External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday announced that marriage certificates will not be required anymore at passport offices. The EAM also announced that divorced women will no longer be required to fill the name of their ex-husband and their children from their estranged father.


Addressing officials of several Passport Seva Kendras and members of the Ministry of External Affairs on the occasion of Passport Seva Diwas, she said, "Married men and women complained that their marriage certificates are required at passport offices; we scrapped the rule.


"Some divorced women complained that they are required to fill the name of their ex-husband and the children of their estranged father. So we changed the rule," she added.


The decision comes days after an interfaith couple, comprising of a Muslim husband and a Hindu wife, allegedly faced hassle at Lucknow Passport Seva Kendra.


Meanwhile, Swaraj also launched a Passport Seva app for seamless application and issue of passports.Earlier, a meeting took place between Women and Child Development Ministry and the Ministry of External Affairs, in which the participating ministers discussed steps to be taken for issuance of passport and further helped in making passport issuance form as citizen-friendly. -- PTI


MAGE: Mohammad Siddiqui and Tanvi Seth show their passports issued to them by the Regional Passport Office, in Lucknow on June 21. The couple were allegedly humiliated and shamed by passport officer Vikas Mishra who asked Siddiqui to convert.


Also read:Sushma Swaraj trolled over inter-faith couple's passport row