Should one carry expired passport along with renewed passport while going to India?

VidhiVidhan

Registered Users (C)
Myself and my wife are green card holders. Our Indian passports expired in 2005 and we renewed them. Recently we came to India and while coming I did not get our expired passports because I didn't think we would need them. But we were stopped at immigration and asked for expired passport along with renewed one. When I said I hadn't brought mine he turned nasty. When I asked why they needed the old one, they said they wanted to see when we left India last. He finally let us through with warning that next time I should carry it.

Is it true that one should always carry their expired passports while travelling to India or for that matter anywhere else? Will I have problem when I try to get back to US with only my renewed passport and green card?

Thank you very much in advance for your responses.
 
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Myself and my wife are green card holders. Our Indian passports expired in 2005 and we renewed them. Recently we came to India and while coming I did not get our expired passports because I didn't think we would need them. But we were stopped at immigration and asked for expired passport along with renewed one. When I said I hadn't brought mine he turned nasty. When I asked why they needed the old one, they said they wanted to see when we left India last. He finally let us through with warning that next time I should carry it.

Is it true that one should always carry their expired passports while travelling to India or for that matter anywhere else? Will I have problem when I try to get back to US with only my renewed passport and green card?

Thank you very much in advance for your responses.

They recommend carrying old passports with you - but it is not mandatory. After renewing my passport, I never carried the old expired passport and I was never asked anywhere (I travelled to India, US and to Canada with ONLY the new passport) for the expired passport. You just ran into some nutcase immigration officer in India. You should be fine while coming back to the US.

I think the officer just wanted to exercise his power/harass you. I wonder what he was gaining by finding out when you visited India last time...
 
oddball

I have traveled extensively with just my new Indian passport issued in the US for the past seven years - I have never been asked for my old passport anywhere in the world including India.

The guy you met seems to have been a jerk.

rk
 
requirement of old passport

Maybe your new passport does not contain any immegration stamp, which can certify your status.

Usually old expired passports are needed for visa offices while issuing 1st visa on new passport, but however as u are already green card holder, the old passort and its pages contain the data and visas u collected in past years on old passport.

Though its nor mendatory to carry it, but its advisable to take alongwith as long as it contains valid stamps and quots which are needed for any specified travel.

Glidor
Kolkata
 
No problems while returning

I just wanted to let everyone know end of the story.

The immigration officer (who had turned nasty on us during entry) had mentioned that I would have problem again while leaving because others too would want to see the old passport. But no such thing happened. No one asked for my old passport at any point and I was allowed to board everwhere without any problems.

Thanks to all those who replied.
 
I met a similar jerk on my trip to India.

You should carrry all your passports.
I am an Indian citizen and was going back to India from U.S.A. with the new passport and Green Card.
I was asked for the old passport at Immigration in India. They said that even though my Indian passport was valid they needed the old passport to verify that I had gone to U.S. legally.
Technically, it is not their problem but India can be a bureaucratic nightmare so be safe and carry all passports.
 
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