India liberalises police verification procedure for passports

New Delhi: The government on Monday announced the liberalisation of police verification procedure for passports and also launched a mobile app to cut delays in submission of these reports.

"In order to further improve and liberalise police verification procedure for passport issuance, the government has decided that henceforth normal passport applications of all first-time applicants furnishing Aadhaar, electoral photo identity card (EPIC), permanent account number (PAN) card and an affidavit in the format of Annexure-I will be processed on post-police verification basis, enabling faster issue of passport, without payment of any additional fees, subject to successful online validation of Aadhaar number," the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

"In addition, EPIC and PAN card may also be validated, if required, from the respective databases," it stated.

The ministry also launched a new mobile app, mPassport Police App, for speedy submission of police verification report (PVR).

"The app would facilitate the field-level verification officers to directly capture the PV report into the system digitally," the ministry statement said.

"With the launch of this app, the need to download and print the physical Personal Particulars Form and questionnaire would no longer be required resulting in paperless end-to-end digital flow of the PV process, further reducing the time required for completion of PVR, within the desired time limit of 21 days," it added.

Fees waived

Meanwhile, the central government has also waived the fees for business and employment visas for applicants from 48 least-developed countries (LDCs).

The step comes after an instruction from the external affairs ministry on December 14, 2015.

"Ministry of External Affairs has advised all Indian Missions and Posts in the 48 least developed countries to issue business and employment visas (where applicable) to the applicants on gratis basis with immediate effect and subject to usual checks," an official statement said.

The ministry has further informed that the service fee for the outsourcing company, wherever applicable, and the Indian Community Welfare Fund fee will continue to be charged from the business and employment visa applicants, the statement added.

The countries included in the list are Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Laos, Lesotho, Liberia and Nepal.

Also listed are Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Niger, Rawanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Vanuatu, Yemen and Zambia.