My Indian passport is expiring soon, so I filled in the application form online and took the print-out to the VFS centre in London, as required. As my address, I gave my UK address on the application form, which is also printed in my current Indian passport (the one that is about to expire).
However, at the VFS centre, the guy gave me an additional form to fill in, which asked for my permanent address, as well as names and addresses of two References "in the applican't locality who can vouch for the applicant." The VFS guy told me all these 3 addresses must be in India!
I told him I do not have an address in India! The last time I renewed my Indian passport (10 years ago), no Indian address was asked for and the Indian High Commission in London happily accepted my UK address as the permanent address (which is why it is printed in my current passport). But he had none of this argument and asked me to come back with the Indian addresses filled in.
Has anyone faced a similar situation recently? Was the VFS guy correct? Or did he simply not understand the fact that there are many Indian citizens living abroad since decades, who may no longer have a house in India.
Does anyone have more authentic information about this please?
