NEW DELHI / AGARTALA, Jan 28 (TIWN) : Aiming for faster issuance of passports, the government has said that police verification can now be done after travel document has been issued, provided certain government-issued identity documents are submitted at the time of filing the application.

"If you submit application with copies of Aadhar, Voter ID and PAN Card with an affidavit of no criminal case, we will issue the Passport. The Police verification will be done later," said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in a tweet.

1. If you submit application with copies of Aadhar, Voter ID and PAN Card with an affidavit of no criminal case, we will issue the Passport.

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) January 25, 2016

2. The Police verification will be done later.

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) January 25, 2016

Swaraj further added, "You can choose any appointment date from the earliest five available dates for Passport related services."

A statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs has said, "... henceforth normal passport applications of all first time applicants furnishing Aadhaar, Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), Permanent Account Number (PAN) and an affidavit will be processed on post-police verification basis, enabling faster issue of passport, without payment of any additional fees".

While the statement clearly says that a new passport for first-timers will be issued subject to the successful online validation of Aadhaar number. EPIC and PAN card, the phrase "pose-police verification" creates ambiguity.

For speedy submission of police verification report, the External Affairs Ministry has also launched an 'mPassport Police Application'.

"With the launch of this App, the need to download and print the physical Personal Particulars Form and questionnaire would no longer be required resulting in paperless end-to-end digital flow of the PV process, further reducing the time required for completion of PVR, within the desired time limit of 21 days," the release said.