In a ruling that could significantly streamline India’s passport-issuance pipeline, the Allahabad High Court has ordered Uttar Pradesh police to complete all passport-verification reports within four weeks. The judgment, delivered on 11 November 2025 by Justices Ajit Kumar and Swarupama Chaturvedi, states that administrative delays cannot impede a citizen’s constitutional right to travel abroad.
Under current Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) guidelines, an ordinary passport should be issued within 30 working days, but those timelines exclude the police-verification stage. Applicants in several districts have reported wait times of three to six months, often derailing overseas job offers, university admissions and urgent medical travel. The bench emphasised that verification is an “essential exercise” but not a carte blanche for indefinite delays and warned that officers who miss the new deadline could face contempt proceedings.
![Allahabad High Court Sets Four-Week Deadline for Passport Police Verification]()
The order also directs Regional Passport Offices to inform applicants within a month if issuance is denied and to finalise pending cases within 30 days once necessary clearances are submitted. Legal experts say the judgment sets a persuasive precedent for other high courts and may push MEA to amend its Citizen’s Charter to include explicit police-verification timelines nationwide.
For HR and global-mobility teams, faster police clearances mean reduced lead times for outbound assignments, particularly in sectors such as IT services, shipping and healthcare where employees travel frequently. Companies should, however, remind staff to respond promptly to police inquiries and to keep proof of residence ready to avoid re-verification.
Passport facilitators expect the ruling to trigger a surge in applications from Tier-II cities, where verification delays have been most acute. They also caution that local police stations may need additional staffing and digital-record systems to meet the court-mandated turnaround time.
Under current Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) guidelines, an ordinary passport should be issued within 30 working days, but those timelines exclude the police-verification stage. Applicants in several districts have reported wait times of three to six months, often derailing overseas job offers, university admissions and urgent medical travel. The bench emphasised that verification is an “essential exercise” but not a carte blanche for indefinite delays and warned that officers who miss the new deadline could face contempt proceedings.
The order also directs Regional Passport Offices to inform applicants within a month if issuance is denied and to finalise pending cases within 30 days once necessary clearances are submitted. Legal experts say the judgment sets a persuasive precedent for other high courts and may push MEA to amend its Citizen’s Charter to include explicit police-verification timelines nationwide.
For HR and global-mobility teams, faster police clearances mean reduced lead times for outbound assignments, particularly in sectors such as IT services, shipping and healthcare where employees travel frequently. Companies should, however, remind staff to respond promptly to police inquiries and to keep proof of residence ready to avoid re-verification.
Passport facilitators expect the ruling to trigger a surge in applications from Tier-II cities, where verification delays have been most acute. They also caution that local police stations may need additional staffing and digital-record systems to meet the court-mandated turnaround time.
