New Delhi, Jan 28 (HT): Indian citizens can receive their passport in a week’s time by submitting just four documents according to the changes announced by the government.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that a passport would be issued if an application is submitted with copies of the Aadhaar card, voter ID and PAN card, and an affidavit of no criminal case which includes family details and citizenship. Unlike earlier where police verification would cause the long delay in finally acquiring the passport, the new procedure will skip the process till after the passport is issued, provided the submitted documents are validated. However, the time taken to issue the document would depend on the approval from a granting officer.

Swaraj further added that an appointment can be chosen from the first five available dates for passport related services.

A statement issued by the ministry said no extra charges were applicable under the new procedure.

The MEA now allows applicants to book an appointment at their convenience and any date of choice from the earliest five working days for the selected Passport Seva Kendra (PSK). So far, the Passport Seva system fixed appointment based on availability and first-in-firstout (FIFO) principle.

Earlier, police verification for passport took 49 days, which was reduced to 42 in 2014, 34 in 2015, and 21 the same year. In 2015, the passport offices in India and the Indian missions and posts abroad rendered nearly 1.2 crore passport-related services. On December 31, 2015, nearly 6.33 crore Indians held valid passports.