Police Station For Passport

• Once you have submitted the application form and completed the personal interview, your details are sent to the police station nearest to you, for verification.
• An officer from the police station will come to the residential address mentioned on your application form to verify your residence.
• He may also ask for other documents like your date of birth proof and identity proof to verify.
• He may ask a few questions to your family members and neighbours to establish some details you have mentioned in your application form.
• Once he is satisfied with all the information, he approves your application form and informs the respective passport officer.
• Upon successful police verification, your passport is granted and sent for printing.

Now, there are 3 kinds application process for a passport; 

• No PV - No police verification needed
• Post PV – Post Police Verification 
• Pre PV – Pre Police Verification

No Police Verification: As per latest regulations, in the case of renewal/reissue of a passport, police verification (PV) is not required if the application for a passport is submitted before the expiry of the passport or within three years of the expiry of the passport, given that the system shows consistent PV and no adverse effects are found. PV is also not needed for government workers if a No Objection Certificate (NOC) is required and other documents, such as proof of stay, are given along with the application.

For Instance, employees of the government/PSU/statutory body who apply for a passport by submitting a document known as an 'identity certificate' through annex 'B' (in addition to their application documents) will obtain their passport without any police verification requirement.

Diplomatic or official passport applicants would also not need police verification at the time of application for an ordinary passport, given that they apply a certificate of identification by means of Annex 'B.'

Post Police Verification – In this case, police verification after issuance of the passport is done if the application for reissue of the passport is submitted within three years of the expiry of the passport, but the PV column in the system is either blank or incomplete; Secondly, the application is submitted for reissue after 18 years of age for a minor; and lastly, for lost/completely damaged passports, where the details and photographs are in the system.

Pre Police Verification – This is the most common case. Police verification before the granting of a passport is the most common form of passport application. It is done even for Tatkal passports.

Pre-Police Verification using your Aadhaar Number

To encourage a more streamlined verification process, upon furnishing certain documents, the MEA has allowed post-police verification for passport applications. This facility can be used by applicants who submit their Aadhaar, Voter ID card or PAN card along with an affidavit (Annex E). This facility would not extend to candidates who have criminal charges against them. As soon as the Aadhaar is authenticated, applicants who submit their Aadhaar as document proof will have their passport released, provided that all other documentation submitted is up to satisfaction.

Police Clearance Certificate on the Passport Seva Portal

Though a police verification is done when you apply for a passport, the applicant can also request the Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) separately.

In the event that an applicant has applied for permanent residency status, jobs or long-term visa or deportation, they can apply for a Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) issued to Indian passport holders. For people going abroad on a tourist visa, the PCC is not applicable.

A PCC is usually applied for by skilled or unskilled workers emigrating to ECR countries for employment.

Documents required by Skilled/Semi-Skilled Workers to apply for Police Clearance Certificate

• Old passport in original with self-attested photocopy of its first two and last two pages including ECR/Non-ECR page and page of observation (if any).
• Proof of Present Address (in case of change of address)
• Self-attested copy of Employment Contract with foreign employer.
• Copy of Valid visa (in case visa is already obtained) along with Official English translation if the visa is not in English.

How to check the Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) Application Status?

Once you have applied for the PCC, you can check the application status online on the Passport Seva Portal:

1. Visit Passport Seva Portal 

2. Click on the “Track Application Status” link on the left side of the page

3. Select the Application Type as ‘PCC’

4. Enter the 13-digit File Number and Date of Birth of the applicant

5. Click on the “Track Status” button

6. The Status Tracker screen is displayed and the latest status of your Passport Application is shown here.

Different Police Verification Statuses

Once the police verification is done, they stamp a status on your application file indicating the verification results. Police verification results are of three types:

Clear - This classification means that no cause for worry was found by the police and that the claimant has a clean record (no court charges against him/her pending).

Adverse - The status means that the police have noticed contradictions in the documents provided by the claimant in the process of their verification, resulting in the withholding or cancellation of the passport. These inconsistencies may be attributable to an inaccurate or misleading address being given by the claimant in its submission. Another trigger may be felony charges pending before a court of law that have been brought against that claimant.

Incomplete - This status means that the police have considered the requested documents to be insufficient during the verification process, stalling the process halfway. Another explanation may be that the police station did not properly fill in the verification report. In such situations where the applicant has not been a resident of his/her current place of residence for a long period of time and authentication from past addresses has not been available, owing to a lack of appropriate records, the police have been able to mark the verification as incomplete.

A report is drawn up after the police verification is done and the passport may be cancelled or accepted on this basis. The applicant is encouraged to contact the police station which released the verification report to get better clarification. They can get the correct reason for the police report as to why a passport was marked with an 'Adverse' or 'Incomplete' remark and the passport was not sanctioned because of that.

What is the time frame for the completion of Police Verification?

As mentioned earlier, police verification is of different types and the time frame also differs based on that.

Police Verification on Passport Application FAQs