Quick answer: Uttar Pradesh is covered by three Regional Passport Offices: Lucknow for central, eastern and Bundelkhand districts, Ghaziabad for the western belt, and Bareilly for the districts around it. Under each sit Passport Seva Kendras in the larger cities and Post Office Passport Seva Kendras spread across smaller districts. Your address decides which RPO is yours, and the portal picks it for you when you enter your pin code. The RPO itself is not where you go for an appointment; it is where a file goes when something is objected to.
People usually arrive at this question at the appointment-booking screen, having discovered that the centre they expected is not on their list. That is not a fault. The system routes you by address, so a person in Meerut and a person in Varanasi see different options even though both are in Uttar Pradesh. Once the three-office structure makes sense, the screen stops being confusing.
At a Glance
| Regional Passport Offices in UP | Three: Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Bareilly |
| RPO Lucknow | Central, eastern UP and Bundelkhand districts |
| RPO Ghaziabad | The western belt |
| RPO Bareilly | The districts around Bareilly and Moradabad |
| Where you actually go | A PSK or a POPSK, not the RPO |
| Who decides | Your address, through your pin code |
| PSK cities | Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Bareilly, Kanpur, Varanasi, Gorakhpur |
| POPSKs | Many, across smaller districts |
Key Takeaways
- Three offices cover the whole state, and your pin code assigns you to one of them.
- You attend a Seva Kendra or a post office counter; the RPO is behind them.
- A POPSK is closer for many districts and handles ordinary applications perfectly well.
- Appointment slots are released per centre, so a slightly further one is often available sooner.
- The RPO becomes relevant only when a file is objected to or refused.
Which Office Type Does What: Quick Facts
| RPO | Oversight, approval, objections and grievances |
| PSK | Full service centre, multiple counters, all case types |
| POPSK | Post office counter, closer, fewer counters |
| Booking | Always through the Passport Seva portal |
| Walk-in | Not available; an appointment is required |
| Slot release | Per centre, at set times |
| Documents check | Documents Advisor, before you travel |
| Escalation | Your RPO, in writing |
Table of Contents
- Three offices, one state
- Which one is yours
- PSK, POPSK and RPO
- How appointment slots actually work
- What differs for a name change
- When the RPO becomes your office
- Central Gazette: the complete process and file format
- Areas we serve
- Related guides
- Why choose our office
- FAQs
Three Offices, One State
Lucknow carries the biggest share, which is why it operates more than one Seva Kendra and why its slots are the ones that fill fastest. Ghaziabad serves the districts nearest Delhi, and Bareilly covers a compact belt in the north-west of the state.
Jurisdictions are adjusted from time to time as centres open and districts are reassigned, so treat the shape above as the structure rather than a permanent list, and let the portal confirm your own.
Which One Is Yours
| If you live in | Your RPO is usually |
|---|---|
| Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Ayodhya, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Sitapur, Hardoi, Raebareli, Sultanpur, Unnao, Barabanki, Deoria, Ballia, Mau, Ghazipur, Basti | Lucknow |
| Jhansi, Banda, Hamirpur, Jalaun and the Bundelkhand districts | Lucknow |
| Ghaziabad, Noida, Meerut, Agra, Aligarh, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Bulandshahr, Baghpat, Hathras, Mathura | Ghaziabad |
| Bareilly, Moradabad, Rampur, Amroha, Budaun, Bijnor, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur | Bareilly |
Do not try to apply under a different address to reach a centre with earlier slots. Police verification goes to the address on the application, and a mismatch there is a far bigger problem than a two-week wait.
PSK, POPSK and RPO
- Passport Seva Kendra: a full service centre with several counters, in the larger cities. Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Bareilly, Kanpur, Varanasi and Gorakhpur are the main ones in the state.
- Post Office Passport Seva Kendra: a counter inside a post office, opened to bring the service closer to smaller districts. Fewer counters, and often a much shorter journey.
