Passport police verification pleas shoot up for to pre-Covid level in Pune

The Pune police has processed 84,818 passport verification applications from January till September 25 this year, an indication that verification will be back to pre-Covid levels

The Pune police has processed 84,818 passport verification applications from January till September 25 this year, an indication that verification will be back to pre-Covid levels.

During 2021 when Covid pandemic largely dominated the year, Pune police had received 97,262 verification applications while the same was 66,430 in 2020 (REPRESENTATIVE IMAG)

During 2021 when Covid pandemic largely dominated the year, Pune police had received 97,262 verification applications while the same was 66,430 in 2020 when virus attacked the city. These numbers were far lower compared to 133,906 applications in 2019 and 143,070 in 2018.

According to the passport branch officials, the number of citizens applying for passport applications has gone up with the significant reduction in restrictions for international travel for leisure, work and studies abroad. With festive season ahead, the passport department as well as city police expect further rush of applications in the next three months.

The Pune police stated that the number of passport applications has gone up and will reach the pre-pandemic level of 2018 and 2019 till the end of 2022.

The Special Branch (SB) of city police conducts verification of passport applicants based on personal documents which arrive at the police commissionerate from the Pune Passport Office. The data is shared with thirty police stations where the specified police staff conduct verification and submit their reports back to SB for final release to the Regional Passport Office (RPO).

According to deputy commissioner of police (special branch) Raja Ramaswami, Pune has a high floating population and being a business hub, a lot of people keep coming to the city. “Different types of professionals reside in the city who need passports. Also there has been a huge backlog of those professionals who did not apply for passports during Covid period. All these are reasons behind the increase in the number of passport applications.”

Another reason, officials said, is quick verification of the applications, which is the process initiated by the police, wherein the verification is done within seven days compared with earlier span of 10-12 days which has helped bring significantly reduced passport pendency. Also, the Special Branch (SB) has brought its verification process period to eight days instead of 21 days, thereby significantly improving the pace of passport verification at the police commissionerate.

Immigration consultants and international educational service providers attributed the rise in passport applications to a number of job opportunities created in Australia, Europe. “A number of people are keen to migrate to countries like Canada , Australia, New Zealand, Western Europe and other far-off destinations. The reduction in passport verification time has also boosted the prospects of the candidates who want to reach their destinations at the earliest ,” said Tejender Singh Sodhi, an immigration expert.

Tour operator Shaukat Tamboli said, “A number of youth are opting to travel to holy cities of Mecca and Madina for Hajj and Umrah and so the applications are going up. Now with Covid-19 being reduced, citizens are being more confident in exploring the world.”