Your Indian Passport is a valuable document. It should always be either in your own custody or in the custody of a person duly authorized by you. If lost or destroyed, the fact and circumstances should be immediately reported to the nearest Mission and to the local police.

We suggest that you keep photocopy of your Indian Passport in a safe place, separate from the passport. The photocopy should include the pages showing the personal particulars, validity of the passport, date/place of issue as also the stamp of departure from India, entry in foreign country and visa issued by the Foreign Immigration Authorities. Best would be that you take a computer scan of the Passport and e-mail the scanned copy to yourself. This way it will be available to you at all times and at all places.

Your Indian Passport establishes your identity in a foreign country. Hence it is IMPORTANT to have it re-issued before the date of expiry. The passport can be submitted for re-issue up to one year before the date of expiry.

On acquiring Foreign Nationality, the Indian passport should be submitted to the nearest Indian High Commission/Consulate for cancellation. It is returned to the holder after cancellation. Use of Indian Passport for travel to India after acquiring any foreign nationality is an offence and invites penalty. After acquiring Canadian citizenship, you do not remain an Indian citizen and need Indian visa to visit India.

It is an offence under the Passport Act, 1967 to knowingly furnish false information or suppress material information. Passport facilities can be denied on grounds of suppression of factual information, submission of false particulars, willful damage, tampering of official documents or entries or transferring of passport.

A new Passport can be issued one year before final expiry or on final expiry of any Passport issued for full validity of 10 years(5 years in the case of minors). Issue of a Passport requires 3 to 4 weeks of processing time.