The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has simplified the process for passports by making liberal changes in the rules. These include removing the clause of seeking the name of spouse for divorced and separated women, and requirement of a certificate of non-consent from a parent for a child born out of wedlock. Simplified norms will also do away with the need for married applicants to submit their marriage certificate. For date of birth (DoB), the applicants will now have the options to submit different documents, including Aadhaar card and life insurance certificate, in case a birth certificate is not available.
The MEA will also no more insist for attestation and gazetted officer-verified documents from applicants. “We trust our people. Hence, we have done away with these requirements for filing affidavits,” said VK Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs. MEA expects that the new changes in the Passport Rules would ease the process for passport applicants in getting their travel document.
The rules regarding women and children were changed on the recommendations of a three-member committee comprising officials from the MEA and the Ministry of Women and Child Development. The committee was constituted to examine issues pertaining to passport applications where mother or child has insisted that the name of the father should not be mentioned in the passport. It also looked at issues relating to passport for adopted children and those with single parent.
Based on this committee’s suggestions, the MEA has decided that the online passport application form will now have the applicant to provide 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.
Simplifying the procedures, the Government has also reduced the total number of Annexes from 15 to 9. All the Annexes that are required to be given by the applicants would be in the form of a self-declaration on a plain paper. Attestation/swearing by/before any Notary/Executive Magistrate/First Class Judicial Magistrate would not be necessary now.
However, in case of children born out of wedlock, the applicant needs to submit only an affidavit under Annexure G stating details while submitting the passport application.
Married applicants would not be required to provide any marriage certificate or sworn affidavit before a magistrate. The passport application form will also 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.
Orphaned children who do not have any proof of Date of Birth such as Birth Certificate or the Matriculation Certificate or the declaratory Court order, can now submit a declaration given by the Head of the Orphanage/Child Care Home on their official letter head of the organisation confirming the DoB of the applicant. In case of issue of passport to in-country domestically 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.
Government servants, who are not able to obtain the Identity Certificate/No-Objection Certificate from their concerned employer and intend to get the passport on urgent basis can now get the passport by submitting a self-declaration that he/she has given prior intimation letter to employer.
There was a demand from Sadhus and Sanyasis to allow them use their spiritual gurus name in lieu of their biological parent. The MEA has decided to allow this only if the Sadhus and Sanyasis provide at least one public document such as Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC), PAN card, Aadhar Card, etc where the name of the Guru has been recorded against the column for parent’s name.
With regard to date of birth certificate, applicants born on or after 26/01/1989, had to mandatorily submit the Birth Certificate as the proof. However, such people now have the option to submit either a Birth Certificate, or Transfer/School leaving/Matriculation Certificate issued by the school, PAN Card, Aadhar Card, Copy of the extract of the service record of the applicant (in case of Government servants) or the Pay Pension Order, driving licence, Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) and Policy Bond issued by the Public life Insurance Companies having the DoB of the holder of the insurance policy.
The Government will soon also allow online payment for Tatkal passports which at present is made in cash. Efforts are on to ustilise head post offices as passport sewa kendras in a bid to reach out to more people.