What is a Passport?
A passport is an evidence which provides information about the passport holder’s nationality. If the passport holder travels to other countries, a passport is essential to regain entry into their country of citizenship.
A passport is a formal document issued by the country’s authorised officials to the citizens. In India, the Ministry of External Affairs will issue a passport to the citizens. Most people know the Blue coloured passport, a type of passport common to all Indian Citizens. But there are certainly other types of passports issued by the Ministry, which are explained below.
Passport Types
| Regular Passport | Service Passport | Diplomatic Passport | ECR Holders |
| The cover is Navy blue in colour | The cover is White in colour | The cover is Maroon in colour | The cover is Orange in colour |
| Used for regular (leisure or business) travel | Issued to Indian government officials to travel abroad for official purposes | Issued to people with Diplomatic status and high-profile senior government officials | Provided to people with ECR (Emigration Check Required) holder |
Regular passport (Blue colour)
A blue passport is an ordinary passport issued to the common citizen of India. This passport differs from other passports with official status. This colour passport is issued to the general public who travel for leisure and business purposes.
This passport helps the foreign authorities to differentiate Indian government officials of high rank from the general public.
Diplomatic passport (Maroon colour)
Maroon colour passport is issued to senior government officials and Indian diplomats. A separate application has to be filled out to get such a high-quality passport.
Visa is not required for officials who are holding a Maroon passport. These passport holders can clear the immigration formalities faster than the blue passport.
Service passport (White colour)
Only Indian government officials working at Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Police Service department will use this white colour passport.They use this passport for travelling abroad (outside the country) for official purposes.
The white colour of the passport helps customs and immigration officials to identify that thispassport holder is a government official and gives due treatment to them.
Orange passport (in the pipeline)
Orange passports are issued to Indians who have not studied beyond class 10. This passport does not contain the last page that deals with the passport holder’s address.
People who are not educationally qualified will fall under ECR (Emigration Check Required) category. This passport is introduced to ensure the safe travel and stay of Indians who are not educationally qualified.
How to Get a Passport?
The applicant can get their passport after submitting the passport application form to Passport Office either online or offline. After submission, the applicant must visit the Passport Office on the scheduled date and is asked to show the required original documents. After completing these processes, applicants can get their passports within 30 to 45 days.
The required documents for applying for a passport are listed as follows.
Address proofs
Bank passbook photocopy
Water bill
Electricity bill
Rental agreement
Voter ID
Gas connection proof
Age proof
Birth certificate
Policy bond issued by the Insurance Company
Aadhaar card
How to Apply for it?
To get a fresh passport or re-issue of a passport, the applicant must fill in the passport application form. The passport application form can be submitted either online mode or offline.If the applicant is willing to submit the application form through offline mode, they can directly visit the Passport Office or Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) or District Passport Cell (DPC). The steps to apply for a passport are listed below.
Step 1: Visit the online portal of “Passport Seva” and click the “New user Registration” link on the home page to register.
Step 2: Login to Passport Seva Portal using your Register ID.
Step 3: Click the “Apply for Passport/Re-issue of Passport” link based on your requirement.
Step 4: After filling in the required details in the passport application, click “Submit” option.
Step 5: After applying, click on the “Pay and Schedule Appointment” link.
(Note: for booking an appointment in Passport Seva Kendra, online payment is mandatory)
The available payment options are,
Credit/Debit card (Visa/Master Card)
Internet Banking (SBI, SBI-associated Banks and Other Banks)
SBI Challan
Step 6: After completing your payment, click on “Print Application Receipt” link.
(Note: the payment receipt is printed because the Application Reference Number (ARN) is present in it.)
Step 7: Visit the Passport Office on the scheduled date with your original documents.
Conclusion
To travel abroad, a passport is essential. This document can be used for various reasons, including school enrolment and registration to obtain a driver’s license.
So, before applying for a passport, it is recommended to know the different types of Indian passports and the eligibility parameters required to acquire them.
