Indian expats can furnish overseas address in new passports

Our Correspondent

The Indian government has decided to allow its overseas citizens to add their local address in their country of residence. This is mainly to aid those who do not have permanent or valid addresses in India.
Gulf News quoted Siddhartha Kumar Baraily, Consul, Passport and Attestation, at the Indian Consulate in Dubai on the matter. But change in address cannot be made in existing passports and only in new passports, he clarified.

The facility can be availed by Indian expats living in rented and self-owned accommodations. Residents wishing to give their UAE address or change the address from India to overseas have to provide certain documents as proof of residence when applying for a new passport.

Baraily said that the electricity and water bill of individual emirates [DEWA/SEWA/FEWA] or rent agreement/title deed/tenancy contract will be accepted as proof of residence in the UAE. The change of address may help applicants get quick police verification from India at the time of passport renewal.

Police verification is now mandatory for passport renewal of all Indian expats as per a change in the policy of India’s Ministry of External Affairs since September.

However, the diplomat clarified that police verification of Indians abroad does not require verification of the address of the applicant. The verification is only to verify the identity of the applicants as Indian citizens and that there are no criminal cases registered against them since the time of the last police verification done on them, he explained.

If applicants wish to change their address in India, they can give one of the following documents as proof of residence at the time of applying for a new passport: Aadhaar Card/ e-Aadhaar/ Letter containing the unique Aadhaar number; valid ration card; Driving licence; Election Commission Photo ID card; Electricity/ Gas connection bill; Income Tax assessment order; Parents’ passports in case of minors (if address is the same); Rent agreement; Spouse’s passport copy (if address is different) with spouse’s address proof etc.