New Delhi: Aiming at faster delivery of passports, the government on Monday said police verification will take place after the travel document is issued, provided certain identity documents are submitted at the time of filing application.

It is part of the government’s efforts to improve and liberalize police verification procedure for passport issuance.

“...henceforth normal passport applications of all first-time applicants furnishing Aadhaar, Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), Permanent Account Number (PAN) and an affidavit will be processed on post-police verification basis, enabling faster issue of passport, without payment of any additional fees," a statement issued by the external affairs ministry said.

It said passport will be issued subject to successful online validation of Aadhaar number. EPIC and PAN card may also be validated, if required, from their respective databases.

In August last year, government had said that no police verification was required for reissue of passports. The external affairs ministry has also launched a smartphone application, mPassport Police Application, for speedy submission of police verification report.

The app would facilitate field level verification officers to directly capture the report into the system digitally. “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 process, further reducing the time required for completion of verification, within the desired time limit of 21 days," the release said. PTI

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