Govt makes getting Passport easy -Here is how it will work

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) being the sole governing body for issuing Indian Passports has recently amended rules to make the application process easy and hassle- free. This is surely a welcome move from the Govt.and now more and more people are encouraged to apply for passport for travel abroad.

The new changes brought into effect from 2017 are summarized as under:

1.DOCUMENTATION FOR PROOF OF BIRTH

As per the earlier rules, submitting a birth certificate was compulsory for all applicants born on/after 26th January 1989. Now under the new rules, any of the following documents containing the DOB of the applicant will suffice: Birth certificate as issued by the Registrar of births and deaths or the Municipal Corporation or any other authority empowered to issue the same under the Registration of Births and Death Act of 1969 to register a child’s birth in India.

Transfer/school leaving/matriculation certificate issued by the school last attended/recognized educational board

PAN card

Aadhar card//E-aadhar

Driving license

Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) issued by the Election Commission of India.

Policy bond issued by the public life insurance corporations/companies.

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.

2. DETAILS OF PARENT/LEGAL GUARDIAN:

The new passport rules have done away with the mandate requiring names of both parents at the time of application. An applicant now only needs to provide the name of either one of the parents or the legal guardian. This makes it easier for children with single parents or orphans to apply for a passport. Provisions have also been made for spiritually oriented people (Sadhus/Sanyasis) who can now mention the name of their spiritual leader instead of their biological parents.

3. ANNEXES

The total number of annexes has been bought down from 15 to 9. Annexes A, C, D, E, J, and K have been removed and some of them have also been merged. Lesser annexes means less trouble for applicant to collate documentation

4. ATTESTATION

While all annexes needed attestation from a Notary/Executive Magistrate/First Class Judicial Magistrate previously, henceforth all these annexes can now be in the form of a self-declaration from the applicant on plain paper. This will spare the applicant from running around the authorities for attestation that one used to do previously.

5.MARRIED/DIVORCED PERSONS

The need for a marriage certificate has been discontinued (along with annexure K). Also, in case of a divorce the applicant will not be required to provide the name of their spouse. This is another interesting change that has been made taking into consideration changing societal norms.

6.WORK RELATED URGENT PASSPORTS:

For urgent passports, if a government employee is unable to procure the NOC (no objection certificate) or identity certificate from their employers, they can submit a self-declaration stating that they have given a prior intimation letter to their employer informing that they are applying for an ordinary passport to a passport issuing authority.

The centre has announced that new passports will be dispensed without physical verification. The new plan is to connect the passport verification process with crime and criminal tracking network and system project. this project was first framed by the UPA government in 2009 has now come out. this is just a process to make the process more fast and to get passport sooner.

Mr. Rajive Mehrishi, who is the Union Home Secretary said that the government officials can now get the required information about the applicant from the from the national database of the criminals.

THe delay in this project was found that Mr. Rajnath Singh launches the Digital Police Portal. integrated 15,398 police stations, allowing the citizens to report crimes online.

To view complete details, you can visit website of the Ministry of External Affairs regarding the new passport rules.