Tatkal costs INR 2,500 more than a normal application, requires any three of thirteen listed documents instead of the verification certificate that was abolished in 2019, and does not skip police verification: it moves it to after your passport is issued. For the commonest case, a 36-page adult passport, the total is INR 5,000 (Passport Seva, Tatkaal FAQs, accessed 2026-08-27). The government spells the scheme “Tatkaal”; most people search for “tatkal”, and they are the same thing.
This guide is maintained by Zurich Kotak General Insurance, an IRDAI-registered general insurer in India and part of the Zurich Insurance Group.
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Last verified: 2026-08-27.
The official route
Apply on the Passport Seva portal at passportindia.gov.in . Tatkal is an option inside the ordinary application, not a separate form or a separate office.
The scheme page is at passportindia.gov.in/psp/TatkaalPassports , with the eligibility and undertaking forms linked from it as official PDFs. Type the domain rather than following an advertisement. The Government of India states that it “has not authorised any intermediary/representative” to arrange urgent appointments.
What Tatkal actually buys
Tatkal changes three things about your application, and none of them is a promise about a date.
What changes | Detail |
Police verification | Moves from before issue to after it: “police verification will be done after the issuance of Passport” |
Printing | Tatkal applications sit in a separate print queue |
Appointments | A separate Tatkal quota opens at a fixed time each day, differing by Passport Office |
Source: Passport Seva, accessed 2026-08-27.
Tatkal is not a hardship scheme: “no proof of urgency is required” (Instruction Booklet V3.0, accessed 2026-08-27). Nor does it avoid a police check; verification still happens, after you have the booklet.
What it costs
Tatkal adds a flat INR 2,500 to the application fee, and you pay the whole amount online before you can book.
Passport | Application fee | Tatkal fee | Total |
36 pages, applicant 18 or above, 10-year validity | INR 2,500 | INR 2,500 | INR 5,000 |
60 pages, applicant 18 or above, 10-year validity | INR 3,500 | INR 2,500 | INR 6,000 |
36 pages, minor below 18 | INR 1,750 | INR 2,500 | INR 4,250 |
These figures come from G.S.R. 516(E) dated 20 June 2026, the Passports (Amendment) Rules, 2026, in force from 1 July 2026. The full schedule, including replacements, the Police Clearance Certificate and fees abroad, is on passport fees in India .
One quirk: the Tatkal fee attaches to your application, not your slot. Book the normal quota because no Tatkal slot was free, and you still pay it.
There is no Tatkal verification certificate, and it is not Annexure F
You do not need a verification certificate from a gazetted officer for a Tatkal passport. That requirement was removed by G.S.R. 939(E) dated 16 December 2019 and replaced with a documents rule.
The portal puts it as a direct question and answer:
“Is a Verification Certificate required from a Gazetted Officer to get a Passport under the Tatkaal Scheme?” “No. A Verification Certificate is not required from a Gazetted Officer to get a Passport under the Tatkaal Scheme.”
Source: Passport Seva, Tatkaal FAQs, accessed 2026-08-27.
This matters because most published Tatkal guidance still describes that certificate as a live requirement, and much of it names the wrong form too. The abolished certificate still sits on the passport website as AnnexureB.pdf, headed “Specimen Verification Certificate (for passport under Tatkaal only)”, linked from no page of the current portal. Older coverage calls it Annexure F, because F was its letter before the December 2016 re-lettering.
Under the lettering in force today, Annexure F is the declaration for a lost or damaged passport and has nothing to do with Tatkal. So “bring Annexure F for a Tatkal application” is wrong twice over: the requirement is gone, and the letter now points at a different form.
What Tatkal requires instead
Along with the ordinary proofs of address, date of birth and Non-ECR eligibility, an applicant aged 18 or above submits any three of the thirteen documents below, and an applicant below 18 any two from the first six.
# | Acceptable document |
1 | PVC Aadhaar card, the complete original Aadhaar letter, or e-Aadhaar carrying the UIDAI digital signature verified mark. Cut-out Aadhaar cards and non-UIDAI smart cards are not accepted |
2 | Permanent Account Number (PAN) card |
3 | Student photo identity card from a recognised educational institution |
4 | Birth certificate under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 |
5 | Ration card, latest or updated |
6 | Last passport issued, for re-issue cases only |
7 | Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) |
8 | Driving licence, valid and within the state where you are applying |
9 | Bank, Kisan or Post Office passbook, photograph attested and latest transaction updated |
10 | Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or OBC certificate |
11 | Arms licence under the Arms Act, 1959 |
12 | Pension documents: an ex-serviceman’s pension book or payment order, a widow or dependent certificate, or an old age pension order |
13 | Service photo identity card from a state or central government, a PSU, a local body or a public limited company |
Source: Passport Seva, Tatkaal Passports, accessed 2026-08-27.
