LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.5004
TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.04.2022
RENEWAL OF PASSPORTS
5004. SHRI DIPSINH SHANKARSINH RATHOD:
Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has any information about the renewal of the passport of the Indian citizen for shorter periods;
(b) if so, the details of the passport issued/renewed for less than six months by Indian embassies abroad;
(c) the details of the passport renewal applications to Ahmadabad RPO by the Overseas Citizenship of India Card holders in last three years; and
(d) the details of the pending/cleared passport applications out of the above application during the said period?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
[SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN]
(a) Normally, ten years validity passports are issued in fresh cases as well as reissue. However, in certain cases, Short Validity Passports (SVPs) are issued under Section 7 of the Passports Act, 1967 by Indian Embassies abroad to Indian nationals whose stay in the foreign country is illegal or whose full particulars/photo are not available in the database etc. Furthermore, SVPs are also issued in cases where there is criminal case pending in Indian courts.
(b) The number of passports issued/renewed for less than 6 months by Indian Embassies abroad during last 4 years is as under –
S. No. |
Year |
Number of Passports |
1 |
2022 (as of 20.03.2022) |
33 |
2 |
2021 |
29 |
3 |
2020 |
15 |
4 |
2019 |
3 |
(c) & (d) OCI cards are issued to the persons of Indian origin after their renunciation of Indian citizenship and having surrendered the Indian Passport. An OCI card is issued against a foreign passport. Hence, such OCI card holders cannot apply for renewal of their Indian passports anywhere.
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