Indian citizens have been advised to apply for urgent re-issuance of their passports in case they have handwritten passports.
In a communiqué, the Indian embassy in Doha has also urged Indian nationals to seek urgent re-issuance if their passports are valid for less than six months and in case of exhaustion of visa pages.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation has set a deadline of November 24, 2015, for globally phasing out all non-machine readable passports (MRPs). From the November 25, foreign governments may deny visa or entry to any person travelling on a non-MRP, according to the communiqué.
The Indian government has been issuing MRPs since 2001. However, passports issued before 2001 and particularly those issued during the mid-1990s with a validity of 20 years will fall in the category of non-MRPs. All handwritten passports with pasted photographs are also considered non-MRPs.
By the end of November 2014, it is estimated that there were approximately 286,000 handwritten passports in circulation. Approximately 60mn Indians hold valid passports.
Indian citizens residing in India and abroad and holding such passports with validity beyond November 24, 2015, have been advised to apply for re-issuance of their passports well before the deadline in order to avoid any inconvenience in obtaining a valid visa for international travel.
Further, the communiqué points out that many international travellers may not realise that having an unexpired passport is sometimes not enough to obtain visas or to enter certain countries. Indian citizens travelling on passports that may expire in less than six months should renew their passports before any upcoming international travel.
It is especially important to check the passport needs of any minor who may be accompanying their parents as passports for minors have a shorter validity period (five years) than those for adults (10 years).
The universal practice in vogue now is “once your passport crosses the nine-year mark, it is time to get a new passport”, the communiqué stresses.
Some countries do not accept passports that may have fewer than two pages remaining. In this context, Indian citizens have been advised to check their passports to ensure that they have enough visa pages. There is no provision of additional booklets/pages and one is required to seek re-issuance of his/her passport following standard procedures. Frequent travellers may opt for the jumbo passport containing 64 pages.
The communiqué notes that all passport issuing authorities have instituted a simple and fast-track procedure for renewal of passports. For more details related to passport services, visit www.passportindia.gov.in or contact the national call centre at 1800-258-1800 (toll-free).
Indian citizens living abroad should visit the website of the respective Indian mission/post.
