NOC Not Required for Central Government Employees Seeking Passports!

Simplification of Passport Rules

Central government employees who are seeking to obtain passports will no longer need to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from their employer. This new policy change aims to ease the process for these employees, allowing them to obtain passports without any unnecessary bureaucratic red tape. This change is expected to bring great relief to many central government employees, who were previously required to obtain a NOC before applying for a passport.

In order to streamline, liberalize and ease the process of issue of passports, the Ministry of External Affairs has taken a number of steps in the realm of passport policy to ease the process of issue of passports. The details of these steps are given below:-

A. Documents in support of proof of Date of Birth

As per the extant statutory provisions of the Passport Rules, 1980, all the applicants born on or after 26/01/1989, in order to get a passport, had to, hitherto, mandatorily submit the Birth Certificate as the proof of Date of Birth (DOB). It has now been decided that all applicants for passports can submit any one of the following documents as proof of DOB while submitting the passport application:

(i) Birth Certificate (BC) issued by the Registrar of Births & Deaths or the Municipal Corporation or any other prescribed authority whosoever has been empowered under the Registration of Birth & Deaths Act, 1969 to register the birth of a child born in India;

(ii) Transfer/School leaving/Matriculation Certificate issued by the school last attended/recognized educational board containing the DOB of the applicant;

(iii) PAN Card issued by the Income Tax Department with the DOB of the applicant;

(iv) Aadhaar Card/E-Aadhaar having the DOB of the applicant;

(v) Copy of the extract of the service record of the applicant (only in respect of Government servants) or the Pay Pension Order (in respect of retired Government Servants), duly attested/certified by the officer/in charge of the Administration of the concerned Ministry/Department of the applicant, having his DOB;

(vi) Driving license issued by the Transport Department of concerned State Government, having the DOB of applicant;

(vii) Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) issued by the Election Commission of India having the DOB of the applicant;

(viii) Policy Bond issued by the Public Life Insurance Corporations/Companies having the DOB of the holder of the insurance policy.

B. Other Changes:

(i) The online passport application form now requires the applicant to provide the name of the father or mother or legal guardian, i.e., only one parent and not both. This would enable single parents to apply for passports for their children and also issue passports where the name of either the father or the mother is not required to be printed at the request of the applicant.

(ii) The total number of Annexes prescribed in the Passport Rule, 1980, has been reduced to 9 from the present 15. Annexes A, C, D, E, J, and K have been removed and certain Annexes have been merged.

(iii) All the annexes that are required to be given by the applicants would be in the form of a self-declaration on plain paper. No attestation/swearing by/ before any Notary/ Executive Magistrate/ First Class Judicial Magistrate would be henceforth necessary.

(iv) Married applicants would not be required to provide the erstwhile Annexure K or any marriage certificate.

(v) The passport application form does not require the applicant to provide the name of her/his spouse in case of separated or divorced persons. Such applicants for passports would not be required to provide even the Divorce Decree.

(vi) In the case of children not born out of wedlock, the applicant for the passport of such children should submit only extant Annexure C while submitting the passport application.

(vii) In case of issue of passport to in-country domestically adopted children, submission of the registered adoption deed would no longer be required. In the absence of any deed to this effect, the passport applicant may give a declaration on plain paper confirming the adoption.

(vii) Government servants, who are not able to obtain the Identity Certificate (extant Annexure-A)/ No-Objection Certificate (extant Annexure-G) from their concerned employer and intend to get the passport on an urgent basis can now get the passport by submitting a self-declaration in extant Annexure-‘H’ that he/she has given prior Intimation Letter to his/her employer informing that he/she was applying for an ordinary passport to a Passport Issuing Authority.

(viii) Sadhus/ Sanyasis can apply for a passport with the name of their spiritual Guru mentioned in the passport application in lieu of their biological parent(s) name(s) subject to their providing of at least one public document such as Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) issued by the Election Commission of India, PAN card, Aadhaar Card, etc wherein the name of the Guru has been recorded against the column(s) for parent(s) name(s).

(ix) Orphaned children who do not have any proof of DoB such as a Birth Certificate or Matriculation Certificate or the declaratory Court order, may now submit a declaration given by the Head of the Orphanage/Child Care Home on their official letterhead of the organization confirming the DOB of the applicant.

(x) An applicant for a passport has to submit any one of the documents as mentioned in (A) above as proof of Date of Birth (DOB) while submitting the passport application. The DOB mentioned in the document would be recorded in the passport. In case there is a discrepancy between the DOB previously recorded in the passport and the new proof of DOB submitted by the applicant, the Passport Issuing Authorities (PIA) have been authorized to consider the explanation of each applicant seeking change in the DOB (irrespective of the period that would have lapsed after the issue of the passport) to find the genuineness of the claim and if the PIA is satisfied with the claim and with the document(s) submitted by the applicant in support of the claim, the PIA shall accept all such requests made by the applicant to issue the passport with revised DOB.

