An announcement from Indian Embassy – Doha
Advisory for all Indians with ECNR Passports visiting Qatar to register on www.emigrate.gov.in
(Source Credit: https://www.indianembassyqatar.gov.in/announcearch)
An announcement from Indian Embassy – Doha
(Source Credit: https://www.indianembassyqatar.gov.in/announcearch)
The new orange passports were supposed to protect vulnerable labourers from exploitation abroad, but critics including Congress president Rahul Gandhi had argued that the orange and blue colour coding could lead to discrimination against poor and illiterate workers.
The government has scrapped its plan to issue orange coloured passports to those who have not passed their Class 10 examination. It has also decided not to discontinue printing the last page of the passport, which is used as a valid proof of address.
In a statement today, the foreign ministry said it had been decided to continue with the current practice of printing the last page of the passport and not to issue a separate passport with an orange jacket to ECR (Emigration Clearance Required) passport holders. Passports currently are issued in three colours. Government officers have a white passport, diplomats are issued red passports and all other passports are blue.
The government had announced these changes earlier this month, but Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj reviewed the decision after a spate of protests and representations.
“After comprehensive discussions with the various stakeholders, the Foreign Ministry has decided to continue with the current practice of printing of the last page of the passport and not to issue a separate passport with orange colour jacket to ECR passport holders,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a statement.
ECR or “Emigration Check Required” category is for applicants who haven’t finished school and are travelling abroad for work to a group of 18 countries, most of them in the Gulf. They have to get an ‘Emigration clearance’ certificate from the office of Protector of Emigrants before leaving India.
Indian Passport May Now Be in Orange: 5 Proposed Changes to the Passport
Reports suggest that the Ministry of External Affairs is proposing to do away with the last page of the passport which essentially contains details of residence, parents name etc.
Here’s a look at some of the proposed changes:
1. The new passports will not carry the last page containing details of residence and parents name. Since 2012, all passports have had a barcode, and by scanning this, the information can be accessed by immigration officials. This is a measure aimed at not revealing more information than required on the document.
2. Does this mean all existing passport holders need to apply for a renewal of their passports? No, all existing passports will remain valid until their expiry date. The new format passport will be issued on renewal.
3. There is likely to be a change in the colour of the passports as well.
Proposed Changes to the Passport
As of now, passports are issued in three colours: white for government officers or to those people who visit other countries for the official work of the government; red for diplomats; and blue for all others across two categories — those who require emigration check (ECR) and those who do not (ECNR). Soon, however, those in the ECR category will have orange passports. This will make it easier and more efficient during immigration checks.
4. The new passports will also not have the names of parents printed on it, as is the practice currently. The ministry has been evaluating submissions that in case of children of single parents, the name of the estranged father/mother need not be printed on the passport. Given that the last page of the passport itself will be made redundant, this objective is also met. However, clarity is awaited on whether the names of both parents would be collected during the application process, or not.
5. In August last year, the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems Project (CCTNS) was to be linked with the passport service of the Ministry of External Affairs, and it will replace physical police verification for passport applicants with online verification in a year. This will further reduce the time taken to process a passport.
Source Credit: https://www.thebetterindia.com
Indian Embassy issued 64 Emergency Certificates (ECs) and 19 air tickets to Indian nationals to ensure their repatriation in December, 2017.
The Embassy also organised five consular camps at Salwa, Mesaieed, Al-Khor and Dukhan & Zikreet and Al Shamal areas and rendered 154 consular services to the Indian nationals last month.
In 2017, 12 Open Houses were held, including the one on December 28. A total of 66 complaints were received and out of these, 56 complaints have been resolved, 10 are under active follow up.
An Embassy team visited the Central Prison and Deportation Centre last week to enquire about the welfare of detainees from India. The total number of Indian nationals in the Central Prison and the Deportation Centre currently is 196 and 82, respectively.
The grievances brought to the notice orelated to issues of delayed payment of wages and violations of contract terms and conditions.
Ambassador P Kumaran, Third Secretary (Labour& Community Welfare) Dr. M Aleem and other officials met all the complainants, discussed their problems in detail and assured them of the Embassy’s active follow up of their cases with the concerned authorities in the Government of Qatar.
Devis Edakulathur, President and Mahesh Gowda, General Secretary, Indian Community Benevolent Forum (ICBF), the apex community association working under the aegis of the Embassy, along with some other members of the ICBF Management Committee also participated in the Open House.
Source Credit: https://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/
All applications for a new Indian passport in Qatar will have to be filled online starting from September 15, the Indian embassy has said. Informing this, the embassy has issued a communique on its website that explains the steps involved in applying for a new passport.
To begin, applicants have to visit the online passport application page at http://passport.gov.in/nri/Online.do, where the registration form will appear on the screen. It has three major sections: Online Registration, Application Information, and Address Details.
In the Online Registration Section, one has to select the Indian mission that applies to his or her jurisdiction from the drop-down menu, select the desired service (fresh passport, re-issue of passport, new passport in lieu of damaged/lost passport, passport for children up to 15 years of age and emergency certificate), and provide details pertaining to the applicant’s name, including any change in name.
In the Application Information section, the applicant needs to enter details under 10 heads, including date of birth, place of birth, qualification, profession, height and others.
In the address details section, one needs to enter the permanent address in India that is to be printed on the passport.
After entering all the details, one should click on `Save and Continue’. This will direct the applicant to the next page.
The second page contains three sections. Under Address Details, one needs to enter his/her Qatar address in the “Other address” field, along with phone numbers and email ID in appropriate places designated on the form.
In the Applicant’s Family Information section, one has to enter details such as marital status, name of spouse, the nationality of the spouse, and various details pertaining to the applicant’s parents.
Then comes the Passport Details section, where one needs to provide information on his/her previous passport.
After filling all the fields, one needs to ensure that all the information provided is correct and then click on “Save and Continue”.
This will take the applicant to the third page, where two options are provided on uploading an image. Once the appropriate option is chosen and the “Save and Continue” button is selected, s/he will be directed to the next page.
In the fourth page, one should note down the file number given there for future reference. This may be required for reprinting the application. The applicant will get two options: generate PDF and click for the exit.
By clicking on the generate PDF button, the applicant can save the PDF format of the application and take a copy whenever a printer is available. By selecting click for exit, the applicant can exit the last page of the passport portal and the first page will open.
The embassy said that while filling an application, one would normally a get a three-page printout of the application filled online. The circular also specifies various key aspects that people need to keep in mind while applying for a passport, including specimen signatures/thumb impressions, specifications regarding photographs, applications for minors, particulars of the person (including address) who is to be intimated in the event of the holder’s death or accident, and details of the driving licence issued by the Qatari authorities.
Some other details are to be filled manually, which include educational qualification, residential details abroad, emigration, profession, citizenship, name, and address of two relatives, court cases – if any, lost passport details – if any, and particulars of children.
One has to visit the embassy after completing the remaining columns of the printed application form along with the fee and necessary documents supporting the application.
The circular on the new online application rules for Indian passport in Qatar is available at http://www.indianembassyqatar.gov.in/NRISEP17.pdf
Source Credit: http://www.gulf-times.com
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