RETIRED
DEFENCE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION (RDOA)
WISHES ALL ITS MEMBERS AND VETERANS & THEIR
FAMILIES A “VERY HAPPY DIWALI”
President, RDOA
9871351203, 9212252627
The
Ministry of External Affairs just recently announced a new set of rules for
applying for a passport. And we’ve summarized some of the major changes that
these new rules have bought in.
- DOCUMENTATION FOR PROOF OF BIRTH
As
per the earlier rules, submitting a birth certificate was compulsory for all
applicants born on/after 26th January
1989. But the new rules have bought in a relaxation in this regards. Now, any
of the following documents containing the DOB of the applicant will suffice:
- Birth
Certificate (BC) issued by the Registrar of births and deaths or the
Municipal Corporation or any other prescribed authority whosoever has been
empowered under the Registration of Birth & Deaths Act, 1969 to
register the birth of a child born in India
- Transfer/school
leaving/matriculation certificate issued by the school last
attended/recognised educational board
- PAN
card
- Aadhar
card/E-aadhar
- Copy
of the extract of the service record of the applicant (only in respect of
Government servants) or the pay pension order (in respect of retired
government servants), duly attested/certified by the officer/in-charge of
the administration of the concerned ministry/department of the applicant
- Driving
license
- Election
Photo Identity Card (EPIC) issued by the Election Commission of India
- Policy
bond issued by the public life insurance corporations/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. Provisions have also been made for spiritually oriented people
(Sadhus/Sanyasis) who can now mention the name of their spiritual leader
instead of their biological parents.
The
total number of annexes has been bought down from 15 to 9. Annexes A, C, D, E,
J, and K have been removed and some of them have also been merged. Lesser
annexes means less trouble for you to collate documentation.
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 will spare
you all the running around for attestation that you would have 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:
For
urgent passports, if a government employee is unable to procure the NOC
(no objection certificate) or identity certificate from their employers,
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 regarding the new
passport rules, you can visit their website which
has the complete details.
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.
President, RDOA
9871351203, 9212252627
