India issues three types of passport: the ordinary passport with a deep blue cover, the official passport with a white cover, and the diplomatic passport with a maroon cover. Almost every Indian passport in circulation is the deep blue one. The other two are issued free by the Consular, Passport and Visa Division for government work abroad, and they are tied to that work: the original booklet is surrendered for cancellation when it is re-issued, and an officer retiring within six months of applying gives an undertaking to surrender it to their office on return from the assignment (Passport Seva, accessed 2026-08-27).
This guide is maintained by Zurich Kotak General Insurance, an IRDAI-registered general insurer in India and part of the Zurich Insurance Group.
How Zurich Kotak fits in: The colour of the booklet decides nothing about travel cover, but the trip taken on it is what Zurich Kotak covers. Zurich Kotak’s Smart Travel plans cover emergency medical treatment abroad, medical evacuation, baggage loss or delay and loss of passport overseas, up to the limits of the plan you buy. On the Asia geography they come in two tiers, Excel with a sum insured up to USD 100,000 and Prime up to USD 500,000, with a maximum entry age of 70.
Last verified: 2026-08-27.
The three types at a glance
Cover colour is the fastest way to tell them apart, and the colours are stated by the passport portal itself.
Type | Cover colour | Who gets it | Issued by | Fee |
Ordinary | Deep blue (commonly called navy blue) | Any eligible Indian citizen, for private travel of any kind | 37 Passport Offices, through 93 Passport Seva Kendras and 450 or more Post Office Passport Seva Kendras, plus 208 Indian Missions and Posts abroad | INR 2,500 for 36 pages, INR 3,500 for 60 pages, INR 1,750 for a minor, all effective 2026-07-01 |
Official | White | Designated government servants, or others specifically authorised by the government, deputed abroad on official assignment | CPV Division, Patiala House, New Delhi, or the Passport Office attached to the applicant’s residence, except in Delhi | Gratis |
Diplomatic | Maroon | People holding diplomatic status, and government officials proceeding abroad on a diplomatic assignment or for official purposes | Same as Official | Gratis |
That there are exactly three classes is confirmed in Parliament: “There are three classes of passports issued to various persons under the Passport Act. They are Ordinary, Diplomatic and Official passports” (MEA, Rajya Sabha Unstarred Q.199, 19 July 2018, accessed 2026-08-27). “Deep blue” is the government’s own wording; navy blue is common usage for the same booklet.
The ordinary passport fees in that table were set by G.S.R. 516(E) dated 20 June 2026, the Passports (Amendment) Rules, 2026, which substituted Schedule IV of the Passports Rules, 1980 and came into force on 2026-07-01. Any page still showing INR 1,500 for a 36-page passport is quoting the superseded schedule.
The ordinary passport (deep blue)
This is the passport almost every reader of this page holds, and it comes in two sizes.
An ordinary passport is 36 or 60 pages. For adults it is generally valid for 10 years from the date of issue. For minors, validity is restricted to five years, or until the child turns 18, whichever comes first (Passport Seva, accessed 2026-08-27).
The 60-page booklet costs INR 1,000 more and exists for one reason: people who fill a passport with visas and entry stamps faster than ten years. There is no separate colour or category for a frequent traveller, a business traveller or a student. They all hold the same deep blue booklet.
The official passport (white)
A white passport is issued to a designated government servant, or another person specifically authorised by the government, being deputed abroad on an official assignment.
The test is the assignment, not the job title, and the passport is applied for when a specific posting requires it. It does not replace the holder’s ordinary passport: if the officer already holds one, they must produce proof it has been placed in safe custody at their office, and it stays there while the official booklet is in use. On re-issue, the original official passport is surrendered for cancellation (Passport Seva, accessed 2026-08-27).
The diplomatic passport (maroon)
A maroon passport goes to people holding diplomatic status, and to government officials proceeding abroad on a diplomatic assignment or for official purposes.
MEA set the categories out in Parliament in exactly those two limbs, and added that under Category F of Appendix 13 of the Passport Manual 2016, the External Affairs Minister has discretion to issue a diplomatic passport to a person who, in the Minister’s opinion, should hold one because of the nature of their foreign mission or the position they hold or have held (MEA, Rajya Sabha Unstarred Q.199, 19 July 2018, accessed 2026-08-27).
A note on what we are not going to tell you. Plenty of pages state a precise rank threshold separating diplomatic from official entitlement, and a precise validity period for both. The instrument that governs this is the Passport Manual 2016, Appendix 13, which is published nowhere and which we could not locate, so we do not repeat figures no government source states. In the portal’s own words, entitlement rests on holding diplomatic status or being deputed by the Government of India for official duty abroad. That is a test of status and assignment, not of rank.
Two more travel documents under the Passports Act
The Passports Act, 1967 provides for five documents, not three. Two of them are travel documents rather than passports.
Document | What it is | Fee |
Emergency Certificate | A one-way travel document issued abroad, to return to India | USD 15, issued abroad only |
Certificate of Identity | A travel document applicable to Tibetan refugees and stateless people | INR 1,000 |
Sources: G.S.R. 516(E), Schedule IV and Passport Seva, accessed 2026-08-27.
