, immense load of other law and order related work etc), at least they should call the witness no.s to verify ? They dont do even that! Whats the point in such formality?
Its totally easy to get a mobile connection on fake proof, ditto with almost all indian official documents! And its happening right now everywhere!
2. Corruption! Happens in every govt office, even when i want to stop it, i cant unless i want to sacrifice my valuable time. Its nice to shout against corruption with Anna Hazareji but impossible to curb in reality.
3. I went to muncipal corporation, there i came to know, i can change my name on birth certificate itself! Charge is 5,000/-!. Of course its a bribe and guy will illegally change name in the main register itself & issue a new birth certificate! As per the rules one can never change name on birth certificate!
My actual query was, will change of name harm / lessen the prospects to get F1 visa since many certificates (SSC, birth certificate etc) will carry old name on them? Will visa officer ask me about this? Do i need to submit name change proof (Gazette copy etc) while applying for visa? If there an iota of possibility of lessening the prospects i am planning to retain my old name as still i have sufficient time in hand to proceed.
If name is changes in your passport, you don’t have to worry about F1 visa, since you have different names in certificates.
In DS-160 there will be an option to list all previous used names. You can list your old name there.
And what about during the application process? My SSC certificate will have different name while transcripts will have new name. How to tackle this situation? Do i need to inform the school i am applying that i have changed my name & submit its proof?
There is an article in the blog on same question.
kindly provide the link pls…
Very bad experience to get.But this happens only in India! Thanks for sharing it.Appreciate it and belated Happy Birthday mate
thanks for the wishes, though it was long time back
Hi,
That was your bad luck, i am living in mumbai these days , I just have to append my surname with my name. The procedure was same as you mentioned, But it took only 2 weeks for applying and doing all the formalities including police verification .
PS : I get it done when i went to my hometown chandigarh for 2 weeks over there only.
I would think, last name additions/deletions/modifications are way simpler and have much less criminal risk involved.