In a notification issued on February 24, the Ministry of External Affairs has changed the process of submitting proof of date of birth for obtaining a passport. The new rules state that children born on or after October 1, 2023 must present a birth certificate obtained from the Registrar of Births and Deaths, the Municipal Corporation, or any other competent authority as defined by the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. This will now be the only acceptable proof of age for the purpose of Passports.
However, for applicants who were born before October 2023, more documents will still be accepted with the Passport age proof document. These are the documents that support the claim of date of birth in the application for Passport: a birth certificate obtained from the Registrar of Births and Deaths, school transfer or matriculation certificates from recognized schools and colleges, a Permanent Account Number (PAN) card obtained from the Income Tax Department. Furthermore, government employees are permitted to present extracts of their service records or their pay pension orders signed and stamped by their department. Other accepted documents include driving license issued by state transport department, election photo id card that has the applicant’s date of birth, and a policy bond from Life Insurance Corporation of India or any other public limited company.
It was mentioned in the notification that no other changes have been made to the Passport issuance rules. The main effect of the rules change is that children born on or after October 1, 2023 will be limited to using a birth certificate as their sole proof of age. For the time being, other options will remain available for applicants who were born before this date. These updates are effective in an effort to simplify the verification process and to standardize Passport documentation requirements.
