BHOPAL: In case parents have filed for divorce, the passport of minors will not be issued unless the court gives custody of the child to one of them. The parent applying for a passport for the minor will have to produce a no-objection certificate from the other parent.
Rashmi Baghel, Regional Passport Officer, Bhopal, said that the office had received applications from two minor applicants for passports, which have been put on hold as their parents have filed divorce cases, which are pending in court.
Ordinarily, in cases of minors seeking a passport, the application has to be signed by both the parents and both have to mandatorily accompany their minor child to Passport Sewa Kendra (PSK). But in cases where a divorce case is pending in the court and custody of the child has not been decided, it is mandatory to produce a court order or NOC from the other parent while applying for a passport for a minor applicant.
Baghel said if the divorce case has been decided, the decree would normally award custody of the minor child or children to either of the parents. In such cases, the application for minor’s passport can be filed only by the parent who has been granted custody by the court.
According to Baghel, parents who want to apply for passports for their minor children and their divorce decree is awaited, should visit PSK along with court order or consent of the other parent to avoid inconvenience.
