[CA] New colour for Indian Passports

Ministry of External Affairs announced it would end printing family and address information in passports and offer a new jacket colour, based on an emigration check requirement status.

The government has decided to not print the last page of the passport, which contains information like the name of the passport holder’s father, mother or spouse, address, Emigration Check Required (ECR) and any old passport number with the date and place of issue. As the passport’s last page will not be printed now, passport holders with an ECR status would be issued a passport with an orange-coloured jacket. Those with non-ECR status will continue to get blue passports.

The government accepted the recommendation of a three-member committee comprising officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Ministry of Women and Child Development, seeking to examine various issues pertaining to passport applications, such as instances where a mother/child had insisted that the name of the father should not be mentioned in the passport, and passport issues relating to children with single parents and adopted children.

Consequent to that, the government is doing away with the printing of information contained in the passport booklet such as the name of the father/legal guardian, the mother, spouse and an address, contained in the last page of the passport.

No specific date for its implementation has been given as the Indian Security Press (ISP), Nasik, would be designing the new passport booklets in due course. Till such time as the new booklets are designed, manufactured and made available to the MEA, passports will continue to be printed with the last page. Existing passports continue to remain valid till the date of expiry in the passport booklet.

Three types of passports are issued by the government:

(a) Regular Passport — this has a navy blue cover; it is issued to citizens for ordinary travel like vacations and business trips.

(b) Diplomatic Passport — this has a maroon cover; it is issued to Indian diplomats, top-ranking government officials (joint secretary and above) and diplomatic couriers.

(c) Official Passport — this has a white cover; it is issued to individuals representing the Indian government on official business.