One of my clients recently had a case which I am explaining below and if you are stuck in such similar situation, here is what to do.
Note: Due to attorney-client privilege, I cannot disclose complete case details or identify the actual parties involved. However, I am sharing the essential facts and legal approach so that if you find yourself in a similar situation, you can understand the available solutions and legal remedies.
TL;DR: A "passport police verification pending" status almost always means the report has not yet travelled from the police station to the Regional Passport Office. It usually clears in a week to a fortnight, and paying anyone does not speed it up. If it sits unchanged past three weeks, you escalate in writing, and if that fails, a writ petition under Article 226 is the remedy.
Key Facts of the Case
- Application was for a fresh Indian passport, filed with the Regional Passport Office at Pune in early April 2025.
- Police verification was initiated, and the applicant attended his local police station in person with the original documents.
- The portal status flipped to "physical police verification pending" on the day of the visit and stayed frozen for four days.
- Cash was handed over at the station after someone there said it would move the file faster. The status did not budge.
- There is no statutory outer limit for the police to forward the verification report to the passport office.
- The problem was administrative inaction, not a refusal of a passport, so the remedy lay in escalation and, if needed, writ jurisdiction under Article 226.
- After a written representation to the station house officer and the Regional Passport Office, the pending flag was cleared and the file was forwarded.
Passport Police Verification Pending: The Direct Legal Answer
The status you are seeing is a police-side entry, not a verdict on your application. What closes it is the station's verification report physically reaching the Regional Passport Office and being entered there.
Is it normal for the status to sit unchanged for days?
Yes. Weekends and local holidays stretch it further, because the entry is made by a human being at a station, not by an automated system. A week to a fortnight is routine. Three weeks is not alarming. Beyond that, you have a right to ask questions in writing.
Is there a deadline for the police to send the report?
No fixed statutory deadline applies to the report itself. The passport authority publishes service standards for its own processing, and those are internal targets rather than a right you can enforce against the police station.
Does paying money help?
No, and it creates a fresh problem for you. Accepting gratification is an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and so is giving it in the circumstances the statute covers. A written representation costs nothing and works better.
Advice in Such Cases
Consult with Lawyer: The very basic and important step to start is talk to Lawyer / advocate. You should not hesitate in paying his consultation fee i.e. might be in range of Rs. 10,000 to 50,000 depends case to case. He is helping you in this situation to come out. He is expert in the domain and can help you explain the procedure which you might have never explored. A good lawyer can get the issues resolved much faster than you think.
- Put everything in writing early. An email or a hand-delivered letter with an acknowledgement stamp creates a dated record that a phone call never does.
- Quote your application reference number, the date of your station visit, and the exact status text on the portal. Vague reminders get filed away.
- Send the representation to both the station house officer and the Regional Passport Office, so neither can point at the other.
Matters of this kind turn on procedural detail and on knowing which office actually holds the file. Advocates who deal with passport and police verification work regularly tend to move these files faster than a general practice lawyer who has to work out the chain from scratch.
Applicable Sections of Law
- Passport Act, 1967 — Section 5 governs how an application is made; Section 6 lists the grounds on which issue of a passport may be refused; Section 11 provides an appeal to the Central Government
- Passport Act, 1967 — Section 5 governs how an application is made; Section 6 lists the grounds on which issue of a passport may be refused; Section 11 provides an appeal to the Central Government where the passport authority has refused to issue a passport.
- Passport Act, 1967, Section 10 — variation, impounding and revocation of a passport already issued. This is not what you are facing at the verification stage, but it is worth knowing what the authority can do to a passport once it exists.
- Passport Rules, 1980 — the forms and the procedure, including the requirement of police verification, are prescribed under these Rules.
- Constitution of India, Article 226 — writ jurisdiction of the High Court. Where an authority simply sits on a file without passing any order, the usual prayer is a mandamus directing the authority to decide the application within a time the court fixes.
- Constitution of India, Articles 14 and 21 — non-arbitrary treatment, and the liberty interest that a travel document serves. These are supporting grounds. The petition itself rests on Article 226.
- Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 — accepting gratification, and giving it in the situations the statute covers, are offences. Mentioned once above, but it bears repeating: it is the one "expense" in this process that can convert a paperwork delay into a criminal case against you.
- Right to Information Act, 2005 — Section 6 for filing a request. The verification report itself is usually withheld under the personal-information exemption, so use RTI to trace where the file is moving, not to demand the contents of the report.
- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — the cheating provisions still cover a person who takes money on a false assurance that he can move your file. If money has already changed hands and nothing happened, keep whatever written record exists.
What To Do, In Order
Do these in sequence rather than all at once. Escalation works because each step leaves a paper trail the next step can point to.
