India Rolls out e-Passports. Check out eligibility and how to apply?

The Government of India has officially begun issuing next-generation e-Passports, marking a major upgrade to the country’s travel documentation system. Equipped with an embedded electronic microprocessor chip, the new passports promise quicker immigration clearance, enhanced protection against fraud, and full compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards.

The launch, long in the making, is being hailed as a significant step toward modernising air travel for Indian citizens while addressing growing concerns over passport forgery and identity theft.

Key Advantages of the e-Passport

• Faster automated immigration at e-gates in airports worldwide (similar to systems already used in the US, UK, Singapore and EU countries)
• Embedded RFID chip stores biometric data securely, making duplication or tampering virtually impossible
• Digital signature prevents forgery of personal details
• Reduced human intervention at immigration counters, cutting waiting time significantly
• Future-ready for emerging global travel technologies

“The chip acts as a digital fortress for your identity,” a senior official from the Ministry of External Affairs told reporters. “It is far more difficult to clone or alter than the current machine-readable passports.”

Who Can Apply?

Any Indian citizen eligible for a normal passport can now opt for an e-Passport. There is no separate eligibility criterion.However, the facility is currently available only at select centres. The rollout began with 13 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) and Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs), including major cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Lucknow.

The government has assured a phased nationwide expansion throughout 2025–26 so that eventually every passport office will issue only e-Passports.Applicants are advised to check the official Passport Seva website (passportindia.gov.in) for the latest list of centres offering the service before booking an appointment.

How to Apply – Same Process, New Passport

• Good news for applicants: the application procedure remains identical to the regular passport process.Register/login on passportindia.gov.in
• Fill the online application form (select “e-Passport” if the option appears for your chosen centre)
• Pay the fee online
• Book an appointment at an e-Passport-enabled PSK/POPSK
• Visit the centre for document verification and biometrics

No additional documents are required beyond those needed for a normal passport.

Application Fees

The fee structure is the same as regular passports:

• Fresh passport (36 pages) – ₹1,500 (normal), ₹3,500 (Tatkaal)
• Fresh passport (60 pages) – ₹2,000 (normal), ₹4,000 (Tatkaal)
• Renewal/reissue – same as fresh, depending on pages and scheme

There is currently no extra charge for the embedded chip or enhanced security features.

Security Upgrades at a Glance

• Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) chip with 30+ security features
• Biometric data (fingerprints and facial image) stored in encrypted form
• Digital signature of the issuing authority
• Anti-skimming material to prevent unauthorised reading of the chip
• Compliant with ICAO Doc 9303 standards used by 120+ countries

The Ministry of External Affairs aims to make e-Passports the default document for all new issuances and renewals within the next two years. Existing non-electronic passports will remain valid until their expiry date, so there is no immediate need to replace a valid ordinary passport.

As global airports increasingly adopt automated border control systems, Indian travellers with e-Passports are expected to experience significantly shorter queues and smoother transit, especially in Europe, the United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.

For the latest list of centres and updates, citizens can visit passportindia.gov.in or call the national passport helpline 1800-258-1800.

With this launch, India joins an elite group of nations offering chip-based passports, reinforcing both security and convenience for its 1.4 billion citizens on the move.