MEA to do away with passport address verification

Sick of passports hassles. Here's good news. MEA intends to do away with the address verification system soon.

Obtaining a passport may not be as difficult anymore if a proposal of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to do away with the system of address verification of an applicant receives support.

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The MEA intends to shift to the system of issuing passports only on the basis of identification of an applicant rather than verification of his or her residence by police, sources said in New Delhi on Sunday.

The proposal has been mooted with an aim of reducing delays in issuance of passports, they said. The proposal is awaiting a nod from the Union Home Ministry.

The MEA decided to adopt the 'identity-based passport issuing system' instead of the 'local identity system' after noticing that the delays were caused mainly because of Police verification reports.

Under the 'local identity system' police verifies whether or not an applicant resides at the address furnished in the application form. However, it was noted that sometimes an applicant is compelled to change his residence after submitting his application for passport, causing delays.

The 'identity-based' system is followed by most of the other countries and the MEA resorted to this proposal after realising its advantages, sources said.

MEA is now trying to convince the Home Ministry to shift to the 'identity-based system'.