Ministry of External Affairs has decided not to print the last page of the passport, which contains the personal details of the holder and whether he/she is in the Emigration Check Required (ECR) category or not.

The passport holders under the ECR (Emigration Check Required) category will be issued an orange passport and those with non-ECR status would continue using a blue passport. This change is likely to speed up the process at the airport.

Titbits —

1. New series of passports will be designed with the blank last page.
2. This travel document will no longer be used as a valid address proof.
3. People in the ECR category will be issued orange passports.
4. The changes are likely to make the process of immigration faster.
5. Indian passports are issued in three colours — white for government officials or people visiting other countries for government’s official work, red coloured passports for diplomats, and blue for everyone else.

Does this mean all existing passport holders will be asked to renew their passports? The answer is No! All existing passports will remain valid until their expiry date.