Documents Required for Passport Application

I had written a post on How to Get Your Passport Without Stress some time ago. Over the months, I got  many queries on that post…most related to the documents that are required to be submitted along with the application at PSK (Passport Sewa Kendra).

Although the Passport India website has detailed instructions on documents required for passport, I think that excessive information has buried lot of important content, and hence I decided to write this post to help you understand the documents required.

Firstly, please understand that a passport is a travel document, usually issued by a country’s government, that certifies the identity and nationality of its holder for the purpose of international travel. This is a mandatory document for you to travel to countries other than your own. Hence, the issuing authorities have a responsibility to verify your identity before issuing the passport. This implies that the issuing authorities i.e. Ministry of External Affairs will ask you to furnish the documents required for passport application. Secondly, the more documents you have the better. Thirdly, the source of documents is important – which means that those documents / certificates that are issued by various government ministries, departments, offices etc have more weight-age and hence more likely to be accepted. These are then followed by documents issued by Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) like Air India, BSNL, SBI etc and then by those given by reputed educational institutes (IITs, IIMs, NITs etc), reputed companies (TATA, Infosys etc). Fourthly, the documents should be as recent as possible, especially your address proof. Fifthly, while you will be asked to submit a self-attested photocopy of these documents, you MUST carry the original with you to the PSK. Sixthly, all documents should have same name as in your application e.g. if  you filled in your name in the application as Rohit Sharma, and your documents have Rohit Kumar Sharma, then it may be rejected. All documents should have same name.

Therefore, instead of being frustrated with the procedure, understand it, collect the documents and submit them and I can say confidently that you will get the passport easily.

So here are the documents required for passport application that you should provide.

Proof of Address

You can submit one or more of these documents. The more you submit, the better. On case of minors (applicants less than 18 years of age), proof of address of minor’s parents is acceptable. The documents that are acceptable are:

1. Water Bill
2. Telephone (landline or post paid mobile bill)
3. Electricity bill
4. Income Tax Assessment Order
5. Election Commission Photo ID card
6. Proof of Gas Connection
7. Certificate from Employer of reputed companies on letter head (Only public limited companies can give address proof on company letter head along with seal. Computer print-outs without signatures will not be accepted)
8. Spouse’s passport copy (First and last page including family details), (provided the applicant’s present address matches the address mentioned in the spouses passport)
9. Applicant’s current & valid ration card (MUST be accompanied by one more proof of address)
10. Parent’s passport copy, in case of minors(First and last page)
11. Aadhaar Card (If your Aadhaar card issue date is less than a year from passport application processing date at PSK (Passport Sewa Kendra), it should be accompanied by one more proof of address). e.g. if your appointment at the PSK is 01 Jan 2015, and if your AADHAR card has been issued to you later than 31 Dec 2014, then you need to provide one more proof of address.
12. Registered Rent Agreement (for a period of more than one year)
13. Photo Passbook of running Bank Account (Scheduled Public Sector Banks, Scheduled Private Sector Indian Banks and Regional Rural Banks only)

Proof of Date of Birth

Here the documents accepted depends on when you were born i.e. there are different documents if you were born before 26 Jan 1989 (26/01/1989) and different if you were born on or after 26/01/1989

Born Before 26 Jan 1989

You should submit at least ONE of the following documents (the more the better):

1. Birth certificate issued by a Municipal Authority or any office authorized to issue Birth and Death Certificate by the Registrar of Births & Deaths
2. School leaving certificate / Secondary School leaving certificate/ Certificate of Recognized Boards from the school last attended by the applicant or any other recognized educational institution
3. Affidavit sworn before a Magistrate/Notary stating date/place of birth as per the specimen in Annexure ‘A’ by illiterate or semi-illiterate applicants (Less than 5th class)

Born After 26 Jan 1989

1. Birth certificate issued by a Municipal Authority or any office authorized to issue Birth and Death Certificate by the Registrar of Births & Deaths