- Regional Passport Office: the authority behind both. It approves, oversees, and handles objections and grievances, but it is not where you attend an ordinary appointment.
- All three run on the same system, so an application filed at a POPSK reaches the same RPO as one filed at a PSK.
For an ordinary name change reissue, a POPSK is usually perfectly adequate and closer. Where a case is unusual, has an objection history, or involves documents an operator may not see often, a full PSK with more experienced staff is worth the extra travel.
How Appointment Slots Actually Work
Two habits help. Check more than one centre in your list rather than only the closest, since a POPSK an hour away that gets you seen next week beats a PSK in your own city three weeks out. And log in shortly after the release time rather than at random, because the popular centres empty quickly.
Tatkal exists where the matter is genuinely urgent, at a higher fee, and it is worth considering only if travel is booked. For a routine name change it rarely earns its cost.
What Differs for a Name Change
The centre is the same; what you carry is not.
- Your old passport, which is surrendered because this is a reissue rather than an edit.
- The document that explains the change: a marriage certificate, Annexure J, a divorce decree, or a gazette notification.
- Both complete newspaper pages where a gazette is involved, since this is the one counter in the country that asks for them again.
- Identity records that already agree, which is why Aadhaar should be updated first.
- Self-attested copies of every original you bring.
Run the portal's Documents Advisor for your own case before travelling. It is the only list that reflects your route, your city and current practice, and it takes two minutes. The case-by-case detail is on our passport pillar, and the marriage route on our passport after marriage page.
When the RPO Becomes Your Office
Most applicants never deal with the Regional Passport Office at all. You do when something goes wrong.
Your file is put on hold or objected to
The RPO, not the Kendra, decides what happens next, so that is where the conversation moves.
A document was refused at the counter
Ask for the objection in writing with a reference, then address it to the RPO rather than arguing at the desk.
Police verification is stuck
The RPO coordinates verification and can be asked about a file that has stopped moving.
Your case is unusual
A very old passport, a long gap, or a name history with several steps may be referred upward as a matter of course.
You need to escalate a delay
In writing, with your file number and dates, which is far more effective than repeated calls.
Nothing moves after that
The national grievance channels sit above the RPO, and the portal lists them.
The discipline that works here is the same one that works at a school or a Tehsil: put it in writing, keep a reference number, and address it to the office that can actually decide. Our problems page covers the general approach.
Central Gazette: the Complete Process and File Format
Our core service: where your passport reissue needs a gazette, this is the filing as we run it from Lucknow, prepared so the Kendra gets everything it asks for on the first visit.
Stage 1: The affidavit
Put the passport number in clause one. The Kendra will be looking at the old booklet anyway, and a file that connects itself saves a question.
Stage 2: The Public Notice, in two copies
Each witness gives signature, full name and address, and both sign both copies at one sitting.
Stage 3: The CD and CD-Certificate
Stage 4: Newspapers, fee, covering letter and dispatch
Publish in two newspapers and buy spares
One Hindi daily of your district and one English paper, keeping complete original pages, and buying two copies of each edition because the Kendra will want them later.
Pay Rs 1,100 on BharatKosh
Before the envelope is sealed, with the function head, PAO and DDO checked on the confirmation screen and two receipts printed.
Write the covering letter
To The Controller, Publication Department, Civil Line, Delhi 110054, saying the formalities are complete and the documents are enclosed, with your mobile number and email.
Assemble, check and photocopy
Affidavit, Public Notice in two witnessed copies, CD with CD-Certificate, both newspaper pages, identity and address proof, photographs and the receipt, with a full copy set at home.
Courier it, tracked
One to three days from most UP districts, with no counter to visit.
Publish, download, then book your Kendra slot
Twenty-five to forty-five days, then the download, then the appointment. Not the other way round.
Book the Kendra After Publication
Slots in most UP districts are available within days to a couple of weeks, so booking after publication costs very little and removes the risk. How to search Part IV and download is on our download guide.
