Embassy of India

Sao Tome, São Tomé and Príncipe

Embassy of India
Sao Tome
General Information

PASSPORT SERVICES

A passport is issued under the Passports Act, 1967. It is an offence punishable with imprisonment or fine or both, to furnish false information or suppress information, which attracts penal and other action under relevant provisions of Section 12 of the Passports Act, 1967. Passport is a very valuable document. Hence, all holders are required to take due care that it does not get damaged, mutilated or lost. Passports should not be sent out to any country by post/ courier.

Loss of passport should be immediately reported to the nearest Police Station and to the Passport Office or Indian Mission, if abroad. Passport holder shall be responsible for misuse of passport, due to non-intimation of loss, to the concerned Passport Office/Indian Mission. Passport is a government property and should be surrendered when demanded in writing by any Passport Issuing Authority.

Passport facilities could be denied on grounds of suppression of material information, submission of incorrect particulars, wilful damage/loss of passport or for unauthorized change/tampering. The Passport can be impounded or revoked for violation of one or more of the provisions of the Passport Act. Fines also can be imposed.

Merely submission of an application, however, does not constitute a claim for issue of a passport. It remains a request/requisition for a passport, which may be rejected due to deficiency in the supporting documents, not following the prescribed procedures or any other reason.

It is advisable to hold only machine-readable passports.  Application can be made for issue of new passports where the current passport is handwritten. Issue of handwritten passports has been discontinued in line with orders of Government of India and in view of the requirements of ICAO to be implemented in 2012.

It is an offence to hold more than one valid passport at a time. Those Indian citizens acquiring citizenship/passport of another country should immediately surrender their Indian Passport to the nearest Indian Embassy/High Commission/Consulate General.

All applicants are required to submit their passport applications online by registering themselves at the link https://embassy.passportindia.gov.in/. and then visiting the Embassy’s  counter to submit their application along with requisite fees, photos and documents.

Indian Citizens within the jurisdiction of Sao Tome can avail the following passport services:

i. Issue of fresh Passport (First time)

ii Re-issue of Passport – Issuance of a new passport in lieu of an existing one on expiry of current passport, exhaustion of pages of current passport, change in personal particulars like change of address, appearance, addition/deletion of spouse name etc. (Passport can be re-issued 1 year before OR 3 years after the expiry of the Passport).

iii. Issue of new Passport in lieu of a lost/stolen/damaged Passport

iv. Re-issue of passport to a minor child (below 15 years)

v. Issue of fresh passport to new born child

vi. Renewal of passport – In cases where a passport was originally issued for a short validity of one to five years - under certain emergency conditions and is now required to be extended to its full validity of ten years from the date of issue of the passport, applicant may apply for a new passport in lieu of an expired/about to expire passport up to 3 years. (Renewal is a zero fee service and the application should be made in a separate Form).

POLICE CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE (PCC):

Indian Citizens applying for Police Clearance Certificate will also have to apply online through the link 
https://embassy.passportindia.gov.in/.

EMERGENCY CERTIFICATE (EC):

Indian Citizens who wants to travel to India on emergency but can’t do because of passport issues OR loss of passport will also have to apply online through the link https://embassy.passportindia.gov.in/ .

Surrender of Indian passport:

Under Indian law, Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), who have acquired foreign citizenship, are required to surrender their Indian passports to the nearest Indian Mission/Post immediately after acquisition of foreign citizenship.

Applicant has to apply online https://embassy.passportindia.gov.in/ . The Surrender Certificate, once obtained, should be produced henceforth for any services from the Embassy of India, Sao Tome and copy of the Surrender Certificate/Declaration of Renunciation of Citizenship of India should be enclosed with any application in future.

STEPS TO BE FOLLOWED:

Step 1: Visit the website: https://embassy.passportindia.gov.in/ .

Step 2: Click ‘Africa & Middle East and click on “SAO TOME” on the above link

and the applicant shall be taken to a new page.

Step 3: Register yourself by clicking on the "REGISTER" Link.

