Applying for a passport? The rules have changed!

The year is 2017 and almost everyone has a passport. People have started traveling overseas for personal as well as professional reasons more than they ever did before. The number of Indians going to study abroad has also risen in the past couple of years and the best part is that the world has never been so well connected before!

However even after all this, there are still people who are apprehensive over traveling abroad. One primary reason being that they still do not possess a passport and find it extremely cumbersome to apply for one.

Getting a government ID or processing government documents is a process, far too complicated and time consuming - such a perception is still held by a lot of people in our country which is why people think twice and maybe even thrice before applying for a passport. What is worse is how the rules set by the Ministry of External Affairs in India used to actually feed to this perception of the people.

But now thankfully times and the rules, both have changed and this change has been really welcomed by the Indian citizens. The ministry very recently changed the rules for passport application and made the entire procedure much more hassle-free and quick.

Given below are the newly made rules to apply for a passport in India,

• A DOCUMENT GIVING PROOF OF DATE OF BIRTH : Now a person can submit anyone out of these documents to prove their date of birth:
  PAN Card/ Driving license/ Aadhar card/ Voter's id/ Birth certificate which has been issued by the registrar or the municipal corporation or by an authority recognized under the registrar of birth & deaths act (1969) / TC or school leaving certificate of the school last attended/Matriculation certificate by a recognized educational board.
• DETAILS OF THE LEGAL GUARDIAN/PARENT : An applicant now can provide the name of any one of his parents/legal guardians. This new rule allows people with single parents or even orphans to apply for a passport without any hassles.
• ATTESTATION : All documents and annexes now can be self-attested and self-declared which spare the applicant the running around to magistrate offices and to notaries to get documents attested. Prior to this change, all documents had to be attested from a Notary or a Magistrate's office before application.
• MARRIED/DIVORCED PEOPLE : An applicant now is no longer required to submit his or her marriage certificate while applying to the passport office. Furthermore, a divorcee is under no compulsion to mention the name of their partner. This has been a welcome change given how the social norms and the mindset of the people have changed so much!
• WORK RELATED/URGENT PASSPORTS :

  The older rule made it compulsory for an employee to submit a No-objection-certificate, from the employer, to the passport authority while applying. However now, an employee can even submit a self-declaratory letter which states that the employer is aware of the employee's applications for a passport.

  These new rules have been welcomed by the people as it surely makes the overall process of applying for a passport much easier and less time consuming. Now don't let the fact that you don't possess a passport ruin your travel aspirations and desires.

  Once made, a passport can even be used as an identity proof therefore it is amply clear that having a passport in today's time is very much needed. Go out there and apply for your passport today and get packing already!

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