Gazette Fees, Time and the File
| Passport reissue fee | As per the Passport Seva schedule for your booklet and speed |
| Affidavit | Rs 100 to 500 including stamp paper and notary |
| Adult gazette fee | Rs 1,100 on BharatKosh, where a full name change applies |
| Minor, through a guardian | Rs 1,700 |
| Newspaper advertisements | A few hundred rupees per paper, plus spare copies |
| Publication window | 25 to 45 days after the Department receives the file |
| Travel to the Kendra | Often the largest real cost for smaller districts |
The envelope in one line: covering letter with your phone and email, affidavit (notarised), Public Notice typed in two copies with two witnesses on each, CD in MS-Word format with the signed CD-Certificate, both complete newspaper pages, photo identity proof, address proof, photographs and the BharatKosh receipt.
Before You Book: Check These
- Let the portal assign your centre by pin code rather than choosing by distance.
- Check every centre on your list, since a further one often has earlier slots.
- Run the Documents Advisor for your own case before travelling.
- Where a gazette is involved, book only after the notification is downloaded.
After the Gazette: What Updates Next
Once the new passport arrives, check every field before filing it away, because a reissue is retyped rather than copied. Then finish the chain: bank and employer if not already done, Tehsil certificates, and education records last. Keep the old passport with the new one, since the pair explains your name history at any future renewal.
What Other Websites Get Wrong
- Wrong: pick the nearest passport office. Right: your address assigns you one, and the portal shows only your options.
- Wrong: go to the RPO for an appointment. Right: you attend a PSK or POPSK; the RPO sits behind them.
- Wrong: a POPSK is a lesser option. Right: it runs on the same system and is closer for many districts.
- Wrong: if the nearest centre has no slots, wait. Right: check every centre in your list, since slots release per centre.
- Wrong: use a different address to reach a better centre. Right: police verification goes to the address you gave.
Areas We Serve in Uttar Pradesh
Passport files run through whichever of the three offices your address falls under, and we prepare them from every district. Most often these:
| Awadh and central UP | Lucknow, Kanpur, Unnao, Raebareli, Sitapur, Hardoi, Barabanki, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Amethi, Bahraich |
| Purvanchal and eastern UP | Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Ballia, Deoria, Mirzapur, Basti, Ghazipur, Mau, Sonbhadra |
| Western UP and NCR | Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Agra, Aligarh, Mathura, Bulandshahr, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Hapur, Firozabad |
| Rohilkhand and Bundelkhand | Bareilly, Moradabad, Rampur, Shahjahanpur, Budaun, Pilibhit, Bijnor, Amroha, Jhansi, Banda, Mahoba, Chitrakoot |
Applicants from smaller eastern districts usually travel to a post office counter rather than to a full Kendra, which is closer and handles an ordinary reissue perfectly well. Our chamber is at Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Sector 5, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow 226010, with the city guide on our Lucknow page. Call 9540003316 or WhatsApp 9540005002 from any district.
Related Guides on This Site
Whichever counter you reach next, there is a guide for it here:
- passport name change: the main guide covering every reason.
- passport after marriage: two applications, and Annexure J.
- problems and mistakes: how to escalate in writing.
- the newspaper guide: why you buy spare copies for this counter.
- downloading your gazette copy: before you book a slot.
- the update order: why the passport comes third.
- Aadhaar name update: the record that should agree first.
- name change in Lucknow: local notaries, newspapers and counters.
- the gazette guide: the full route from affidavit to download.
- the full cost breakdown: government fees and our fees, line by line.
- contact the office: Lucknow office, phone and WhatsApp.
Why We Ask for Your District First
On a passport enquiry the first thing we want is your district, because it names your office and tells us whether a POPSK will do or a full Kendra is worth the travel. It also tells us where the file goes if anything is objected to. Vipin Chauhan, B.Tech LL.B, plans the trip before the paperwork.
- We name your office from your district: so nobody books a centre that is not theirs.
- We check every centre in your list: since a further one often has earlier slots.
