If you are planning to travel abroad or are thinking of getting a new passport, then there is an important news for you. Actually, making a passport will become expensive from July 1, 2026. The central government has decided to increase the fees as per the change in passport rules. The government has increased the fees for passport and travel documents by amending the Passport Rules, 1980. The revised fees have been notified in the Gazette of India (Extraordinary).
The new fees have been included in Schedule IV. Now you will have to pay more than before for both ‘normal’ and ‘Tatkal’ passports. According to the government notification, the standard fee for a new or reissued 36-page passport has been increased from ₹1,500 to ₹2,500. That means applicants will now have to spend ₹ 1,000 more. At the same time, those taking ‘Tatkal’ service will now have to pay ₹ 5,000 instead of ₹ 3,500. The fee for this category has been increased by ₹ 1,500.
60-page passports will also be expensive
Apart from this, the fee for 60-page passport used by frequent travelers has also been increased. Now the fee for standard application has increased from ₹2,000 to ₹3,500, while for ‘Tatkal’ application the fee has increased from ₹4,000 to ₹6,000. This means that people will now have to spend more money than before even for these big passports.
Adult (18 years and above) / 15-18 years (if applying in this category)
36 page new passport/re-issue
General Fee: ₹2,500
Immediate: ₹5,000
60 page new passport/re-issue
General Fee: ₹3,500
Instant: ₹6,000
36 page lost/damaged passport reissued
General Fee: ₹5,000
Instant: ₹7,500
60 page lost/damaged passport reissued
General Fee: ₹6,000
Instant: ₹8,500
Minor (under 18 years)
36 page new passport/re-issue
General Fee: ₹1,750
Instant: ₹4,250
36 page lost/damaged passport reissued
General Fee: ₹4,250
Instant: ₹6,750
other documents
Certificate of Identity Fee: ₹1,000
Police Clearance Certificate (PCC), Surrender Certificate, Global Entry Program Verification and other passport based certificates
Fee: ₹750
Fees for applying from abroad are determined in US dollars.
Example:
36 page normal passport: $125
Immediate: $250
important things
- Validity of normal passport issued for age 18 years and above will be 10 years.
- The validity of passport issued for people under 18 years of age will be for 5 years or till the completion of 18 years of age, whichever is earlier.
- Children up to 8 years and senior citizens above 60 years of age will get 10% fee waiver on fresh passport application.
- This discount is applicable only on Fresh Passport Application and not on Re-issue.
Time to get passport made at old rate till 30th June
The Central Government has maintained relief in one case. The 10% discount on new passport applications for children up to 8 years of age and senior citizens above 60 years of age will continue to be available as before. If you want to get a passport made at the old rate, then you have only time till June 30 to do so.
Passport fees increased amid citizenship certificate debate
Amidst the heated debate on proof of citizenship, the Government of India has increased the passport fees as per the notification of the Ministry of External Affairs. In fact, recently the government has clarified that Indian passport is merely a travel document and not the final proof of citizenship. After this, the confusion has increased among the general public that if even big government documents like passport and Aadhaar do not meet the criteria of citizenship, then which documents will be useful.
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