New Indian passport

Liberalized New Indian passport rules – Announced by Ministry of External Affair

India’s Ministry of External Affair (MEA) has announced new passport rules that are more relaxed and aimed at simplifying the process of issue of passport. People will now be able to get their passports created in a hassle-free, transparent and reliable manner.  The new rules have introduced changes in various categories including orphaned children, single mothers, government employees, Sadhus/Sanyasis among others.

According to the ministry “In order to streamline, liberalize and ease the process of issue of passport, the Ministry of External Affairs has taken a number of steps in the realm of passport policy which is expected to benefit the citizens of India applying for a passport”. Ms. Swaraj termed these changes as necessary and significant. She has sought feedback on the new passport rules.

Listed below are the new changes which have been introduced as reported by a press release on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) website – 

1.)  PROOF OF DATE OF BIRTH

Earlier as per the extant statutory provisions of the Passport Rules, 1980 all the applicants born on or after January 26, 1989 had to submit the birth certificates as the proof of date of birth (DOB) in order to get a passport. But  now the applicants of passports can submit any one of the following documents as the proof of DOB while submitting the passport application:-

1.  Birth Certificate (BC) issued by the Registrar of Births & Deaths or the Municipal Corporation or any other prescribed authority whosoever has been empowered under the Registration of Birth & Deaths Act, 1969 to register the birth of a child born in India.
2.  Transfer/School leaving/Matriculation Certificate issued by the school last attended/recognized educational board containing the DOB of the applicant.
3.  PAN Card issued by the Income Tax Department with the DOB of an applicant.
4.  Aadhar Card/E-Aadhar having the DOB of an applicant.
5.  The copy of the extract of the service record of the applicant (only in respect of Government servants) or the Pay Pension Order (in respect of retired Government Servants), duly attested/certified by the officer/in-charge of the Administration of the concerned Ministry/Department of the applicant, having his DOB.
6.  Driving license issued by the Transport Department of concerned State Government, having the DOB of an applicant.
7.  Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) issued by the Election Commission of India having the DOB of the applicant.
8.  Policy Bond issued by the Public Life Insurance Corporations/Companies having the DOB of the holder of the insurance policy.

2.)  Name of only one parent or legal guardian required

Earlier the names of both the parents were mandatory to be provided at the time of applying for the passport. But the online passport application form now requires the applicant to provide the name of father or mother or legal guardian, i.e only one parent and not both. This would enable single parents to apply for passports for their children and to also issue passports where the name of either the father or the mother is not required to be printed at the request of the applicant.

3.)  Number of annexes reduced

Earlier there were 15 total annexes. But now it has been brought down to nine from the present 15.  Annexes A, C, D, E, J and K have been removed and certain annexes have been merged. All annexes that are required to be given by applicants would be in the form of a self-declaration on a plain paper. No attestation or swearing by or before any notary/executive magistrate/first class judicial magistrate would be henceforth necessary.

4.)  No marriage certificate required

Married applicants would not be required to provide Annexure K or any marriage certificate. The passport application form does not require the applicant to provide the name of her/his spouse in case of separated or divorced persons. Such applicants for passports would not be required to provide even the divorce decree.

5.) Orphaned children

Orphaned children who do not have any proof of DOB such as Birth Certificate or the Matriculation Certificate or the declaratory Court order, may now submit a declaration given by the Head of the Orphanage/Child Care Home on their official letterhead of the organization confirming the DOB of the applicant.

6.) Children not born out of wedlock and adopted children

In the case of children not born out of wedlock, the applicant for the passport of such children should submit only Annexure G while submitting the passport application.

For adopted children, submission of the registered adoption deed would no longer be required. In the absence of any deed to this effect, the passport applicant may give a declaration on a plain paper confirming the adoption.

7.) Government Servants without an NOC

Government servants, who are not able to obtain the Identity Certificate (Annexure-B)/ No-Objection Certificate (Annexure-M) from their concerned employer and intend to get the passport on urgent basis can now get the passport by submitting a self-declaration. Annexure-‘N’ that he/she has given prior Intimation letter to his/her employer informing that he/she was applying for an ordinary passport to a Passport Issuing Authority.

8.)  Sadhus can apply with guru’s name

Sadhus/ Sanyasis can apply for a passport with the name of their spiritual Guru mentioned in the passport application in lieu of their biological parent(s) name(s) subject to their providing of at least one public document such as Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) issued by the Election Commission of India, PAN card, Adhar Card, etc wherein the name of the Guru has been recorded against the column(s) for parent(s) name(s).

So, these were some of the changes in the Indian Passport Rules. That would further ease the process for passport applicants in getting their Passport in the timely, transparent and reliable manner. The ministry has also started the passport Seva on Twitter by launching Twitter accounts for its regional passport offices in India and its missions abroad.