- We time the gazette against the slot: publication first, booking second.
- We prepare for the newspapers question: which only this counter asks.
Associate office at Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow, serving all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh, Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 6:30 PM. Call 9540003316 or WhatsApp 9540005002.
Tell Us Your District
Uttar Pradesh Name Change
Associate Office: Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Sector 5, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226010
Head Office: Metro Pillar 337, Hardev Nagar, Street 1, Shop No 1 (Shri Sham Documentation)
Call: 9540003316
WhatsApp: 9540005002
Email: info@uttarpradeshnamechange.com
Hours: Mon to Sat, 10 AM to 6:30 PM
Tell us your district and the reason for the reissue. We will name your office and say whether a nearer post office counter will do.
Get Call and Name Change Format
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Passport Offices in Uttar Pradesh: FAQs
How many passport offices are there in Uttar Pradesh?
Three Regional Passport Offices: Lucknow for central, eastern and Bundelkhand districts, Ghaziabad for the western belt, and Bareilly for the districts around it.
Can I choose which one to apply at?
No. Your address assigns you an office, and the portal shows only the centres in your jurisdiction once you enter your pin code.
What is the difference between a PSK and a POPSK?
A Passport Seva Kendra is a full service centre in a larger city with several counters. A Post Office Passport Seva Kendra is a counter inside a post office, closer to smaller districts, running on the same system.
Is a POPSK good enough for a name change?
For an ordinary reissue, yes. Where the case is unusual or has an objection history, a full PSK with more experienced staff is worth the extra travel.
Do I go to the RPO for my appointment?
No. The RPO oversees and approves, and handles objections and grievances. Appointments happen at a PSK or POPSK.
The nearest centre has no slots. What now?
Check every centre in your list rather than only the closest. Slots are released per centre, so one an hour away often has an earlier date.
Can I use a relative's address to get a better centre?
No. Police verification goes to the address on your application, and a mismatch there is a much bigger problem than a two-week wait.
Which cities have full Seva Kendras?
Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Bareilly, Kanpur, Varanasi and Gorakhpur are the main ones, with Lucknow operating more than one because of its jurisdiction size.
Is Tatkal worth it for a name change?
Rarely. It costs more and is worth considering only where travel is already booked. A routine reissue does not need it.
What do I carry that a fresh applicant does not?
Your old passport, which is surrendered, and the document explaining the change: a marriage certificate, Annexure J, a divorce decree or a gazette with both newspaper pages.
Where do I get the exact document list?
The Documents Advisor on the Passport Seva portal, run for your own application type, city and situation.
My file has been objected to. Who do I approach?
Your RPO, in writing, with the objection reference and your file number. Arguing at the Kendra counter does not help, because the decision is not made there.
Official Sources
- The Passport Seva portal, which assigns centres by address and lists appointment availability per centre.
- Ministry of External Affairs structure of Regional Passport Offices, Passport Seva Kendras and Post Office Passport Seva Kendras.
- Regional Passport Office jurisdictions covering Uttar Pradesh from Lucknow, Ghaziabad and Bareilly.
- The Department of Publication's guidelines for change of name, where a gazette accompanies a reissue.
Facts here are checked against these sources and our own casework. Centres open and jurisdictions are adjusted periodically, so confirm your own through the portal; the three-office structure is the stable part.
The Short Version
Three Regional Passport Offices cover Uttar Pradesh: Lucknow for the central, eastern and Bundelkhand districts, Ghaziabad for the western belt, and Bareilly for the districts around it. Your address assigns you one of them, so the centres the portal shows after you enter your pin code are your only options, and a missing centre means your address does not fall under it rather than that something has gone wrong. You attend a Seva Kendra in one of the larger cities or a post office counter closer to home, both running on the same system; the RPO itself sits behind them and becomes relevant only when a file is objected to. Slots release per centre, so check every option in your list rather than only the nearest, and never change your address to reach a better one, because police verification follows the address you gave.