(xi) Passports can be now obtained under the ‘Tatkaal’ Scheme without providing the Verification Certificate from a Gazetted Officer, which was required earlier. The documents to be submitted for getting a passport under this Scheme have been notified vide G.S.R. 39(E) dated 11 January 2018.

(xii) Passports can now also be obtained under the Normal scheme on an out-of-turn post-Police Verification basis without paying any additional fees on the submission of certain documents as notified vide G.S.R. 39(E) dated 11 January 2018.

How to Apply for a Passport Without  NOC (No Objection Certificate)?

Individuals employed in government positions who are unable to acquire an Identity Certificate or No-Objection Certificate from their employer, and require a passport urgently, may obtain one by filling out Annexure-H, which is a self-declaration stating that the individual has previously notified their employer of their intention to apply for an ordinary passport through a Passport Issuing Authority.

Prior Intimation Letter

• Intimation letter to Controlling Authority before submitting the application for Passport. The format of the letter in Annexure – N.

No Objection Certificate

• If NOC (No Objection Certificate) is attached to the Passport application, then the Passport will be issued only after police verification. The format of the letter in Annexure – M.

Identity Certificate

• The Identity Certificate will help you to get the Passport without police verification. The format of the letter in Annexure – B.

Also read: Simplifying Issuance of Passports through POPSK

Although the Government thinks that tough guidelines are not required for issuing passports, the new format seeks more personal information

Currently, passports for Central Government employees are issued only if they produce a general NOC (No Objection Certificate). In some Government offices, getting a NOC is very difficult. Keeping this in mind, the Ministry of External Affairs has advised that new procedures be followed instead of submitting a NOC.

According to the new procedure, the employee has to send prior information, about the fact that he has applied for a passport, to the address of the senior officer who has to issue the NOC. If a copy of this correspondence is submitted along with the passport request form, then the passport will be issued after police verification. If the officer has objections to the passport being issued to the applicant, then he has to go to the regional passport office and register his objection and reasons. The procedure is applicable to persons seeking renewal of passports too.

The Ministry of External Affairs issued new guidelines to apply for a Passport without NOC…

No.VI/401/01/05/2014
Government of India
Ministry of External Affairs
CPV Division

Patiala House Annexe, Tilak Marg,
New Delhi, 26th May, 2015

Office Memorandum

Subject: Issuance of Ordinary Passport to Government Servants, PSU / Autonomous body employees, et al

In tune with the Government’s objective of ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance and with a view to simplifying the procedure for issuance of Passport to Government Servants, PSU / Autonomous body employees, et al, the matter has been reviewed. In order to facilitate the issuance of Passport to Government employees, et al; who find difficulties to obtain Identity Certificate (IC)/No Objection Certificate (NOC) from their department, it has been decided to introduce a new feature which is termed as ‘Prior Intimation’ letter to the controlling authority by the Passport applicant before submission of a Passport application.

2. Basically, Prior Intimation is a letter from the Passport applicant giving intimation to his/her Controlling / Administrative Authority (employer) regarding submission of the Passport application. This can be submitted by the applicant in the format of ‘Annexure-N’. After submission of the Passport application by such an employee, the copy of this Prior Intimation would be sent to the same Controlling/ Administrative Authority under which the employee is working. In case the employer has any objection regarding the issuance of a Passport to that employee, they may revert back to the concerned Regional Passport Office mentioning the details of such objection. However, the final decision will be taken by the concerned Passport Issuing Authority. If Prior Intimation is submitted by the applicant, a Passport would be issued on the basis of Pre-Police Verification, however the provisions of Police Verification in reissue cases will remain applicable.

3. Henceforth, anyone of the following documents can be submitted by Government Servants, PSU/Autonomous body employees, et al. for submission of application for Passports:

• (a) Copy of Prior Intimation to Controlling /Administrative Authority; or
• (b) No Objection Certificate from Controlling/Administrative Authority; or
• (c) Identity Certificate from Controlling /Administrative authority.

4. No Objection Certificate (NOC) is issued in the format of ‘Annexure-M’ by the Controlling /Administrative Authority of the employee working under them for obtaining Passport by any Government Servants, PSU/ Autonomous body employees, et al. If NOC is submitted Passport will be issued on Post-Police Verification basis.

5. Identity Certificate (IC) is issued in the format of ‘Annexure-B’ by the Controlling /Administrative Authority of the employee working under them for obtaining Passport by any Government Servants, PSU /Autonomous body employees, et al. If IC is submitted Passport will be issued on No-Police Verification basis. The spouse of such employees, and dependent children up to the age of 18 years, have an option to submit IC for the expeditious issue of passport. In the case of IC, the applicant is also required to submit ‘Annexure-I’.

