An Act to Provide for the Issue of Passports and Travel Documents - The Passports ACTs 1967

In passport issuing procedure - An Act to provide for the issue of passports and travel documents to regulate the departure from India of citizens of India and for the other persons and for matters incidental or ancillary thereto. 

Step1: Short title and extent:-

 (1) This Act may be called the Passports Act, 1967.

 (2) It extends to the whole of India and applies also to citizens of India who are

outside India.

Step 2: Definitions:-

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,

 (a) "departure", with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means

departure from India by water, land or air;

 (b) "passport" means a passport issued or deemed to have been issued under this

Act;

 (c) "passport authority" means an officer or authority empowered under rules

made under this Act to issue passports or travel documents and includes the Central

Government;

 (d) "Prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

 (e) "travel document" means a travel document issued or deemed to have been

issued under this Act.

Step 3:- Passport or travel document for departure from India

No person shall depart from, or attempt to depart from, India unless he holds in this

behalf a valid passport or travel document.

Explanation.- For the purposes of this section,-

 (a) "passport" includes a passport which having been issued by or under the

authority of the Government of a foreign country satisfies the conditions prescribed

under the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 in respect of the 34 of 1920 class of

passports to which it belongs;

(b) "travel document" includes a travel document which having been issued by or

under the authority of the Government of a foreign country satisfies the conditions

prescribed. 

Step 4:- Classes of passports and travel documents

 (1) The following classes of passports may be issued under this Act, namely

 (a) ordinary passport

 (b) official passport

 (c) diplomatic passport.

 (2) The following classes of travel documents may be issued under this Act,

namely: -

 (a) emergency certificate authorising a person to enter India;

 (b) certificate of identity for the purpose of establishing the identity of person;

 (c) such other certificate or document as may be prescribed.

(3) The Central Government shall, in consonance with the usage and practice

followed by it in this behalf, prescribe the classes of persons to whom the classes of

passports and travel documents referred to respectively in sub-section (1) and subsection

(2) may be issued under this Act.