NEW PASSPORT RULES, YOU NEED TO KNOW

Recently, the Ministry of External Affairs declared new rules for applying for a passport. And here we have rounded up some of the major changes that these new rules have bought in.

• DOCUMENTATION FOR PROOF OF BIRTH

As per old rules, submission of a birth certificate was compulsory for all applicants born on or after 26th January 1989. But the new rules have bought in some relaxation in this regards. Now, any of the following documents containing the Date of Birth (DOB) of the applicant will suffice:

• Birth Certificate (BC) issued by the Registrar of births and deaths or the Municipal Corporation or any other approved authority to register the birth of a child born in India
• Transfer/school leaving/matriculation certificate issued by the school last attended/recognized educational board
• PAN card
• Aadhar card/E-aadhar
• The copy of the service record of the applicant’s (of govt. servants) or the pay pension order (of retired govt. employees), duly attested/in-charge of the administration of the concerned ministry/certified by the officer/ department of the applicant
• Driving license
• Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) issued by the Election Commission of India
• A copy of policy bond issued by the public life insurance companies

• DETAILS OF PARENT/LEGAL GUARDIAN:

In a welcome move, the new passport rules has 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. For spiritually oriented people like Sadhus/Sanyasis, there have provisions made for them to mention the name of their spiritual leader in place of their biological parents.

• ANNEXES

The total number of annexes has been reduced from 15 to 9. Annexes A, C, D, E, J, and K have been eliminated and some of them have also been merged. Lesser annexes means less worry for people to collate documentation.

• 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 means no running around for attestation that one had to do previously.

• 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.

• WORK RELATED URGENT PASSPORTS:
  In case of urgent passports, if a government employee is not able to procure the NOC (no objection certificate) or identity certificate from their employer’s side, 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.

To view the press release from the Ministry of External Affairs with regards to the new passport rules, you can visit their website to gain detailed information.

Overall, this move is set to make the application process easier and hassle-free for everyone. A welcome move, we say!

So don’t use your lack of passport as an excuse not to travel anymore. Apply for one now, and get going. Don’t forget to visit our website to get insured before you leave on your next adventure!