Indian passport

Updated on Dec 16, 2023

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Issued by India Purpose Identification		Type of document Passport Eligibility requirements Indian citizenship

Date first issued 1920 (first version) 1986 (current version)) Expiration 10 years after acquisition for those aged 18 or more; otherwise 5 years

An Indian passport is a passport issued by order of the President of India to Indian citizens for the purpose of international travel. It enables the bearer to travel internationally and serves as proof of Indian citizenship as per the Passports Act (1967). The Consular Passport & Visa (CPV) Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, functions as the central passport organisation, and is responsible for issuing Indian passports on demand to all eligible Indian citizens. Indian passports are issued at 93 passport offices located across India and at 162 Indian diplomatic missions abroad.

In 2014, India issued more than 10 million passports, a number exceeded only by China and United States. Approximately 60 million Indians hold valid passports as of November 2014.

Types of passports

Ordinary passport (black cover) is issued to ordinary citizens for ordinary travel, such as for vacation, study and business trips (36 or 60 pages). It is a "Type P" passport, where P stands for personal.

Official passport (white cover) is issued to individuals representing the Indian government on official business. It is a "Type S" passport, S standing for service.

Diplomatic passport (maroon cover) is issued to Indian diplomats, top ranking government officials and diplomatic couriers. It is a "Type D" passport with D standing for diplomatic.

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 Puducherry. These two passports respectively permit travel to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka only and are not valid for travel to other foreign countries.

Physical appearance

Contemporary ordinary Indian passports have a black or deep bluish-black cover with golden coloured printing. The Emblem of India is emblazoned in the centre of the front cover. The words "पासपोर्ट" in Hindi and "Passport" in English are inscribed above the Emblem whereas "भारत गणराज्य" in Hindi and "Republic of India" in English are inscribed below the emblem. The standard passport contains 36 pages, but frequent travellers can opt for a passport containing 60 pages.

Identity Information Page

The Bio data page contains the following information:

Type: "P"- Stands for "Personal", "D"- Stands for "Diplomatic", "S"- Stands for "Service"

Country code: IND

Passport number

Surname

Given name(s)

Nationality

Sex

Date of birth

Place of birth

Place of issue

Date of issue

Date of expiry

Photo of passport holder

Ghost picture of the passport holder (only passports issued since 2015)

Signature of the passport holder

The information page ends with the Machine Readable Passport Zone (MRZ).

The Demographics page at the end of the passport book contains the following information:

Name of father or legal guardian

Name of mother

Name of spouse

Address

Old passport number

File number

Passport note

The passports contain a note from the President of India addressing the authorities of all territories:

The note bearing page is typically stamped and signed by the issuing authority in the name of the President of the Republic of India.

Languages

The text of Indian passports is printed in both Hindi and English, two of the 18 official languages of India.

Emigration check

Holders of Emigration Check Required (ECR) type passports need a clearance called an Emigration Check from the Government of India's Protector of Emigrants when going to selected countries on a work visa. This is to prevent the exploitation of Indian workers (especially the unskilled and less-educated) when going abroad, particularly to Middle Eastern countries. ECR type passport holders travelling on a tourist visa do not need a clearance; this is known as an Emigration Check Suspension.

Emigration Check Not Required (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 (including agricultural income-tax payers) in their individual capacity;

all graduate and professional degree holders (such as doctors, engineers, chartered accountants, scientists, lawyers, etc.);

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 (SCI), 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 (NCVT) or the State Council of Vocational Training (SCVT), 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 (whether in one continuous period or in aggregate), 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.

Features

Since 25 November 2015, Indian passports that are handwritten or with an original date of expiry extending to 20 years have not been valid under ICAO travel regulations. With more recent Indian passports the personal particulars of the passport holder, that were hitherto printed on the inner cover page, are printed on the second page of the document. Another added security feature in the newer non-handwritten passports is a ghost picture of the holder found on the right side of the second page. Apart from stymieing criminals from printing fake passports, recent changes also help prevent smudging of the document because of inkjet printers.

Fees

The price of a standard passport in India:

₹1500- Fresh or Renew passport (36 pages, standard size) with 10 year validity.

₹2000 - Fresh or Renew passport (60 pages, 'jumbo' size) with 10 year validity.

₹3500 - First time applicant or renewal with expedited ('tatkal') service (36 pages) with 10 year validity.

₹4000 - First time applicant or renewal with expedited ('tatkal') service (60 pages) with 10 year validity.

₹1000 - Fresh passport for minors (below 18 years of Age) with 5 year validity or till the minor attains the age of 18, whichever is earlier.

₹3000 - Duplicate passport (36 pages) in lieu of lost, damaged or stolen passport.

₹3500 - Duplicate passport (60 pages) in lieu of lost, damaged or stolen passport.

Indian passports can also be issued outside India, for which fees varies by country.

Passport Seva Kendra

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. The applicant has to apply for fresh/reissue of passport through the Passport Seva system at one of the 77 Passport offices known as "Passport Seva Kendra"s operating throughout the country.

Biometric 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 readers, after which it would generate an access code which then unlocks the chip for reader access.

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. As of 2016, the Government has plans to issue e-passports to all of its citizens. Also the Government has authorized Indian Security Press to float a global three-stage tender for procurement of ICAO-compliant electronic contactless inlays along with its operating system, which is required for the manufacture of Bio metric Passports. The necessary procurement have been initiated by India Security Press, Nasik by calling for Global tender for the supply of electronic contactless inlays. The actual transition to the new age passport is expected to commence on the successful completion of the tendering and procurement process.

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 2017 Passport Index published by Arton Capital, holders of an Indian passport can visit 45 countries and territories visa-free or with visa on arrival, and India is currently ranked 82nd (tied with Laos) globally in terms of travel freedom.

Foreign travel statistics

According to the statistics these are the numbers of Indian visitors to various countries per annum in 2015 (unless otherwise noted):

References

Indian passport Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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