Third sex now an option in Indian Passport forms
A step has been taken by Indian Bureaucracy to enlist Eunuchs by giving the option to enter their sex as 'E' instead of either 'M' or 'F' in passport application forms on the net. According to Gender Rights Activists says that it is the first time that Eunuchs as a social grouping found a place in Official Indian forms, with the provision of a 'third sex' category on Indian passport Application. However this move is welcome by the activist and they say that the use of the word 'eunuch' ignores the existence other transgenders.More
Indian students gets passport pass back' facility , UK relaxes visa norms
April 16, 2014
Initiative is taken by UK government in order to woo the Indian students studying in United Kingdom.The UK govt is planning to introduce a new 'passport pass back facility' in which the applicant can get their passport shortly after necessary scrutiny is over.Visa processing can continue.This is the new step which is going to help the student in order to receive passport before Visa. More
Indian Embassy in US outsources visa, passport services to new firm
May 08. 2014
The Indian Embassy in the US has announced to outsource its passport and visa related services to a new company for all its diplomatic missions in America following complaints against the current service provider. Cox & King Global Services Ltd will replace the existing BLS International Limited and would offer its services from May 21 at all Indian diplomatic posts in the US, according to a statement by the Indian Embassy. Read more
Pending passports to be sent by April second week
April 4, 2014
By printing 2,800 passports a day against the regular 1,600, the Regional Passport Office (RPO), Bangalore, is hopeful of dispatching all pending passports by April 15.“Our personnel are working overtime and even on holidays. We will be able to clear the backlog by the end of April second week,” said Regional Passport Officer P.S. Karthigeyan.Read More
Bangalore: Passport Mela helps 2,000+ applicants
Feb 16, 2014
To expedite the application process in view of the high demand for passports, a Passport Mela was organised on Saturday from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm at the four Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) in Karnataka.At the PSKs on Lalbagh Road and in Marathahalli in Bangalore, about 2,000 appointments were made available to passport seekers, who visited the PSK to get their passport applications processed. The appointment slots to register for the Mela were made available from February 10. On Saturday, a total of 1,768 tokens were issued during the Mela.Read More
India to issue e-passports with biometric data by 2015
Feb 13, 2014
Indian citizens are likely to get electronic passports embedded with biometric information from next year in order to ensuring greater security and transparency, the country’s Ministry of External Affairs has informed. Chief Passport Officer, Muktesh Pardeshi shared, “A Task Force has been set up to look into the e-passport project, which has held deliberations with different stakeholders. We are planning to start issues e-passports to new applicants by next year.”Read More
UK visa: Online payment must for Indians from Dec 16
December 05, 2013
All Indians seeking British visa will have to pay the visa fees online through debit or credit cards as other mode of payments such as cash or demand draft will be discontinued from December 16. Britain's Immigration Regional Director for Central and South Asia Thomas Greig said the new initiative has been taken as part of efforts to streamline the visa application process and to make it consistent with the wider global trend.Read More
ICAO sets Nov 2015 deadline to phase out handwritten passports
December 09, 2013
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) plans to phase out all non-Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) by 2015."The ICAO has set a deadline of November 24, 2015 for globally phasing out all non-Machine Readable Passports," Jammu passport officer Rajinder Gupta said on Monday.Read More
India-Bangladesh Passport to be discontinued from November 15
November 11, 2013
The India-Bangladesh Passport (IBP) will be discontinued with effect from November 15 this year."Pursuant to the signing of the Revised Travel Arrangements (RTA) between India and Bangladesh signed on January 28, 2013, it has been decided by the Ministry of External Affairs to discontinue issuance of IBP with effect from November 15, 2013," Passport Granting Officer (Administration) under Regional Passport Office here said in a release today.Read More