Indian passport renewal and Tatkaal: 2026 fees and timelines

Passport fees from 1 July 2026

The Passports (Amendment) Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 516(E), dated 20 June 2026 and published in the Gazette on 25 June 2026) raised passport fees from 1 July 2026. Many websites still show the older, lower figures. In the table, the Tatkaal fee already includes the normal fee; it is not charged on top.

A 10% discount applies to fresh applications, not re-issues, for children up to 8 and for applicants over 60.

How long it takes

Tatkaal changes the order of things rather than skipping steps. MEA’s instruction booklet says: “Under Tatkaal scheme, no proof of urgency is required and Post police verification shall be done in ALL such cases.” Where no verification is needed before issue, the passport is “dispatched within one working day excluding the date of submission”; where verification follows issue, it is “dispatched on third working day”.

Dispatch is not delivery. Add courier time to your address, and read the charter figures as the normal upper limit rather than a promise about your own file.

Who cannot use Tatkaal

MEA publishes an indicative list of applications that are not eligible for the scheme. In summary, the main groups are below. The list is indicative, so check the current version on Passport Seva, and if you fall into one of these groups, plan around the normal timeline and apply well before your visa window opens.

• Re-issue after a passport was lost or stolen, or damaged beyond recognition.
• A change of name, date or place of birth, or of a parent’s or spouse’s name.
• A change of appearance or signature.
• A present address outside the jurisdiction of the Regional Passport Office.
• Applicants of Jammu and Kashmir or Naga origin.
• Minors applying with Annexure C.
• Cases with an adverse police report.

Renew first, then apply for the visa

Visas and electronic permissions are tied to a passport number, and a renewal changes it. The safe order is passport first, visa second. Applying on a passport you are about to replace only creates work: Canada asks you to “Submit the same passport you used in your application”, and Singapore no longer transfers visas to new passports.

If you already hold a UK eVisa, update your UKVI account with the new passport before you travel. An older UK visa sticker in the old passport stays valid until it expires. For any other visa left in an old passport, ask the issuing country how it wants you to travel.

Do not discard the old passport. Several checklists read your travel history from it: Japan asks for old passports, the UK for “copies of previous passports showing evidence of travel to other countries”, and the EU list for earlier Schengen visas.

Fitting a renewal around visa dates

Work backwards from the trip. Schengen applications are accepted no earlier than six months and no later than 15 calendar days before travel, and the UK takes visitor applications up to three months ahead. Have the new passport in hand before you book the appointment, because the application records its details.

A normal re-issue without prior police verification is up to 7 working days under the charter, plus courier time. If verification comes first, or Tatkaal is closed to you, allow considerably longer. Tatkaal is up to 3 working days for eligible applicants and, for a 36-page passport, costs twice the normal fee.

Your flight reservation and hotel booking need no passport number, only the names exactly as printed in the passport. If the renewal changes how a name is spelled, use the new spelling on every booking, and order the reservation for the day you submit, once the new passport has arrived.

Common mistakes

• Budgeting from an outdated website that still shows the fees in force before 1 July 2026.
• Booking a visa appointment before the new passport arrives.
• Counting on Tatkaal when a name change or an address outside the passport office’s jurisdiction rules it out.
• Throwing away the old passport, with its visas and travel history.
• Forgetting to add the new passport to a UK eVisa account.
• Spelling a name on a booking differently from the new passport.

Questions people ask