The Indian passport is the primary travel document issued by the Government of India
to its citizens.
It enables the bearer to travel internationally and serves as proof of Indian citizenship
as per the "The Passports Act".
The Consular Passport & Visa Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, functioning
as the central passport organisation, is responsible for issuance of Indian passports on demand
to all eligible Indian citizens.
Passports are issued at 37 locations across the country and at 162 Indian missions abroad.
Types of passports Regular passport - Issued to regular citizens
for ordinary travel, such as for vacation, study and business trips.
It is a Type "P" passport - P stands for personal.
Official passport - Issued to individuals representing the Indian government on official
business.
It is a Type "S" passport - S stands for Service.
Diplomatic passport - Issued to Indian diplomats, top ranking government officials and diplomatic
couriers.
It is a Type "D" passport - D stands for Diplomat.
Hajj passport - Issued to Indian Muslims not holding ordinary passport, for Hajj pilgrimage.
In addition, selected passport offices in India as well as overseas missions are authorised
to issue Regular Indo-Bangladesh passports and Indo-Sri Lankan passports, to Indian nationals
resident in West Bengal, the North Eastern States, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.
These two passports respectively permit travel to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka only and are not
valid for travel to other foreign countries.
Physical appearance Indian passports have a deep blue cover with
golden colored content.
Emblem of India is emblazoned in the centre of the front cover.
The words 'पासपोर्ट' and 'Passport' are inscribed above the Emblem whereas 'भारत
गणराज्य' and 'Republic of India' are inscribed below the emblem.
The standard passport contains 36 pages, but frequent travellers can opt for a passport
containing 60 pages.
Passport holder identity Until very recently, Indian passports had
the bearers particulars written by hand, with the passport picture glued to the cover page.
They also lacked the Machine Readable feature available for other country passports.
These older passports looked very unprofessional and the newer passports have identity information
printed on both front and back cover ends.
Both of these pages are laminated to prevent modification.
The opening cover end contains the following information:
Photo of Passport Holder Signature of the passport holder
Type Passport number
Surname Nationality
Gender Date of Birth
Place of birth Place of issue
Date of issue Date of expiry
The information page ends with the Machine Readable Passport Zone.
The closing end contains the following information: Name of father/legal guardian
Name of mother Name of spouse
Address File no.
Passport note The passports contain a note from the President
of India addressing the authorities of all states, identifying the bearer as a citizen
of the Republic of India and requesting and requiring that the bearer be allowed to pass
freely without any hindrance and be assisted and protected in any need.
The note inside of Indian passports states: The note bearing page is typically stamped
and signed by the issuing authority in the name of the President of Republic of India.
New additional security features Personal particulars of the passport holder,
hitherto printed on the inner cover page, would be printed on the second page of the
document.
Another added security feature in the new type of passport is the ghost picture of the
holder, which will be found on the right side of the second page.
The sign and seal of the Regional Passport Officer, hitherto appearing on page 1, will
be shifted to the front inner cover.
The family details of the passport holder — names of father, mother and spouse — and
address, which hitherto appeared on the back inner cover, will be shifted to the penultimate
page of the passport document — page 35 of a 36-page passport booklet.
Apart from stymieing criminals from printing fake passports, the changes will also help
prevent smudging of the document because of inkjet printers.
Emigration check
Indian passport holders are classified as either ECR or ECNR.
Holders of ECR passports need a clearance called an Emigration Check from the Government
of India's Protector of Emigrants when going to select countries on a work visa.
This is to prevent the exploitation of Indian workers when going abroad, particularly to
Middle Eastern countries.
ECR passport holders travelling on a tourist visa do not need a clearance; this is known
as an Emigration Check Suspension.
ECNR status passports are granted to: Indian nationals born abroad;
Indian nationals holding at least a matriculation certificate;
all holders of diplomatic or official passports; all gazetted government servants;
all income-tax payers in their individual capacity;
all graduate and professional degree holders; spouses and dependent children of category
of certain holders of ECNR passports; seamen in possession of a CDC;
Sea Cadets and Deck Cadets who have: passed their final examination on a three-year
B.Sc.
Nautical Sciences Course at T.S.