You must also sign the Undertaking for Tatkaal Scheme and carry it to the appointment (Undertaking for Tatkaal Scheme, accessed 2026-08-27).
Take the count seriously. If documents are missing or not in order, the portal says the application “will be kept on hold for want of requisite Tatkaal documents”, and one left on hold beyond 90 days, despite a reminder, is closed automatically. For the underlying address, date of birth and Non-ECR proofs, see documents required for an Indian passport .
Who cannot use Tatkal
Tatkal is closed to a long list of categories, and the exclusions catch exactly the urgent cases people assume it exists for, including a lost passport.
Stage | Cases where Tatkal is not available |
Fresh applications | Citizens of India by registration or naturalisation; children adopted by Indian or foreign parents; a child born out of wedlock with a single parent; children born out of surrogacy; minors with a single parent |
Re-issue | Lost or stolen passports; short validity passports; a passport damaged beyond recognition; change of sex, appearance or signature; change or correction of date or place of birth; change of father’s, mother’s or spouse’s name; any major change of name, though a minor spelling correction is allowed |
Either | Present address outside the Regional Passport Office’s jurisdiction; a minor’s application requiring Annexure C, for example where the parents are divorced or separated; applicants repatriated from abroad at government cost; applicants deported to India or who travelled on an Emergency Certificate; persons of Naga origin, including minors, and those living outside Nagaland; persons of Jammu and Kashmir origin, including minors; applicants attracting section 6(2)(e) or 6(2)(f) of the Passports Act (criminal court cases); applicants with an adverse police report, on a watch list, habitual passport losers, or who have travelled on a forged or fake passport |
Sources: Passport Seva, Tatkaal Passports and Categories not eligible for the Tatkaal Scheme, accessed 2026-08-27. Both note the list is indicative and may change, and the portal adds that “the final authority of the issuance of Passport under the Tatkaal scheme lies with the Passport Office”.
Two location restrictions rarely get published: Tatkal is not available at a Post Office Passport Seva Kendra, so it means a full Passport Seva Kendra, and it is not accepted at Passport Seva Camps either.
The damaged-passport case is worth reading twice. If the passport number and name are legible and the photograph is intact, you can re-issue under Tatkal. Damaged beyond recognition, you cannot.
The timeline: what is promised, and what is realistic
The government’s formal commitment for Tatkal is up to three working days, and it carries two exclusions that decide whether you actually make your flight.
Source | What it says | What it excludes |
MEA Citizen’s Charter, the formal service standard | Up to 3 working days | The police verification period is excluded, and all timelines run only “from the date of receipt of complete documentation and subject to satisfaction of PIA and the requisite clearances/ verifications” |
Passport Seva Tatkaal FAQ | Once the status reads “Granted”, dispatch is expected on the third working day excluding the date of submission, without waiting for the police report | Assumes the application was granted and every document was in order on the day |
Passport Seva Tatkaal FAQ, the “1-3 days” line | “The print queue is also separate thus ensuring faster print of Tatkaal Passports i.e. a Tatkaal Passport would be dispatched within 1-3 days of applicant visiting PSK as against a Normal application which would take longer” | It is a comparison against a Normal application, not a service standard, and it stops at dispatch. Where it and the third-working-day figure differ, plan on the third working day, because that is the one the same portal states as the dispatch expectation |
Instruction Booklet V3.0 dispatch table | First working day where police verification is not required, third working day where post-verification applies | Tatkal is always post-verification, so the third working day is the one that applies |
Sources: MEA Citizen’s Charter, Passport Seva Tatkaal FAQs and Instruction Booklet V3.0, all accessed 2026-08-27.
Read the exclusions, not the headline. Three working days is the outer bound of processing once the Passport Office has complete documentation, and it stops at dispatch. Delivery sits outside every figure in that table, and so does anything that puts your file on hold. Plan on this: a clean Tatkal application is normally dispatched on the third working day after submission, and a document you could not produce at the counter resets the clock.
Police verification is re-sequenced by Tatkal, not cancelled. Which mode applies is set by your case, not your preference: see pre-police verification versus post . For how long the verification stage runs, see how long a passport takes after police verification .
How to apply under Tatkal
Confirm you are eligible before you pay, because the fee is not refundable and cannot be moved to another application.
