MEA Amends Passport Rules to Cap Validity for Children Under 15 at Five Years

The Ministry of External Affairs has notified the Passports (Amendment) Rules, 2026, establishing a revised validity framework and updated fee schedules for minor passport applicants across India. Under the newly promulgated regulations, ordinary 36-page passports issued to children under 15 years of age will remain in force for a period of five years from the date of issuance or until the child attains 18 years of age, whichever occurs earlier.

The formal amendments, published in the Gazette of India following a notification issued by the ministry, modify Rule 12 of the principal Passports Rules, 1980. The updated regulatory mechanism replaces the previous long-duration validity approach for minor travel documents, aligning minor passport lifespans with developmental age thresholds leading to legal majority.

The statutory amendment specifically introduces subsection (1A) under Rule 12 of the 1980 rules. According to the notified text, an ordinary 36-page passport issued to any child below 15 years shall not carry the standard decade-long adult validity. Instead, the document expires either at the five-year mark from issuance or precisely when the minor turns 18, whichever arrives first.

This structural adjustment ensures that travel documents issued during early childhood undergo mandatory renewal before adulthood, accounting for significant facial and physical changes during developmental years. For applicants aged between 15 and 18 years, the regulatory framework provides an administrative option to apply either under the minor category or under the adult category, which permits a validity period of up to 10 years upon paying the applicable adult fee schedule.

Alongside the validity adjustments, the ministry updated Rule 8 and Schedule IV, codifying comprehensive fee revisions that took effect nationwide. For minor applicants under 18 seeking a fresh or reissued ordinary 36-page passport through normal service channels, the fee is set at 1,750 rupees, replacing earlier structures. For expedited processing under the Tatkaal category, the fee for minor applicants stands at 4,250 rupees.

Adult applicants face distinct fee tiers under the same schedule, with ordinary 36-page passports priced at 2,500 rupees and 60-page documents at 3,500 rupees for normal processing, while Tatkaal services cost 5,000 rupees and 6,000 rupees respectively. Furthermore, the updated rules maintain a 10 percent concession on fresh passport applications for children up to eight years of age and senior citizens above 60 years, though this discount is explicitly restricted to fresh issuances and does not apply to passport reissues.

The notification also standardizes charges for various auxiliary consular and passport-linked services across all passport offices in India. Fees for securing a Police Clearance Certificate, obtaining a Surrender Certificate, undergoing Global Entry Programme verification, and requesting other miscellaneous official certificates are uniformly fixed at 750 rupees.

The Passports (Amendment) Rules, 2026, officially came into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette, concluding an administrative restructuring of passport issuance protocols that also encompassed broader fee hikes implemented across adult and expedited service tiers earlier in the year.