US Passport renewal would be a lot easier and convenient during your travel or stay abroad, as the US State Department has proposed a rule change for American citizens outside the country. Currently, the in-person renewal process is a cumbersome experience for US citizens abroad. The proposal aims to make it easier, faster and cheaper to get a new US passport while you are in India, Canada, Europe, or any other part of the world.
US Passport renewals to go online abroad: Key benefits
On August 28, the Federal Register posted the State Department’s proposal – “Passports: Expanding Online Passport Renewal Overseas”. The convenience of online passport renewal would soon extend to Americans living or traveling abroad. The online process would eliminate in-person visits to a US Embassy or Consulate and make it less expensive for American expats. Currently, the ease of getting a new passport online is limited to Americans who are physically present in the US while applying for renewal.
“The proposed rule change to US passport renewals abroad is good for OCI Cardholders when they stay in India for a long time. Many elderly OCI Cardholders from the US retire and stay in India for an indefinite period of time. The online process would enable them to renew their US Passport from India easily,” said Sourav Agarwal, Senior Editor of Travel Beats, the Indian Eagle blog for international travel news, US immigration, air travel guides, and NRI stories.
Current passport renewal process outside USA
Unless the passport renewal process goes online for American expats in foreign countries, the US Embassies and Consulates continue to bar them from making online renewal applications. US Missions repeatedly warn, “Online passport renewal is not for US citizens overseas, and your current US passport would automatically become invalid for travel if the domestic online system is used for renewal abroad.”
Current process to renew US passports in India
Currently, US Passport holders in India can mail in their renewal application or drop it off at the US Embassy in New Delhi, or a Consulate in Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, or Chennai. While in India, they don’t have the privilege of using the domestic Online Passport Renewal (OPR) system which is exclusively for Americans located in the US states and territories.
You can go for the mail-in renewal process via Form DS-82, if you were 16-years-old or older when your US passport was issued within the last 15 years.
- Visit the official state department website and fill out Form DS-82 online
- Print out the completed form. Sign and date it properly.
- Visit the US Government’s Pay.gov portal and pay the adult passport book fee online
- Check your email inbox for payment confirmation and print it
- Put all required documents into the application envelope
- Courier the envelope to the US Embassy in New Delhi or a Consulate
An in-person visit (with prior appointment) to the US Embassy or Consulates in India is mandatory for American citizens to get their first adult passport during renewal outside the US. If the previous passport is damaged, lost, or stolen, the renewal process starts with an in-person appointment in India. The current US passport renewal process abroad takes 4 to 6 weeks.
Sign up to Travel Beats, a leading US-India community portal for everything from transit visa to travel hacks, baggage allowance, transit stopover guides, and upcoming flights to India. Travel Beats is a subsidiary of Indian Eagle, the most trusted air-ticketing partner of NRIs and OCI cardholders for cheapest phone-only deals and international flight tickets to India, USA, UAE, Singapore, Australia, and Canada.