Have ready: proof of address, proof of date of birth, proof of Non-ECR eligibility if claiming it, and any three of the documents above (two of the first six if below 18), each in original with a self-attested photocopy.
Then:
1. Check the official list of ineligible categories, and confirm your present address falls within the Regional Passport Office’s jurisdiction.
2. Register on the Passport Seva portal and fill the ordinary application form, selecting Tatkal.
3. Print and sign the Undertaking for Tatkaal Scheme to carry with you.
4. Pay the entire fee online, application fee plus Tatkal supplement. Payment comes before booking.
5. Book the appointment. Tatkal slots open at a fixed time each day that differs by Passport Office, and the official table lists it for all 37. If none is free, book the normal quota; the fee still applies.
6. Attend the Passport Seva Kendra with every document in original plus a self-attested photocopy, and the signed undertaking. No photograph is needed at a PSK.
7. If granted, expect dispatch on the third working day excluding the day of submission. Police verification follows after issue.
You get one reschedule of a Tatkal appointment, in force since 1 April 2023, against two for a normal application.
Common mistakes
Most Tatkal mistakes come from following guidance that was accurate before December 2019.
Mistake | What happens | The correct position |
Getting a verification certificate signed by a gazetted officer | Effort spent on a form nobody accepts | Abolished by G.S.R. 939(E) dated 16 December 2019 |
Bringing Annexure F | Wrong form, for a requirement that no longer exists | Annexure F is the lost or damaged passport declaration. Bring three of the thirteen documents instead |
Booking a POPSK appointment | The appointment is unusable | Tatkal runs at Passport Seva Kendras only, not POPSKs and not camps |
Applying under Tatkal for a lost or stolen passport | Not accepted under the scheme | Lost and stolen cases are excluded outright, as are passports damaged beyond recognition |
Assuming Tatkal skips police verification | A surprise weeks later | Verification happens after issue, not instead of it |
Applying normally, then trying to upgrade | Generally refused | “Generally, change from Normal to Tatkaal is not allowed. However, you may visit Passport Office concerned with proof of urgency” |
Turning up with two of the thirteen documents | The file goes on hold, and closes after 90 days if it stays there | Three for an adult, two of the first six for a minor, all in original |
Reading the portal’s own “1-3 days” as a delivery date | A missed flight | The portal does publish that range, but as a contrast with a Normal application and measured to dispatch, not to your doorstep. The dispatch expectation is the third working day, and delivery sits outside both figures |
Where this sits in the journey
Tatkal is the paid alternative at the fee step, not a different process. Everything either side of it is the ordinary passport journey.
· Documents required for an Indian passport covers the address, date of birth and Non-ECR proofs Tatkal needs on top of its own three.
· Passport fees in India has the complete schedule, the refund rules and the payment modes.
· Pre-police verification versus post explains the change Tatkal actually makes to your file.
If you are applying under Tatkal, a trip is usually already booked and largely paid for, which is the point at which travel insurance is worth sorting out.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Tatkal passport fee in 2026? Tatkal adds a flat INR 2,500 to the application fee, so a 36-page passport for an applicant aged 18 or above costs INR 5,000 in total, a 60-page passport INR 6,000, and a passport for a minor below 18 INR 4,250. These fees have applied since 1 July 2026.
Do I need a verification certificate from a gazetted officer for a Tatkal passport? No. That requirement was removed by G.S.R. 939(E) dated 16 December 2019 and replaced by a rule that an applicant aged 18 or above submits any three of thirteen listed documents, and an applicant below 18 submits any two of the first six.
How long does a Tatkal passport take? The MEA Citizen’s Charter commits to up to 3 working days, and the Passport Seva portal says that once an application is granted, dispatch is expected on the third working day excluding the date of submission. Both figures exclude the police verification period, run only from the date the Passport Office has complete documentation, and stop at dispatch rather than delivery.
Which documents are required for a Tatkal passport? Along with the ordinary proofs of address, date of birth and Non-ECR eligibility, an applicant aged 18 or above submits any three of the thirteen documents on the official List of Acceptable Documents, and an applicant below 18 any two of the first six. You must also sign the Undertaking for Tatkaal Scheme and carry it to the appointment.
Can I apply under Tatkal for a lost passport? No. Lost and stolen cases are excluded from the Tatkal scheme, as are passports damaged beyond recognition. A passport that is damaged but still has a legible number, a legible name and an intact photograph can be re-issued under Tatkal.
Is police verification done for a Tatkal passport? Yes, but after the passport is issued rather than before. The Passport Seva portal states that police verification is not done before issuance under the Tatkaal scheme, and is done on a post police verification basis instead.
