LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4020
TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.08.2016
MACHINE READABLE PASSPORTS
4020. SHRI P.R. SENTHILNATHAN:
SHRI M.I. SHANAVAS:
Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:
(a) whether foreign governments may deny visa or entry to any person travelling with a non-machine readable passport;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the number of handwritten passports that need to be converted to machine readable passports;
(d) whether the Ministry had engaged any multimedia campaign to create awareness among citizens about this issue and if so, the details thereof;
(e) whether any reports of inconvenience caused to any holder of handwritten passports till date has been reported; and
(f) if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
[GEN. (DR) V. K. SINGH (RETD)]
(a) & (b) Yes. The foreign governments may deny visa or entry to any person travelling with a non-machine readable passport. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had set a deadline of the 24 November, 2015 for globally phasing out all non-Machine
Readable Passports.
(c) Out of approximately 6.5 crore valid Indian passports in circulation as on date, about 2.0 lakhs passports are estimated to be non-Machine Readable Passports.
(d) The Ministry had issued Public Advisories/Circulars dated 9 December, 2013 and 23 December, 2014 on Passport Seva Portal, websites of the Ministry of External Affairs and Indians Missions/Posts abroad advising the Indian nationals to convert their non-Machine
Readable Passports into Machine Readable Passports without any further delay. Indian Missions/Posts abroad were also advised to disseminate this information amongst Indian Associations in their jurisdiction.
(e) & (f) The Ministry has not come across any report of inconvenience caused to any holder of handwritten passports till date.
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