Know more about your Indian Passport
by James Lincoln Technology AdvisorIndian Passports are issued by
the president of Indian for the purpose of international travel. Citizens who
acquire Indian citizenship by birth or naturalization are eligible to apply for
a Passport. The Passport enables its holder to travel internationally while
functioning as a proof of Indian citizenship. The Passport Act (1967) outlines
the guidelines and regulations pertaining to Indian Passports. Under the
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Passport Seva Kendras (PSK) of the
Consular, Passport & Visa (CPV) manages the application and issuance of Indian Passport to all
eligible applicants. Currently, there are over 93 offices in India and 162
diplomatic missions abroad which are issuing Indian Passports.
Types of Passports in India
In India, most Passports are
issued with 60 pages, however, individuals can also request a Passport with 60
pages. The Government of India issues
the following three types of Passports to the citizens of India:
●
Ordinary
Passport – This is the most common type of Passport issued for the purpose
of ordinary travel. Whether the Passport is required for a travel plan to
another country for vacation, education or for business requirements,
applicants can apply for the Ordinary Passport which will have a dark blue
cover. Categorized as “P” (personal) Passport, applicants can apply for an
Ordinary Passport with either 36 pages or 60 pages.
●
Official
Passport – Often referred as the Service Passport, the Official Passports
are issued with white cover. These Passports are issued to those individuals
who represent the Government of India on official business trips to other
countries. The Official Passports are categories as ‘’S”’ Passport where the
letter S indicates Service.
●
Diplomatic
Passport – The Diplomatic Passports are issued with maroon cover. Many Indian diplomats, government
officials, and diplomatic couriers are provided with the Diplomatic Passport.
The Diplomatic Passports are categories as ‘’D”’ Passport where the letter D
indicates Diplomatic.
Passport Note
All types of Indian Passports
carry a note from the President of India which is addressed to all the
authorities and territories. The note reads ‘’These are to request and require
in the Name of the President of the Republic of India all those whom it may
concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance, and to
afford him or her, every assistance and protection of which he or she may stand
in need. - By order of the President of the Republic of India.”
Machine-Readable Passports
Earlier, Indian Passports were
handwritten and offered validity of 20 years, however, since November 2015, the
Government of India started issuing machine-readable Passports. International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) travel regulations introduced the
machine-readable Passport to eliminate the printing of fake Passports and also
to implement an efficient Passport processing system.
Impounding of Passport
Passports can be impounded by the authorities for the following
reasons:
●
If the Passport is obtained by providing wrong
information/documents.
●
If the Passport affects the interests of the
sovereignty and integrity of India.
●
If the Passport affects friendly relations of
India with any foreign country.
●
If the Passport threatens the security of India.
, or in the interests of the general public;
●
If the Passport holder has been imprisoned for
more than two years and convicted by a court in India for an offence resulting
from moral turpitude.
●
If the Passport holder has restrictions on
applying for a Passport.
●
If the Passport is being used for any action against
the specified regulations under the Passport Act, 1967.
Applying for an Indian Passport
Indian citizens by birth and
naturalization can get in touch with the Passport Seva Kendra and a Diplomatic
Mission abroad to carry out the application for an Indian Passport. The
applicant will need to fill
in the application form online and schedule an appointment to provide
bio metric details and/or other required documents. Once the application form is
submitted along with the required documents and the applicable fee is paid, the
applicant will need to go through the police verification. After successful
verification, the applicant is provided with the Passport. Recently, the
Government of India has eased the Passport application policies by accepting
various other types of documents as the Proof of Birth instead of the Birth
Certificate itself. Moreover, the application policies have also been relaxed
for divorced/widowed individuals and various other applicants of other
categories.
Passport Application Fee
Depending on the type, speed of
processing, and the number of pages, the following fee must be paid by the
applicant while applying for a Passport:
Type of Application |
Speed |
Number of Pages |
Validity |
Fee |
Fresh issuance or renewal of Passport |
Normal |
36 |
10 |
Rs.1,500 |
Fresh issuance or renewal of Passport |
Normal |
60 |
10 |
Rs.2,000 |
First-time applicant or renewal |
Tatkal |
36 |
10 |
Rs.3,500 |
First-time applicant or renewal |
Tatkal |
60 |
10 |
Rs.4,000 |
Fresh Passport issuance for minors (below 18 years) |
Normal |
36 |
5 |
Rs.1,000 |
Duplicate Passport |
Normal |
36 |
Same as Original |
Rs.3,000 |
Duplicate Passport |
Normal |
60 |
Same as Original |
Rs.3,500 |
The fee for
Indian Passports issued by one of the diplomatic missions outside of India
will depend on the country from where the application is being initiated.
Passport Seva Kendra
In September 2007, the Government
of India introduced Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) to provide fast and efficient
Passport services to the citizens of India. There are over 77 PSKs throughout
India which are responsible for managing Passport related services such as
application, issuance, etc.
Biometric Passports
The Government of India is also
working towards introducing e-Passports which will contain the biometric
details of the holder. Currently, the e-Passports are only issued to Diplomatic
Passport holders but the government has plans to convert the Ordinary Passports
to e-Passports in the coming years. The e-Passport will be machine-readable
where a chip will have all the details of the holder including a digital image.
Raking – Indian Passport
According to Global Passport
Power Rank 2017, Indian Passports rank at the 55th position. Based
on the cross-border access pertaining to visa-free movement allowed to the
Passport, the global index ranks the Passports of various countries. Being at
the 55th position, Indian Passport holders can visit 59 countries
with e-visa, visa on arrival, and visa-free arrival facility. The list of 59 countries are mentioned
below:
Antarctica |
Ecuador |
Haiti |
Micronesia |
Samoa |
Timor-Leste |
Bahrain |
El Salvador |
Indonesia |
Moldova |
São Tomé and Príncipe |
Togo |
Ethiopia |
Jamaica |
Montserrat |
Senegal |
Trinidad and Tobago |
|
Bolivia |
Fiji |
Jordan |
Myanmar |
Seychelles |
Turks & Caicos Islands |
Cambodia |
FYRO Macedonia |
Kenya |
Nepal |
Somalia |
Tuvalu |
Cape Verde |
Gabon |
Laos |
Palau |
South Korea |
Uganda |
Comoros |
Georgia |
Madagascar |
Rwanda |
Sri Lanka |
Vanuatu |
Cote d’Ivoire |
Grenada |
Maldives |
Saint Kitts and Nevis |
Svalbard |
Zambia |
Djibouti |
Guinea-Bissau |
Mauritania |
Saint Lucia |
Tanzania |
Zimbabwe |
Dominica |
Guyana |
Mauritius |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
Thailand |
|
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Created on Jan 12th 2018 03:06. Viewed 805 times.