It was recently noted that minors' passports will not be issued if their parents have filed for divorce, unless the court grants custody of the child to one of them and that the parent applying for the minor's passport must produce a no-objection certificate from the other parent.
Rashmi Baghel, Regional Passport Officer in Bhopal, stated that the office had received applications for passports from two minor applicants, which had been put on hold because their parents had filed divorce cases, which were still pending in court.
In the case of minors seeking a passport, the application must be signed by both parents, and both must accompany their minor child to Passport Sewa Kendra (PSK). However, if a divorce case is pending in court and custody of the child has not been decided, a court order or NOC from the other parent is required when applying for a passport for a minor applicant.
According to Baghel, if the divorce case has been resolved, the decree would normally award custody of the minor child or children to either parent. In such cases, only the parent who has been granted custody by the court may apply for the minor's passport.
To avoid inconvenience, Baghel advised thr parents who want to apply for passports for their minor children while their divorce decree is pending to visit PSK with a court order or consent from the other parent.
