Updated on: April 24, 2025 | Article No: 304 | By: @rprasanth_kumar
If you’re an Indian national residing in France and need to apply, renew or re-issue your passport, navigating the process can feel overwhelming. Whether your passport is expiring, has insufficient pages, or has been lost or damaged, understanding the correct procedures, required documents, and associated fees is crucial.
This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know about Indian passport application and renewal in France, including eligibility criteria, required documents, fees, VFS Centre locations, and processing times.
Indian passports are typically issued with a validity of 10 years (5 years for children up to the age of 15). Re-issuance involves obtaining a new passport when changes are needed or pages are exhausted. A new passport may be issued under the following conditions:
- Insufficient pages in the current passport.
- Lost or damaged passport.
- Expired passport with expired or valid visa/récépissé/resident card.
- Changes in personal information, such as: spouse name addition/deletion, name change (e.g., marriage, divorce, death of spouse), address or signature changes and appearance changes.
Indian Passport renewal applications can be submitted within 1 year from the expiry date. It cannot be done earlier.
Checklist of Documents for Indian Passport Application
General Documents
- Online form duly filled and signed. Ensure you select the correct mission (Paris) and passport service type, fill in all details without errors, and print and sign the form.
- One Photograph as per Indian standards. If required, there is a photobooth at VFS Paris and it will cost €10.
- Original Indian passport along with self-attested copies of first and last pages (in case of lost passport the copy or at least the passport number should be provided). Original Passport will be retained by VFS and returned along with the new Passport.
- Self-attested photocopy of your valid French Visa / Titre de Séjour/ Récépissé. Original must be presented for verification.
- Photocopy of one of the following to prove your address in France in the name of applicant or his/her spouse: Electricity bill/ Gas bill / Landline / Mobile/ Water bill, Rent receipt (Printed version only) or Bank statement (Relevé de compte). Please note that the document should not be more than 6 months old.
- Annexure ‘A’ (For those applicants who have criminal proceedings pending against them and whose applications would attract the provisions of clause (f) of sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the Passports Act, 1967.
- Undertaking to be filled by all applicants when submitting any application.
- VFS Declaration form to be printed and signed.
Additional Documents for Minors
- Photocopies of parent(s) Passport(s).
- Photocopy of DCEM (child’s resident permit) attested by Parent(s). Some additional information is available at Childbirth: Personal Experience of having a baby in France.
- Copy of the marriage certificate of the parents (or Annexure C if child is born out of wedlock or other parent’s whereabouts is unknown).
- Declaration Minor form.
- At time of submission of application if:
- Both parents are in France and one parent is present to deposit the application: Annexure ‘H’.
- Single parent with no authorization from other parent: Annexure ‘G’.
- One parent is in France and the other parent is in India or another country abroad: Annexure ‘H’ filled by the parent residing abroad and attested by the Indian Mission abroad/RPO in India and then signed by the parent in France.
Additional Documents for specific situations
- For addition of spouse name in passport: Marriage Certificate. If married outside India (and to a foreign national), the certificate must be apostilled.
- For deletion of spouse name: Divorce order / decree
- For change of spouse name:
- Divorce order/ decree or death certificate of first spouse and
- Re-marriage certificate or Joint Photo Declaration by both husband & wife
- For change of surname by women applicant following marriage/ divorce:
- Marriage certificate or Joint Photo Declaration by both husband & wife.
- Divorce order/ decree (if name/ surname change is based on divorce)
Some Important Notes
- VFS does not accept an Attestation d’hébergement as address proof for adults.
- In case of irregular immigration status in France, documents related to the status will be required too. Please consult the VFS website for more information.
- Foreign divorce judgements are not accepted. In case of mutually agreed or mutually properly contested divorce cases also, an application must be submitted by the parties at the competent Indian civil court and a declaratory order authenticating and confirming that the foreign divorce decree is in accordance with Indian law must be obtained by the concerned parties.
Indian Passport Application Process
When to Apply?: You can apply for a renewal of Passport up to 1 year before the expiry date and not earlier. However, in case of any change of personal particulars, lost/damaged, exhaustion of pages you may apply for re-issue of passport at any time.
Where to Submit?: Applicants must book an appointment and be physically present at one of these VFS Centres:
📍 Paris: 16 Boulevard du General Leclerc, 6th Floor, 92110 Clichy.
📍 Marseille: VFS GLOBAL – ICPVAC INDE, 165 Avenue du Prado, Centre Regus, 8th Floor, 13008 Marseille.
Note: Appointments must be booked under Indian Services category via the VFS Appointment Booking. For any official information, please refer to the Embassy of India (Paris) website, EOI Paris: Passport/Emergency Certificate/ Surrender Certificate/ Police Clearance Certificate
Application Fees
Below is a breakdown of the Indian passport application fees and the additional service charges.
- Total Fees to be paid = Primary Fees + Service charges. So, a passport renewal application (36 pages) will cost approximately €100.
