In order to streamline, liberalize and ease the process of issue of passport, the Ministry of External Affairs has taken a number of steps in the realm of passport policy which is expected to benefit the citizens of India applying for a passport.

As per the Indian Passport Rules, 1980,  for all applicants born after January 26th 1989, it was mandatory to submit Birth Certificate as a proof of Date of Birth (DoB) to apply for Indian Passport. The Ministry of External Affairs has passed the new rules that will allow any Indian Citizen to apply for Indian Passport with any one of the documents that bears the Date of Birth (DoB)  – transfer/school-leaving/matriculation certificate, PAN card, Aadhaar card/E-Aadhaar with the DOB, a copy of the extract of the service record of the person, driving licence, Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) issued by the Election Commission or LIC policy bond.

The online Indian passport application now requires the applicant to provide the name of father, mother or legal guardian, i.e, 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 mother is not required to be printed at the request of the applicant.

The Passport application form does not now 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.

The ministry has also granted the Sadhus and Sanyasis (Sage) to write the names of their gurus instead of parents. But they have to provide at least one public document such as EPIC, PAN card or Aadhaar card, wherein the name of the guru has been recorded against the column(s) for parent(s) name(s).

Even Orphaned children, who do not have any proof of DOB like a birth certificate or matriculation certificate or the declaratory court order, may now submit a declaration given by the head of the orphanage or child care home.

The Ministry expects that the above changes in the Passport Rules would further ease the process for passport applicants in getting their Passport. At the same time, it would enable to continue to deliver passport related services to the citizens in a timely, transparent, more accessible, reliable manner and in a comfortable environment through streamlined processes and committed, trained and motivated workforce. To learn more about how to apply for Indian Passport, go to Indian Passport Section