Passport application simplified for Govt employees
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Bengaluru: Spelling good news for government employees, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has simplified the process of applying for a passport.
Government employees as well as those working in public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies will no longer have to take a no-objection certificate (NOC) from their departments. Instead, they simply have to submit a ‘prior intimation’ letter to the Regional Passport Office while applying for a passport.
This new procedure comes close on the heels of the Bengaluru Regional Passport Office (RPO) taking back the privilege that government employees and their dependents had to walk in without prior appointments.
While on the one hand, one facility was withdrawn, with the new move, the prospect of having a passport for government employees will not hinge on a certificate issued by their departments.
However, this also means that they will now be treated on a par with other regular applicants, Regional Passport Officer P.S. Karthigeyan said. They will have to undergo police verification before getting a passport in hand henceforth.
“Earlier, they would have got a passport with the NOC and the police verification could be done later. But now, the verification precedes the issuance of passport. Many employees found it difficult to get the NOC, which is why the MEA introduced this measure. This is a one-way communication from the employee saying he/ she is applying for a passport. If the departments have objections to make, they will do so directly with the RPO,” explained Mr. Karthigeyan.
But family members of the employees will have to undergo the regular procedures of applying for a passport, unlike earlier, where they too qualified under the walk-in category.
The Bengaluru RPO had an average of 15 to 20 such applicants, including dependents, each day.
Government employees as well as those working in public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies will no longer have to take a no-objection certificate (NOC) from their departments. Instead, they simply have to submit a ‘prior intimation’ letter to the Regional Passport Office while applying for a passport.
This new procedure comes close on the heels of the Bengaluru Regional Passport Office (RPO) taking back the privilege that government employees and their dependents had to walk in without prior appointments.
While on the one hand, one facility was withdrawn, with the new move, the prospect of having a passport for government employees will not hinge on a certificate issued by their departments.
However, this also means that they will now be treated on a par with other regular applicants, Regional Passport Officer P.S. Karthigeyan said. They will have to undergo police verification before getting a passport in hand henceforth.
“Earlier, they would have got a passport with the NOC and the police verification could be done later. But now, the verification precedes the issuance of passport. Many employees found it difficult to get the NOC, which is why the MEA introduced this measure. This is a one-way communication from the employee saying he/ she is applying for a passport. If the departments have objections to make, they will do so directly with the RPO,” explained Mr. Karthigeyan.
But family members of the employees will have to undergo the regular procedures of applying for a passport, unlike earlier, where they too qualified under the walk-in category.
The Bengaluru RPO had an average of 15 to 20 such applicants, including dependents, each day.
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