Primary Fees
| Passport Service | Fee (€) |
|---|---|
| Issue/Re-issue of passport (36 pages) | €60 |
| Issue/Re-issue of passport (for minors under 18, 36 pages) | €40 |
| Issue/Re-issue of passport (60 pages) | €75 |
| Re-Issue of passport in case of loss or damage (36 pages) | €110 |
| Re-Issue of passport in case of loss or damage (60 pages) | €130 |
Additional Service Charges: Apart from the passport fees, additional service charges and taxes are applicable.
| Service | Fee (€) |
|---|---|
| VF Services (UK) Limited service charge | €6.96 |
| Delivery and SMS-Email service | €30 + €2 |
| Envelope (per passport) | Included in delivery fee |
| ICWF Tax (Indian Community Welfare Fund) | €2 |
Payment Details: VFS accepts payments in cash or normal bank cards (Visa or Mastercard). If your want to pay by cash, you must carry the exact change.
Processing Time
Each passport application is processed individually by the Embassy/Consulate of India, and processing times vary depending on police verification reports done in India. When the new Passport is available, you will receive SMS/E-mail notifications. VFS will send it your home address in France via DHL Postal Service.
| VFS Centre | Approximate Processing Time |
|---|---|
| Paris | Usually 2-4 weeks |
| Marseille | Similar timeline as Paris |
📌 Tatkal Procedure: In case of lost passports during short visits to France, Tatkal cases are processed only at the Indian Embassy.
Note: A passport application process is complete only the Police verification in India is completed too.
Personal Experiences
Sharing Experience of Indian Passport Renewal – April 2025 by Shubham Banerjee.
03/04/2025 – Had appointment at VFS center in Marseille but they didn’t accept the application because the form we had filled was directed to the Indian Consulate in Marseille and not the Indian Embassy in Paris. It is basically the first step in the website https://embassy.passportindia.gov.in/ after you select France and register/login. When you start the application, it asks you in a drop down list for the processing center – we had selected Marseille, France whereas we were informed it should be for the moment always Paris, France.
Since they insisted on taking another appointment, we took what was next available the following week on 9th April.
09/04/2025 – Reached VFS Center in Marseille once again from Nice where we live. This time process was smooth. We submitted all documents as per request (self attested). We already had the photographs as per the requirements. Paid the visa fees+VFS service charges+courier fees+SMS and email charges (never got any email or sms from VFS) by card.
We were able to track the application on the VFS platform.
09/04/2025 evening (status on VFS platform) – Application under assessment at Embassy of India, Paris.
This status remained till the moment VFS dispathed us back the renewed passport. Meanwhile we tracked the application on the Passport Seva website.
Following are the timelines:
10/04/2025 – Passport application along with fee details have been received. The same is under processing at the Embassy/Consulate.
15/04/2025 – Passport application is under review at Indian Embassy/Consulate.
Same afternoon we sent the embassy an email asking if it can be processed quickly as we had to travel.
Same evening status changed to:
Print has been initiated for passport. Also, embassy replied to our email confirming this.
16/04/2025 – Passport has been printed.
17/04/2025 – Passport has been handed over by the Embassy/Consulate to the OSP executive for further dispatch to the applicant.
Same time, VFS platform tracking message changed too. It showed: Your passport / documents will be dispatched shortly to our courier partner.
Same day: Email came mentioning Police Verification process is initiated.
18/04/2025 morning – Delivery came by DHL.
19/04/2025 – The police called about the verification. Asked our contact in Kolkata to visit the station with some documents. And that was done.
No subsequent messages came to us about completion of the police verification. That takes a few days.
So, overall very positive experience with the Passport renewal in France. Turnaround time was better than my expectations.
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Photos of VFS Global Office in Paris (92110 Clichy)
Hello Prasanth,
Thanks for the detailed blog.
I would like to correct a small detail here— the fee for Issue/Re-issue of a passport (36 pages) has increased from €60 to €100.96 (I remember paying this amount recently).
Thanks!
Hello Harshita,
Not exactly. The €100.96 that you paid in total for your Indian Passport Renewal includes the services charges too, explained on the 2nd table above.
I will add a note highlighting the same, making it more obvious.
Cheers,
Prasanth
Added a note above. Total Fees to be paid = Primary Fees + Service charges. So, a passport renewal application (36 pages) will cost approximately €100.
Cheers,
Prasanth
Question: I’m also looking for renewing my passport in Marseille. Just looking for more information on what documents are requested by police to your Indian contact person? TIA
My Answer: I sent a copy of the following docs to my mother for the police verification
– Passport
– French CdS
– Latest downloaded Aadhaar card (mine & my mom’s)
– Voter ID
Thanks a lot for this blog! So many of my questions have been answered.
I’m planning to go for my renewal in Marseille too (in June), but I have already filled and submitted the form for Marseille (not Paris, like you said) so I think I cannot change it now? I hope it gets processed quickly like yours, since I have plans to travel in 1-1.5 months after the appointment.
Hello- Charitra,
You can create a new application too. It is not a problem.
Cheers,
Prasanth
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