Step 4: Activate your registration from the link sent on personal email ID

Step 5: Again, visit the above website and go to “USER LOGIN” link. Now login with the registered login ID and Password opted by the applicant

Step 6: In the “Applicant Home Page”, click on the service required for i.e.: "Apply for Ordinary Passport/Emergency Certificate/Police Clearance Certificate/Surrender of Indian Passport/Diplomatic Passport/Official Passport/Identity Certificate" link to file a new application

Step 7: Once completed take the print of the application.

Step 8: Submission of application form:

i) In Person: Application form can be submitted at the Embassy’s Consular Counter on any working day between 0900 to 1600 hrs.

Step 9: Payment of fee:

i. Passport fees are payable by bank deposit to the Embassy account.  No payment by check or Bank Transfer is acceptable.  The Passport fee and ICWF charges should be deposited in the following respective accounts of the Embassy:

Name of Bank: International Bank of Sao Tome & Principe(BISTP), Sao Tome

Embassy of India,  Account number: 71444 941 0001--- For Passport/Consular fee

Embassy of India, ICWF Account number: 71444 941 0003 ---- ICWF Charges

Note:  Complete Fee Schedule is given below:

Processing time:  

It is important to note that the passports are printed in India and total processing time is likely to take around 30-45 days, or more, in most cases. Accordingly, it is in the interest of the applicant to ensure that applications are submitted sufficiently in advance

In cases of applicants whose Passports were previously issued from another passport issuing authority (i.e. passports issued in any place other than Sao Tome), such applicants may face longer processing time.

In cases of applicants requiring Police Verification, passport services cannot be extended till completion of verification. In that event you are required to submit a completed Personal Particulars Form along with an explanation for non-completion of verification/police clearance. Processing time may extend to 30-45 days in such cases.

Old passport:

Original passports are generally deposited with the application. 

Fees Structure for Passport and Miscellaneous Consular Services:

Note 1 - Passport fees are payable by bank deposit to the Embassy account.  No payment by check or Bank Transfer is acceptable.  The Passport fee and ICWF charges should be deposited in the following respective accounts of the Embassy:

Name of Bank: International Bank of Sao Tome & Principe(BISTP), Sao Tome

Embassy of India, Account number: 71444 941 0001--- For Passport/Consular fee

Embassy of India, ICWF Account number: 71444 941 0003 ---- ICWF Charges

Note 2 – Additional fee of STN 50.00 (w.e.f. 01 April 2024) will be chargeable for all type of Consular Service applications (other than in death cases) towards ICWF fee. [The fees prescribed are valid until 31.03.2025 or until further notification.]

Note 3 -  The Embassy does not accept Passport fees by Credit / Debit Cards or by personal cheques. No application will be accepted without the bank receipt of the payment of fee.

1. Passport Fee:-

Fees Structure for Visa, OCI, PIO  and Miscellaneous Consular Services:

Note 1 - The Visa/OCI/PIO fee and ICWF charges should be deposited in the following respective accounts of the Embassy:

Name of Bank: International Bank of Sao Tome & Principe (BISTP), Sao Tome.

Embassy of India, Account number: 71444 941 0001- For Passport/Consular fee

Embassy of India, ICWF Account number: 71444 941 0003 ---- ICWF Charges

Note 2 - Additional fee of  STN 70.00 (w.e.f. 01 April 2024) will be chargeable for all type of Consular Service applications (other than in death cases) towards ICWF fee.  [The fees prescribed are valid until 31.03.2024 or until further notification.]

Note 3 -  The Embassy does not accept Passport fees by Credit / Debit Cards or by personal cheques. No application will be accepted without the bank receipt of the payment of fee. 

(B) Visa Fee to be charged in convertible hard currencies (w.e.f. 01.04.2024) 

(C) OCI Fees to be charged in convertible hard currencies (w.e.f. 01.04.2024):

(D) MISC Consular Service Charges to be charged in convertible hard currencies (w.e.f. 01.04.2024):