While the process of obtaining passport involves several processes including police verification, now the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said that first-time applicants will all get fast-tracked.

In a series of tweets, Swaraj announced that if a person submits the application with required documents and an affidavit of no criminal record, the passport will be issued first, and the police verification can come later.

Making the process of obtaining a passport more convenient, the Minister also tweeted that people can choose any date from the earliest five available. Meanwhile the police verification process has also been streamlined through the “mPassport Police App“.

Not only will this step make police verification for passports easier for applicants, it will also reduce the process to 21 days.