Passport is a travel document, not proof of citizenship: MEA

Hyderabad: A passport is a travel document that establishes an Indian national’s identity abroad and should not be treated as proof of citizenship, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Wednesday. The ministry said 14.7 million chip-based e-passports have been issued since their rollout last year.

Speaking on Passport Seva Divas, observed on June 24 to mark the enactment of the Passports Act, 1967, officials said e-passports now account for about 10 per cent of all passports issued, and all new passports are chip-based. An official said passports are issued only after extensive due diligence and based on documents verified by multiple government agencies.

The e-passports feature an embedded antenna and a radio frequency identification chip that stores personal details and biometric data, making them harder to forge and quicker to clear at immigration counters abroad. Officials said the chips are sourced through the India Security Press in Nashik, which procures them from overseas, while Tata Consultancy Services handles technology and services for the Passport Seva Project. Passport data, however, is stored on ministry servers.

The MEA also highlighted improvements in travel access and processing. Visa-free entry for Indian nationals has increased to 27 countries from 16 in 2019, while visa-on-arrival access has risen to 47 from 38 in the same period. Another 66 countries now offer e-visas to Indians, and India has migration and mobility agreements with 25 countries, mostly in Europe.

Officials said passport processing time has fallen to an average of five to six days, with applicants now spending less than 45 minutes at Passport Seva Kendras. The number of such centres has grown to 544 from 77 a decade ago. Efforts are also under way to bring police verification time down to two or three days nationwide, matching the performance of states that have already achieved faster clearances.