Indian Passport With New Look: From Blue To Orange

Let’s start with the most important change - removing the last page. Passport holders will be aware that this page contains details like proof of address, details of guardians/spouse, old passport number, and the Emigration Check Required (ECR) status.

So, how does the new Indian passport look like? The passports with an ECR status’ will be provided with orange covers and have these changes implemented.

Non-ECR holders will continue to receive passports with blue covers with the last page intact.

Indian passports are divided into two main categories:

• ECR Passports
• Non-ECR Passports

ECR is short for Emigration Check Required. This is required for applicants who haven’t passed their 10th grade or don’t have qualification certificates for the same. They must go through emigration checks to work in foreign countries like UAE, Iran, Indonesia, etc. This category is introduced for Indian citizens to give them the freedom to work abroad.

With the proposed changes, the passport’s new look for India’s ECR category passport holders will have their passports’ last page - the address page - removed. The Ministry of External Affairs is currently proposing this change to protect the citizens’ details, as Indian immigrant workers are often mistreated by their foreign employers.

Additionally, a travel insurance plan will also help safeguard your passport if you ever happen to lose it. Currently, 17 countries need emigration clearance: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Libya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemen. Suppose you are an ECR holder travelling to the countries mentioned above. In that case, you must clear emigration to migrate to that country for work.

Non-ECR or ECNR is short for Emigration Clearance Not Required. People who hold these passports have the minimum education qualifications (10th pass) required. ECNR passport holders can travel anywhere in the world without needing to clear emigration at the counter.

Anyone with HSC (Higher Secondary School) certificates automatically qualifies for a Non-ECR or ECNR passport. The proposed changes will not affect Non-ECR passport holders. They will still get passports with blue covers and the last page on renewal.

With the recent changes announced for the Indian passport, discussions around needing travel insurance have started growing. So let’s start with this first - What is travel insurance?

Travel insurance is a policy or plan that offers financial assistance and coverage if something were to go wrong during your travels. This can be losing your passport, needing medical assistance, flight cancellations, theft of your money, or misplaced or lost luggage.

Several countries in Europe require you to have sufficient funds to qualify for a visa application; this can sometimes include the requirement to have a proper travel insurance plan. You won’t get far into your visa application process without proof of purchase of travel insurance.

While this isn’t mandatory for many countries, purchasing a good travel insurance plan can positively impact your application. It proves to the embassy that you can financially support yourself and are covered for emergencies while in their country.

Overall, it’s good practice to insure your trips so you’re financially covered in a foreign land.

Depending on how often you travel, you can opt for different types of travel insurance. Here are some travel insurance plans available in India:

Single-Trip Travel Insurance Plan

As their name suggests, single-trip insurance plans offer coverage for the duration of a single trip. To specify, a single trip is the duration of when the traveller leaves India and returns to India. This plan stays active from the start of the trip until the trip’s end date. Usually, the maximum period covered for a single trip is 180 days.

**Multi-Trip Travel Insurance Plan **

Another variant of a multi-trip insurance plan is called annual travel insurance. This plan allows you to travel as many times as you want within the policy term. For annual travel insurance, the term is one year. You are provided with an amount that covers multiple trips within a year. The trip durations, however, should be at most 30 - 45 days.

Family Travel Insurance Plan

This type of travel insurance offers coverage for each member of the family insured under this policy. This type of insurance policy doesn’t differ much from an individual travel insurance policy. A typical family travel insurance policy covers up to nine members, all of whom must be below 71 years of age.

Indian passports mainly come in navy blue, white and maroon. This new look for the Indian passport involves it sporting an orange cover to distinguish ECR holders. As stated before, the recent changes proposed are to protect the citizens’ details when they travel to foreign countries for work.

If you are someone who travels regularly, consider purchasing a travel insurance plan for some extra coverage. The travelling insurance plans offered at Tata AIG provide flight cancellation insurance plans. So, if things do not go as planned, you can cancel your trip and not suffer a substantial financial loss.