Passport Seva or VFS Global: which portal does what
You use both, in a fixed order. You complete and pay for the application on the government portal, upload your photo, signature and supporting documents there, print the completed form, and then send that printout with your documents to VFS Global, which is the application centre.
VFS Global is not the consulate and decides nothing. Confusing the two is the most common reason applications come back.
Who is who
| The government portal | VFS Global or BLS | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Passport Seva, now GPSP 2.0 | The outsourced application centre |
| What you do there | Fill the form, upload photo, signature and documents, pay the government fee | Send or hand in the printed file, pay the service fee |
| Who decides | The mission, on the file | Nobody. It forwards |
| Called what in status messages | Passport Seva | OSP |
The order, step by step
- Register on the government portal and complete the application for your case
- Upload the photo and signature to the correct specification, and your supporting documents, within the five file limit
- Pay the government fee, then print the completed application with the photo and signature already on it
- Fill in the application centre checklist
- Send the printed application, your documents and your return envelope to the centre
The change that catches people. Since 28 October 2025, an application printed without the photo and signature on it is rejected. Older checklists still floating around describe pasting a photo onto a blank form. One applicant had their file returned for exactly this, and the wording on the rejection referred to the portal migration.
If you would rather not learn this by having a file come back, that is what we do. See passport renewal or what it costs.
Where these numbers come from
- Passport Seva / GPSP 2.0 — the application, upload and print steps (checked 2026-08-19)
- VFS Global, India consular services USA — the submission checklist and service fee (checked 2026-08-19)
We re-check every fee and rule on this page monthly. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it the same day.
Get it done quicklyPrepared the same day you send it.
The two portals, answered
Is VFS Global the Indian consulate?
No. VFS Global is an outsourced application centre. It collects, scans and forwards applications and it does not make decisions. The mission decides. Official pages call it the OSP, the outsourced service provider, which is why the term appears in status messages that nobody understands.
Do I apply on Passport Seva or on the VFS website?
Both, in that order. You complete the application on the government portal, upload your photo, signature and documents there, print it, and then send the printout with your documents to VFS Global.
Why was my application returned after the portal changed?
Since GPSP 2.0 went live on 28 October 2025, the photo and signature must be uploaded digitally and appear on the printout. Applications printed blank with a photo pasted on by hand, which is how the older process worked, are rejected outright.
How many documents can I upload?
The portal caps uploads at five files including your photo and signature, which leaves three for supporting documents. Which three depends on your case, and choosing badly is a common reason for a query later.
What does "Kindly connect with OSP" mean?
It means contact VFS Global. OSP stands for outsourced service provider. It is the government portal telling you the file is now with the application centre.