New Passport Application Rules In India

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is the designated governing body authorized with the task of issuing passports to Indian citizens. MEA has amended a few rules in an attempt to reduce the hassles involved in the passport application process. These new changes were announced in December 2016. They aim to make it easier for different categories of applicants, such as orphans, single mothers and government employees, to get their passports with minimum hassle.

Here are the modifications:

• Substitute for the date of birth certificate.

• The MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) has made some new rules pertaining to age proof for passport applications. It says that an individual can also apply for a passport with various other types of documents as DOB proof. The MEA has reviewed the existing rules to help individuals in applying for a passport easily.

• Before announcing these new rules, any applicant born after 26/01/1989 was obligated to provide his/her birth certificate as proof of DOB. The new rules say that any of the following documents can be accepted as proof of DOB:   

  • Birth certificate - issued either by the municipal corporation or by the registrar of births and deaths.
  • Transfer certificate /School leaving /Matriculation certificate - issued by the school last attended.
  • PAN card - issued by the Income Tax Department.
  • Aadhaar card or e-Aadhaar - issued by UIDAI.
  • Driving license - issued by RTO (Regional Transport Department).
  • Voter ID or election photo identity card - issued by the Election Commission of India.
  • A Policy Bond - issued by the Public Life Insurance firms.
  • Service record extract or Pay Pension Order that has the DOB mentioned on it (only applicable for government employees).

Children of single parents

The Women and Child Ministry have influenced the MEA to make various changes to the passport rules. Unlike before, now an applicant may provide the name of only one parent instead of both. Therefore, children of single parents can now apply for passports without going through complicated procedures.

Annexures

The Passport Rule of 1980 asked for 15 annexes which has been brought down to 9. Few of them have been discarded as they were unnecessary, whereas some of them have been merged to simplify the process.

Moreover, these annexures were earlier required to be attested by a notary, an Executive Magistrate or a first class Judicial Magistrate. However, that won't be necessary anymore as the new changes say that there is no need for attestation of annexures. Self-declaration on a plain paper, without attestation, is enough.

Marital status

Mentioning the name of the spouse or stating if a person is married, widowed or divorced is no longer mandatory as well. It was earlier compulsory to submit the marriage certificate with the passport application, irrespective of marital status and also compulsory to mention the spouse's name on the passport.

Orphans and Adopted children

Orphaned children can apply for passports with either a declaration from the head of the orphanage or from a child care home which confirms the applicant's date of birth. A domestically adopted individual can confirm the adoption through declaration on a plain paper instead of providing the registered adoption deed.

Government servants

Government employees, who are unable to procure an annexure B or a no-objection certificate/NOC (annexure M) from their superiors during the urgent need of a passport can submit a self-declaration. This declaration, as per Annexure N, must state that the applicant has given prior intimation to the concerned employer, informing him/her about the passport application.  This annexure has to be submitted to the concerned authorities at the time of applying for an ordinary passport.

Additionally, the government is setting up 'Point of Sale' (POS) machines at various PSKs. This would facilitate various payments and eliminate the need for cash transactions for services like tatkal passports. The MEA has also introduced various methods to reduce time to process passport applications. Moreover, applying for a passport by using Aadhaar expedites the entire process.