NEW DELHI: Making the process to get passports friendlier for divorced or separated women, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has done away with the practice of asking for the name of the spouse,
following a recommendation from a Parliamentary panel.
The step is among a slew of measures announced by the MEA to bring the passport-seeking process up to date with modern norms. “In case of divorce or separation, the applicant is not required to provide the name of the spouse in the form while applying for the issue of passport,” said an MEA official. It is mandatory only for married applicants to provide the name of the spouse in the passport application.
Earlier, a Parliamentary panel formed to look into the Passport Act 1967 and Passport Rules 1980, comprising officials from the Ministry of Women and Child Development, MEA and the Central Passport organisation, had recommended that the MEA not print details of a person’s father, mother or spouse in the passport booklet on Page 35.
The panel noted that the only information required for immigration is on Page 2 that includes the name, sex, nationality, birth and passport details.
The panel also took cognizance of complaints of harassment, especially from women, during passport registration. It has said that such details are “irrelevant for immigration purposes either in India or abroad”.
Taking a leaf out of the experience of other countries, the MEA has made it non-mandatory for the applicant to provide the names of both mother and father in the application form if the parents are divorced or separated. “Only one parent’s name — either mother or father or legal guardian — is mandatory,” added the official.
In case of a minor, the application can be signed and submitted on plain paper by either the parents or the guardian, but if the consent of one of the parents is not available, then an affidavit sworn before a judicial magistrate has to be submitted by the parent seeking the passport of the minor.