- Write down the exact status text and today's date. Screenshot the portal page with the date visible on the screen. Different status strings mean different things, and you want the wording recorded as it stands.
- Go to the police station in person. Ask which officer handles verification reports. Give your application reference number and the date you attended earlier. Ask for an acknowledgement on your copy of the letter.
- Send a short written representation to the station house officer and, separately, to the Regional Passport Office that is processing your file. One page. Reference number, date of visit, current status text, request that the report be forwarded.
- Wait ten to fourteen days. Then check the portal again. If the status has moved, do nothing further.
- File a grievance through the passport grievance channel and, if that produces nothing, through the central government's public grievance portal. A grievance is routed to a named officer with a deadline attached to a reply, which a phone call never has.
- Consult an advocate. If the file has still not moved after a written representation and a grievance, the next step is a writ petition before the High Court that has jurisdiction over the passport office or the police station in question.
How long does a writ petition take?
Honestly, it depends on the court. Once notice is served, files in verification matters often move without the case being argued to judgment, because the department forwards the report and the grievance disappears. Where the department does not move, the petition runs its own course, and that can take months. No one can give you a date. Court fee and drafting cost also differ from one High Court to another.
What should be in the representation?
Four things. Your application reference number. The date you attended the police station and, if you know it, the name of the officer you met. The exact status text as on today's date. A single sentence asking that the verification report be forwarded to the Regional Passport Office, and a request for an acknowledgement.
Documents To Keep Ready
- The application reference number and the fee receipt from the passport application.
- A screenshot of the portal status with the date visible.
- Your earlier representation and the acknowledgement, if any, or the postal or courier proof if none was given.
- Proof of the police station visit — the acknowledgement page, or the name and designation of the officer who dealt with you.
- Copies of the identity and address documents you submitted, since the same set may be asked for again.
What Not To Do
- Do not pay anyone at the police station or at a passport facilitation counter. It does not move files, and it puts you on the wrong side of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
- Do not engage a tout who promises a date. There is no date to promise.
- Do not file a fresh application while the first one is alive. You will end up with two files and no clarity about which one is moving.
- Do not rely on phone calls. If it is not in writing with a date on it, it did not happen.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a passport police verification pending status usually last?
A week to a fortnight is routine. Three weeks is not alarming, particularly across a run of holidays. If it is unchanged past three weeks from your station visit, write to the station house officer and the Regional Passport Office. If it is unchanged for a few weeks after that, the remedy is a grievance and then a writ petition.
Can I travel abroad while the status is pending?
Not on a passport you do not hold yet. If you already hold a passport and this is a re-issue or a fresh application for a family member, the position depends on the specific application, so read the status page carefully before booking anything. Do not book non-refundable tickets against a pending application.
What if the police report itself is adverse?
Then the difficulty is no longer delay, it is the substance of the report, and the route changes. You would ordinarily be given an opportunity to respond before the passport authority acts on an adverse report, and a refusal is appealable under Section 11 of the Passport Act, 1967. The facts would need to be examined properly at that stage.
Is there any point in an RTI request before writing to the police?
Usually not. An RTI request has its own processing clock, and the answer you get will tell you less than a single written representation with an acknowledgement. Keep RTI for tracing where a file is sitting after the straightforward steps have failed.
Do I need a lawyer at all?
For steps one to three, no. You can write those letters yourself, and many do. A lawyer becomes useful when the file has not moved after a written representation and a grievance, because what follows is either a legal notice or a petition, and the framing of the prayer matters. On some sets of facts there may be nothing left to argue and the only honest advice is to keep following up. That is also worth paying to hear.
What are the grounds for the writ petition?
The usual ground is inaction — an authority vested with a duty that it has not performed, with no order passed either way. You are not asking the court to issue you a passport. You are asking it to direct that your application be decided, and to fix a time for that decision. Support it with your representation, the acknowledgement or postal proof, and the grievance trail.
If you are at the stage where written reminders have not moved the file, send across the one-page note we need to look at it — your application reference number, the date of your police station visit, and the exact status text as it stands today, along with the acknowledgement of any representation you have already sent. You can reach the chamber through our contact page or book a consultation. Bring the application reference number, the portal screenshot with the date visible, and any acknowledgement or grievance number you have received. A two-line note setting out the timeline is more useful than a folder of documents.
This article is general information about Indian law and procedure. It is not legal advice on your own situation, and no two passport files are identical.
Chamber: Lawyers' Chamber, Chamber No. 86, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi – 110001
Phone: +91 97295 06771
Email: me@sudhirrao.com
Advocate Sudhir Rao, Supreme Court of India
Facing a similar matter? Speak to a criminal advocate in Delhi — Advocate Sudhir Rao appears in bail, trial and appellate matters before the Delhi District Courts, the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India.