6. It may be noted that the following provisions will remain applicable as mentioned below:

a. While IC should be issued preferably on Official Stationery (letterhead); NOC on plain paper with signature/stamp can be accepted, on the assumption that such offices are using plain paper for day-to-day correspondence. Prior Intimation (PI) is required to be submitted on plain paper by the Passport applicant.

b. Telephone, fax and e-mail id of the Controlling /Administrative Office (to the extent available) should be indicated in all three documents for the purpose of confirmation.

c. Military personnel with a c/o APO address (e.g. 56 APO /99 APO) may submit applications at their station of posting or at their permanent address, and write their permanent address in their passport [against present address otherwise]. Spouse of such personnel [and adult children, when a spouse has expired/divorced] may receive the passport, with authority letter, either by hand or by post. This would apply to similarly placed Air Force/Navy personnel as well.

d. If Government/PSU employees, et al. are transferred after submission of the passport application or passport is returned undelivered due to such transfer, the same be re-dispatched, on request (along with a copy of transfer order), at the new address, after correction/ endorsement of address. However, if police verification was required and was not completed, it will be done at the new place.

e. The validity of the documents mentioned in para-3 will be six months from the date of issue.

7. While the revised prov1s10ns deal only with passport issuance, the requirement by the Government employees to obtain prior permission from his/her Department / Ministry for traveling abroad as per Conduct Rules will remain unchanged as per the instructions issued by the Department of Personnel & Training and respective authorities.

8. Ministries of the Central Government, and the State Governments/ Union Territories are requested to circulate these instructions to all the employees working under them, including those in attached and subordinate offices, and statutory bodies.

sd/-
(Muktesh K.Pardeshi)
Joint Secretary(PSP) & Chief Passport Officer

NOC for Passport Annexure – B

• All Central Government Employees, State Government Employees, Employees of Statutory Bodies and Public Sector Undertakings, Their Spouse and Children up to the Age of 18 years are required to produce an Identity Certificate

NOC for Passport Annexure – I

• Affidavit

NOC for Passport Annexure – M

• No Objection Certificate

NOC for Passport Annexure – N

• Letter from the Government / PSU / Statutory body employees giving prior intimation to his / her Administrative Deptt / Office for submission of Passport application
• Intimation letter to Controlling Authority before submitting the application for Passport
• Click to view the Ministry of External Affairs Order dated 26.5.2015

Application Fees For Passport

The list of application fees for passports as per the booklet (Regular Applicants only)

Normal

• Booklet: 36 pages
• Fee: Rs. 1,500

Normal

• Booklet: 60 pages
• Fee: Rs. 2,000

Tatkal

• Booklet: 36 pages
• Fee: Rs. 3,500

Tatkal

• Booklet: 60 pages
• Fee: Rs. 4,000

Tatkaal Scheme for Obtaining Passport

Passports can be now obtained under the ‘Tatkaal’ Scheme without providing the Verification Certificate from a Gazetted Officer, which was required earlier. Applicants may submit any 3 of the following
documents for obtaining a passport:

• Aadhaar Card or e-Aadhaar containing the 12 digit Aadhaar number or 28-digit Aadhaar enrolment ID printed on the Aadhaar enrolment slip issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)
• Electors Photo Identify Card (EPIC)
• Permanent Account Number (PAN)
• driving license (valid and within the jurisdiction of the State of submission of applicant)
• bank passbook or Kisan passbook or post office passbook
• student photo identity card issued by a recognized educational institution
• birth certificate issued under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 (18 of 1969)
• service photo identity card issued by State Government or Central Government, public sector undertakings, local bodies, or public limited companies
• pension document such as ex-servicemen’s pension book or pension payment order issued to retired Government employees, ex-servicemen’s widow or dependent certificate, old age pension
  order
• scheduled caste or scheduled tribe or another backward class certificate
• arms license issued under the Arms Act, 1959 (54 of 1959);
• ration card
• last passport issued (in case of reissue only)

How to apply Passport for Retired Employees

• Pension documents such as ex-servicemen’s pension book or pension payment order issued to retired Government employees, ex-servicemen’s widow or dependent certificate, and old age pension order.

Top Developments on Passport:

• NOC Not Required for Central Government Employees Seeking Passports! June 14, 2023
• How to Apply for Passport in India: Types of Passports, Colors, Required Documents June 1, 2023
• Proposal to Issue E-Passports March 29, 2022
• Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSK) February 20, 2020
• Guidelines for Issuance of Passport to Government Employees – Dopt February 20, 2020
• Grant of vigilance clearance for obtaining passport – DoPT March 30, 2018
• Prior Permission by Government Employees for Private Visits Abroad – Dopt July 28, 2015

Is it necessary for central government employees to obtain an NOC to get a passport?

No, as per the latest update, an NOC is not required for Central Government employees seeking passports.

What is the reason for this change?

The government has simplified the process of issuing passports to make it hassle-free for employees in the public sector.

Will this change affect the passport application process for private sector employees?

No, private sector employees will still need to provide an NOC from their current employer to apply for a passport.

Are there any other changes to the procedure for passport application?

No, the other requirements for passport application such as documents, fees, and processing time still remain the same.

Can an employee still obtain an NOC if required for other purposes?

Yes, an NOC can still be obtained if required for other purposes such as applying for a visa or obtaining a loan.