Non-ECR Category

ECR stands for Emigration Check Required and ECNR stands for Emigration Check Not Required. Emigration Act, 1983 provides that no citizen of India shall migrate unless s/he obtains emigration clearance from Protector of Emigrants. Certain foreign nations do not have strict laws regulating the entry and employment of foreign nationals. They also do not provide avenues for grievance redressal. Thus they have been categorized as ECR countries. Hence, all persons, having ECR endorsed passports and going to any of the ECR countries for taking up a job require emigration clearance. However, ECR passport holders going to any ECR country for purposes other than employment (e.g. tourism, cultural exchange etc) do not require emigration clearance. Currently the ECR countries are UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Malaysia, Libya, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Lebanon, Syria, Thailand, Iraq. Not all passport holders require ECR – it is usually the low-wage worker who goes to say, Gulf nations to work requires ECR. The rest who go to say, the US or Europe for higher education or job, fall in Non-ECR category. So you can submit one or more of the following documents:

1. If you are matriculate or higher qualified, you should submit the Matriculation Pass Certificate (10th / SSC)
2. If you pay Income-Tax (individual, not business) then you can submit either Proof of assessment of income tax and actual payment of income tax for last one year (e.g. Form 16 issued by employer), or I-T Return for last one year that is stamped by income tax authorities
3. All professional Degree holders,(e.g. MBBS, accredited Journalists, B.Tech / BE, CA, Lecturers, Teachers, Scientists, Advocates, etc) should submit certificate of the professional degree held
4. Persons possessing two years diploma from any institute recognized by the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) or State Council of Vocational Training (SCVT), or persons holding three years diploma/equivalent degree from institutions, such as Polytechnics recognized by the Central/State Governments of India can submit Pass Certificate issued by the Institute
5. Nurses possessing qualifications recognized under the Indian Nursing Council Act 1947 can submit Nursing Certificate
6. Persons holding Permanent Immigration Visa, such as the visas of UK, USA and Australia can submit Copy of Immigration Visas, or the Permanent Resident card of the country of stay

Documents for Tatkaal Passport

If you need a passport urgently, you can get a Tatkaal Passport within a week or earlier. In addition to other documents above, you should submit the following:

1. Standard Affidavit as per Annexure ‘I’
2. Verification Certificate as per the specimen as per Annexure ‘F’
OR
2. 3 out of 16 documents listed as under (one MUST be a document with your photo and all documents should have same name)
(a) Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC)
(b) Service Photo Identity Card issued by State/Central Government, Public Sector Undertakings, local bodies or Public Limited Companies
(c) SC/ST/ OBC Certificates
(d) Freedom Fighter Identity Cards
(e) Arms Licenses
(f) Property Documents such as Pattas, Registered Deeds etc
(g) Pension Documents such as ex-servicemen’s Pension Book/Pension Payment order, ex-servicemen’s Widow/Dependent Certificates, Old Age Pension Order, Widow Pension Order
(h) Railway Identity Cards
(i) Rations Cards
(j) Birth Certificates issued under the RBD Act
(k) Student Photo Identity Cards issued by Government Recognized Educational Institutions in respect of full time courses
(l) Driving Licenses (valid and within the jurisdiction of State of submission of application)
(m) Bank/ Kisan/ Post Office Passbooks
(n) Income Tax Identity (PAN) Cards
(o) Gas Connection Bill (of one year before and current bill)
(p) Aadhaar Card

Additional Documents

Sometimes, they may ask for more documents (remember, the passport authorities’ decision on this is final). Some of these may be:

1. Marriage Certificate
2. I-card of education institute (in case studying) or that of your company / department (in case working)
3. PAN card
4. Letter from your MLA / MP / Collector / Magistrate etc
5. Old passport (in case your passport has expired)
6. Any other document

You are therefore advised to read up and collect these documents (photocopies and originals), and take them to the PSK. My suggestion is to place the photocopies and the originals in different folders / envelopes in the same order so you don’t waste time looking for them at the counter. In case there are any discrepancies, do not argue with the PSK staff. Just ask them politely what you need, note it down and seek another appointment (You will NOT be charged extra fee for next appointment in case the PSK staff asks for more documents)

I hope the post was exhaustive enough for you to understand and get the documents required for passport. All the best and questions are welcome. Readers are also requested to post their experiences of additional documents not listed above for the benefit of others.