We decided to apply for Sofia's passport in October 2010.
I wanted to have our Pune address on the passport, so we went to ICICI Bank to make my Pune account a joint account with hers. I could then submit our joint bank statement as her address proof. (Getting that done was an experience in itself. Private banks, for all their polish, can be just as bureaucratic and frustrating as our govt. offices are famed to be.) We tried getting Sofia's name transferred from her parents' Ration Card to mine, but the Hyderabad PDS office told us that there could be no transfers for the next 6 months for reasons that were perhaps state secrets and unknown to them. We tried getting our marriage registered in the Haj House office in Hyderabad, but they said that my Arabic certificate had my name as Murtuza Bhai and my legal name was Murtuza. Sorry pal, better luck next time. Your wife seems to be married to some one else!!! Finally we had to make an affidavit to prove our marriage.
After we finally managed to collect all documents, our agent submitted it. Btw, most of these guys in turn contact the top guys and collect their fees for no effort. It might make sense to look up the top guys' names from the passport website (yes they are listed) and directly go to them. The agent did tell us that our police station had a strict officer and a regular (bribe taking) one. There was nothing more we could do but pray ;-)
We waited patiently for the police guy to show up at our house for the verification. This was going to be tricky to manage as we were living in Hyderabad and had applied at our Pune address. There would have to be a mad rush at short notice. Meanwhile Sofia got a coveted job offer in the first week of December. As luck would have it, we got a call from Mom that the police guy had left his mobile number at our door and wanted Sofia to visit the police station for verification in the next couple of days. Decisions decisions... join work or travel to Pune?? Dream job or Passport??
So finally Sofia did join work and got leaves after 10 days and we went to Pune. When we showed up at the police station, the police guys could not find the file... Finally they realized they had sent it back to the passport office as Rejected since Sofia did not turn up in time. Bah!!! What a disappointment !! They sat on the file for a month and now they sent it back because we were a week late. In the end of December we got a letter from the passport office, which said we would have to reapply for verification within a month or our application file would be closed. No passport after all...
(to be continued...)
I wanted to have our Pune address on the passport, so we went to ICICI Bank to make my Pune account a joint account with hers. I could then submit our joint bank statement as her address proof. (Getting that done was an experience in itself. Private banks, for all their polish, can be just as bureaucratic and frustrating as our govt. offices are famed to be.) We tried getting Sofia's name transferred from her parents' Ration Card to mine, but the Hyderabad PDS office told us that there could be no transfers for the next 6 months for reasons that were perhaps state secrets and unknown to them. We tried getting our marriage registered in the Haj House office in Hyderabad, but they said that my Arabic certificate had my name as Murtuza Bhai and my legal name was Murtuza. Sorry pal, better luck next time. Your wife seems to be married to some one else!!! Finally we had to make an affidavit to prove our marriage.
After we finally managed to collect all documents, our agent submitted it. Btw, most of these guys in turn contact the top guys and collect their fees for no effort. It might make sense to look up the top guys' names from the passport website (yes they are listed) and directly go to them. The agent did tell us that our police station had a strict officer and a regular (bribe taking) one. There was nothing more we could do but pray ;-)
We waited patiently for the police guy to show up at our house for the verification. This was going to be tricky to manage as we were living in Hyderabad and had applied at our Pune address. There would have to be a mad rush at short notice. Meanwhile Sofia got a coveted job offer in the first week of December. As luck would have it, we got a call from Mom that the police guy had left his mobile number at our door and wanted Sofia to visit the police station for verification in the next couple of days. Decisions decisions... join work or travel to Pune?? Dream job or Passport??
So finally Sofia did join work and got leaves after 10 days and we went to Pune. When we showed up at the police station, the police guys could not find the file... Finally they realized they had sent it back to the passport office as Rejected since Sofia did not turn up in time. Bah!!! What a disappointment !! They sat on the file for a month and now they sent it back because we were a week late. In the end of December we got a letter from the passport office, which said we would have to reapply for verification within a month or our application file would be closed. No passport after all...
(to be continued...)
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