Chanakya, Mumbai; and undergone three months' pre-sea training at
any of the government-approved training institutes such as T.S.
Chanakya, T.S.
Rehman, T.S.
Jawahar, MTI, or NIPM, Chennai, after production of identity cards issued by the Shipping Master
at Mumbai, Kolkata, or Chennai;
persons holding a Permanent Immigration Visa, such as visas issued by the UK, USA, or Australia;
persons possessing a two years' diploma from any institute recognized by the National Council
for Vocational Training or the State Council of Vocational Training, or persons holding
a three years’ diploma or equivalent degree from an institution such as a polytechnic
recognized by the central or a state government; nurses possessing qualifications recognised
under the Indian Nursing Council Act, 1947; all persons above the age of 50 years;
all persons who have been staying abroad for more than three years, as well as their spouses;
all children up to the age of 18 years.
In accordance with a ruling by the Ministry of External Affairs, passports issued from
2007 onwards do not have the ECNR stamp affixed; instead, a blank page 2 of the passport is
deemed to have been ECNR endorsed.
As a result, only ECR stamps are now affixed to Indian passports.
For passports issued before January 2007, no notation in the passport means ECR.
For passports issued in or after January 2007, no notation in the passport means ECNR.
If Emigration Check is Required, there will be an endorsement in the passport regarding
ECR.
Languages The textual portions of Indian passport are
printed in both Hindi and English, the two main official languages of India.
Visa requirements
Visa requirements for Indian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities
of other states placed on citizens of India.
According to the "Henley Visa Restrictions Index 2014," holders of an Indian passport
can visit 52 countries and territories visa-free or with visa on arrival, and India is currently
ranked 76th in terms of travel freedom.
Fees The cost of obtaining a standard passport
in India: 1500 - Fresh or Renew passport with 10 year
validity.
2000 - Fresh or Renew passport with 10 year validity.
3500 - Fresh or Renew passport with 10 year validity under Tatkal Scheme.
4000 - Fresh or Renew passport with 10 year validity under Tatkal Scheme.
1000 - Fresh passport for minors with 5 year validity or till the minor attains the age
of 18, which ever is earlier.
3000 - Duplicate passport in lieu of lost, damaged or stolen passport.
3500 - Duplicate passport in lieu of lost, damaged or stolen passport.
Indian passports can also be issued outside India, for which fees varies by country.
New passport issuance system
In September 2007, the Indian Union cabinet approved a new passport issuance system under
the Passport Seva Project.
As per the project, front-end activities of passport issuance, dispatch of passports,
online linking with police, and Central Printing Unit for centralised printing of passports
will be put in place.
The new system is trying to be 'timely, transparent, more accessible and reliable manner' for passport
issuance though it has failed in many aspects.
Delays in issuance of passport are quite common.
The applicant has to apply for fresh/reissue of passport through the Passport Seva system
at one of the 77 Passport Seva Kendras operating throughout the country.
e-Passport India has recently initiated the first phase
of biometric e-passport for Diplomatic passport holders in India and abroad.
The new passports have been designed locally by the Central Passport Organisation, the
India Security Press and IIT Kanpur.
It contains a security chip with all personal data and digital images.
In the first phase new passports will have a 64KB chip carrying a photograph of the passport
holder and in subsequent phases it will have a fingerprint.
The new passport has already been tested with passport readers in the United States and
has 4-second response time, while the US Passport has 10-second response time.
It need not be carried in a metal jacket for security reasons.
It will first need to be skimmed through a reader, after which it would generate an access
code which then unlocks the chip for reader access.
The Indian missions in the UAE started issuing machine-readable passports - or electronic
passports as they are called from 2006.
In India the e-passport is under its first phase of deployment and is restricted to Diplomatic
passport holders.
On 25 June 2008 the Indian Passport Authority issued the e-passport to the then President
of India, Pratibha Patil.
See also British Indian passport
Visa requirements for Indian citizens Indian nationality law
Overseas citizenship of India The Passports Act
Interactive map of places that can be visited by an Indian passport holder
References
External links Indian Passport Office
Passport ranking and list of Visa Free countries IATA Visa guide
Wikivisa: India Passport Appointment
Passport Services in Mobile App of Ministry of External Affairs India
Types of Passports