Is it legal to retain citizen passport?
<p>I applied for Thai visa in India, when Indian lockdown was started, visa center stopped operating. But they still didn't return my passport to me. They are saying " it is impossible because we are closed".<br>
I should mention that there is lockdown in India right now. But at the same time I think government is not prohibits to them limited operating like passport returning, because it is very critical service. 
When I ask their support about that nobody reacts properly, just "we are closed, come later". But I'm foreigner, for me extremely important to get my passport back, at opposite case I risk to stuck in India for months.</p>

<p>Please say their action is legal or not? </p>

<p>Lockdown government guidelines: <a href="https://mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/Guidelines_0.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/Guidelines_0.pdf</a></p>

<p>Please, I'm seeking for professional legal advise. If you're very good software engineer or system administrator try to help somebody in other topics where you have solid professional expertise =)</p>

<p>What should and shouldn't happen isn't going to do a damn thing about your passport situation. Your passport isn't being 'held', it's in processing at a place that is currently not operational due to an unprecedented virus outbreak. No one is acting like a criminal or treating you like one, you are just unlucky. If your situation is that dire, you have no choice but to get a temporary passport.</p>

<p>I seriously doubt an Indian court is going to side with you on this one. Just because the passport office is legally allowed to operate, doesn't mean that they are actually able to. If, for example, COVID-19 hit enough of their workforce, they won't have enough people to operate properly and they'll have no choice but to close. And no, '2 or 3 people' is not enough to operate such a large scale, sensitive operation with high security requirements, even just to return passports .</p>

india covid-19 passport