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Passports that are issued under the ‘Tatkal’ scheme can now be obtained by doing the transaction in debit or credit cards in lieu of cash even as the government announced a slew of other measures to make the streamline the process of issuing passports.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will soon be installing card machines in the passport kendras so that even Tatkal passports can be cashless. However, the option of getting the Tatkal passports made in cash also remains, the MEA said here on Friday.
Earlier, Tatkal passports were issued only by using cash.
“In order to streamline, liberalise 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,” the MEA said in a statement here Friday.
DoB proof
As per the extant statutory provisions of the Passport Rules, 1980, all the applicants born on or after January 26, 1989 can now submit any one of the documents – birth certificate, transfer/school leaving/matriculation certificate, PAN card, Aadhaar card, driving license, Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) or policy bond issued by Public Life Insurance Corporations – as proof of their date of birth (DoB) while submitting the passport application.
Also, the online passport application form now requires the applicant to provide the name of father or mother or legal guardian, i.e., only one parent and not both.
Additionally, the total number of Annexes prescribed in the Passport Rule, 1980, has been brought down to 9 from the present 15. 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.
Married applicants would not be required to provide Annexure K or any marriage certificate. In the case of those who are separated or divorced, the passport application form does 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.
In the case of orphaned children who do not have proof of DoB, can now submit a declaration given by the Head of the Orphanage/Child Care Home on their official letter head of the organization confirming the DoB of the applicant.
Interestingly, ‘Sadhus/Sanyasis’ can now apply for a passport with the name of their spiritual Guru mentioned in the passport application in lieu of their biological parents.
The notifications will soon be published in the Official Gazette.
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