Ministry of External Affairs has simplified its procedures for issuing passport for minor children, according to Regional Passport Officer S. Maniswara Raja.
The change in procedures has come into force from September 1.
The procedure for applying passport for minor children at the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) with regard to presence of parents is as follows: if both the parents are able to visit the PSK, the passport application with prescribed documents along with Annexure H is enough for applying passport. Annexure H could be submitted in plain paper in the prescribed format.
If only one parent is able to visit the PSK, Annexure G should be submitted in the form of an affidavit on non-judicial stamp paper of minimum value duly attested by a judicial magistrate or an executive magistrate. “Regional passport office, Madurai, will not be responsible for any court cases arising over the issue of passport to a minor from the other parent. The parent who has applied for the passport will be solely responsible,” Mr. Maniswara Raja said.
If one parent is abroad and other parent is in India, Annexure G should be submitted by the parent at the PSK or the parent residing abroad can submit Annexure H duly attested by the Indian Mission/Post abroad and other parent may sign it.
The application can be accepted with the presence of one parent.
If both the parents are residing abroad, they need to appoint a local guardian who can submit the application.
The parents need to make a joint sworn affidavit duly attested by the Indian Mission/Post abroad.
Besides the local guardian of the minor child, if he or she is not the grandparent of the child, one has to submit an affidavit with two responsible persons. Annexure C is applicable where the details and whereabouts of the other parents are not known. The single parent with whom the child is residing may submit Annexure C. Annexure G is applicable in all cases where the parent submitting the application is unable to get the consent of the other parent for obtaining passport of the child. This will include physical unavailability of the other parent at the time of submission of the application.
However, for applications submitted along with Annexure C and Annexure G, passport could be issued only based on police verification report.
