PCC Name Mismatch in Uttarakhand: Police Clearance Certificate and the Passport

The first four rows are from the passport office's published note on the police clearance certificate. The last two are from guides.

The list has separate requirements for workers going to certain countries for employment, with and without a recruiting agent. If that is your case, read the passport office's list itself.

The second is the one where our work can come in. A person who changed a name without publishing it has no paper to show how the old name became the new.

Step 1: Read what the foreign authority has asked for

A certificate for which country, in which name, and covering which earlier names.

Step 2: Open your passport, and compare it with your foreign application

The certificate will follow the passport. The foreign form should too.

Step 3: If the passport is wrong or out of date, re-issue it first

A certificate taken on it will repeat the fault.

Step 4: Check that your present address has proof

The passport office asks for it where the address has changed.

Step 5: Apply for the certificate on the passport office's portal

With the passport, and proof of what you have applied for abroad.

Step 6: Answer every question about earlier names truthfully

To the passport office, to the police, and on the foreign form.

Step 7: Read the certificate the day you receive it

Name, passport number and the country named.

Step 8: Send it with the paper that links any earlier name

A marriage certificate or a Gazette notification, as the foreign authority asks.

• Foreign immigration forms commonly ask for every name a person has used: at birth, before marriage, and any other.
• Answer in full. An earlier name left out can be treated as a false statement.
• We could not confirm that an Indian police clearance certificate lists earlier names.
• So the link is made by another paper: a marriage certificate for a maiden name, a Gazette notification for a name changed by choice.
• Tell the police the earlier name too, if you are asked during the enquiry. A record, if any, would be in the name used at the time.
• Ask the foreign authority what it accepts to show the link, and send exactly that.

Read police verification and character certificate, on disclosing an earlier name, and name change after marriage.

• Read the certificate the day it is issued: the name, the passport number and the country.
• Where the passport is right and the certificate differs, go back to the passport office that issued it.
• Where the certificate has faithfully copied a slip in the passport, the passport is what needs correcting.
• A wrong country named on it makes it useless for the purpose. Type the country with care in the application.
• Do not alter a certificate by hand, and do not let anyone else.
• Keep a scan. Foreign applications are mostly made online.

We could not confirm how the passport office corrects a slip on a certificate. Ask at the counter, or its helpline.

Step 1: Confirm that your own name has in fact changed

A certificate that follows a correct passport needs no Gazette.

Step 2: Do it before any foreign application

A name changed in the middle of an immigration file has to be explained at every later stage.

Step 3: Fix the exact new name

As it will stand in the passport's two boxes.

Step 4: Make the affidavit and publish the newspaper notice

Sign before a notary. Publish in a daily local leading newspaper, and keep the original newspaper.

Step 5: Type the form and sign the undertaking

Two typed copies of the specimen, signed in your old name with two witnesses, and the undertaking.

Step 6: Prepare the CD, photographs and certificate

The same text on a CD in MS Word, two self-attested photographs with identity proof, and a certificate that both copies match.

Step 7: Pay the charge on BharatKosh

Commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult. It is not refunded.

Step 8: Send the file yourself, then the passport, then the certificate

Send it to the Controller of Publications, Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054. Keep the notice. Foreign forms ask for proof of earlier names.

See gazette name change in Uttarakhand.

A typical case we handle: a man in Rudrapur had gone by "Sunny Singh" until his twenties, and all his school papers said so. He later took "Sandeep Singh" on Aadhaar and his passport, on an affidavit, and never published it. His immigration form abroad asked for all names used, with proof of any change. His police clearance certificate followed his passport and said "Sandeep Singh". He had nothing to show how Sunny became Sandeep. The change was published in the Gazette of India, and he sent the notice with his certificate and school papers. This is an illustrative example of the type of case we handle, not a named client review.

When you do not need us

For obtaining the certificate, a maiden name, a renewed passport and a slip. The passport office and a marriage certificate settle those. We are useful where a name was changed by choice and never published, and a foreign office asks for proof of the change.

In which name is a police clearance certificate issued?

It follows the passport.

Who issues a police clearance certificate in India?

The passport office.

Is a PCC issued for a tourist visa?

No, as the passport office says.

Does a PCC show a maiden name?

We could not confirm that. Send the marriage certificate.

Is a gazette needed for a PCC name mismatch?

Only where a name was changed by choice.

Is a PCC the same as a character certificate?

No. They are different papers.

What is the fee for a police clearance certificate?

Guides put it at Rs 500, paid online when the application is made on the Passport Seva portal. Check the portal for the current fee before paying.

How long does a PCC take in India?

Guides say about 21 to 30 days in many cases, because the passport office waits for the local police report before issuing it. Settle the passport's name first, so the certificate is not taken twice.

Where do I go to apply for a PCC?

Apply and pay on the Passport Seva portal, then book an appointment at a Passport Seva Kendra, a Post Office Passport Seva Kendra or the Regional Passport Office, and attend with the original passport.

Why does a PCC wait for the police?

The certificate is issued only after the passport office receives a clearance report from the local police for your address. Guides say the report is commonly uploaded in seven to ten days after the police send it.

How do I check my PCC status?

On the Passport Seva portal, using the file number from your application. Read the name and passport number on the certificate the day it is issued.

Where do foreign nationals living in India get a PCC?

Not from the passport office. Guides say from the district police or the Foreigners Regional Registration Office. The passport office's certificate is for Indian passport holders.