Do not confuse the Certificate of Identity with an Identity Certificate. The first is a priced travel document. The second, Annexure A, is a form a government employer issues in support of an ordinary passport application, and it has a useful side effect covered below.
Is there an orange passport in India? No
No orange passport exists, and none was ever issued. It was announced on 12 January 2018, reversed 17 days later, and the booklets were never even designed.
This is the most misreported fact about Indian passports, so here is the sequence, all of it on MEA’s own website.
Date | What happened |
12 January 2018 | MEA announces two decisions together: the last page of the passport would no longer be printed, and ECR holders would be issued a passport with an orange cover jacket while Non-ECR holders kept blue |
29 January 2018 | Both decisions reviewed at a meeting chaired by the then External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, and reversed |
30 January 2018 | MEA announces the reversal: the last page continues to be printed, and no separate orange-jacket passport will be issued |
7 and 8 February 2018 | Confirmed in both Houses of Parliament |
24 March 2021 | Confirmed again in the Lok Sabha, three years on: the Ministry decided on 29 January 2018 not to issue a separate passport with an orange colour jacket |
Sources: MEA Official Spokesperson, 12 January 2018; MEA press release, 30 January 2018; Rajya Sabha Unstarred Q.652, 8 February 2018; Lok Sabha Starred Q.*411, 24 March 2021. All accessed 2026-08-27.
Why no orange passport could have been issued. The 12 January 2018 announcement said the Indian Security Press, Nashik would design the new booklets “in due course”, and that until they were designed, manufactured and supplied, passports would keep being printed with the last page. On the day it was announced, the orange booklet did not exist as a design, and the reversal came 17 days later.
Two proposals, not one. They were announced together and reversed together. Content saying “the last page was removed”, or that only the orange passport was cancelled, has the facts wrong. Both were reversed, which is why your passport still has a printed last page today.
One correction almost every published account gets wrong. The three-member committee of MEA and Ministry of Women and Child Development officials did not review or reverse the orange passport. It was constituted on an entirely different subject: passport applications where a mother or child asked that the father’s name not be printed, and passports for children of single parents and adopted children. Its recommendation to explore doing away with printed information in the booklet is what caused the last-page decision. What reversed both decisions was, in MEA’s own words, “several individual and collective representations”.
What ECR holders actually get today: the same deep blue ordinary passport as everyone else, with ECR printed at the top of the last page. If nothing is printed there, the passport is Non-ECR.
What colour passport does an IAS officer get?
For personal or private travel, an IAS officer holds an ordinary deep blue passport, exactly like any other citizen. There is no automatic “IAS passport colour”.
Nothing in MEA or Passport Seva material ties a passport type to the IAS or to any civil service cadre. Entitlement attaches to the assignment, not to the person’s service, so joining a service does not by itself confer a white or maroon booklet.
The decisive source is a parliamentary answer given about officers considerably more senior than a typical IAS officer. Asked whether Secretaries to the Government of India could travel abroad on a diplomatic passport when invited in a personal capacity, MEA answered “No, Sir”, and added: “Rules do not allow use of diplomatic passports for personal or private visits abroad” (MEA, Rajya Sabha Unstarred Q.1746, 17 March 2005, accessed 2026-08-27). That answer is from 2005, has never been contradicted, and is consistent with every current rule on the portal, but it is worth knowing its date.
So the honest answer is a two-parter. On duty, an officer deputed abroad applies for a white official passport, or a maroon diplomatic one where they hold diplomatic status. On holiday, the same officer uses their ordinary deep blue passport, which sits in safe custody with the employer meanwhile.
One practical detail worth knowing if you work for the government. Which annexure a government, public sector or statutory body employee submits with an ordinary passport application decides whether police verification happens at all:
Document submitted | Police verification |
Annexure A, Identity Certificate | Passport issued without police verification |
Annexure G, No Objection Certificate | Passport issued on post-police-verification basis |
Annexure H, Prior Intimation letter | Passport issued on pre-police-verification basis |
Source: Passport Seva, accessed 2026-08-27, corroborated by Instruction Booklet V3.0 Table 2. The Annexure A route is the fastest available to anyone in India, because it skips police verification entirely.
The e-passport: every new Indian passport is now chip-enabled
Since the rollout completed, every newly issued Indian passport is an e-passport. You do not apply for one, you simply receive one.
An e-passport is a combined paper and electronic passport with an RFID chip and antenna embedded in the booklet, holding the holder’s personal particulars and biometric information. It does not change the cover colour. It is identified by a small gold symbol printed below the front cover (Passport Seva, accessed 2026-08-27).
MEA told Parliament on 13 August 2026 that all Regional Passport Offices, Passport Seva Kendras, Post Office Passport Seva Kendras and all Indian Missions and Posts abroad are issuing e-passports, that the rollout completed in May 2025 in India and October 2025 at missions abroad, and that 1,73,16,144 e-passports had been issued up to 30 July 2026 (MEA, Rajya Sabha Unstarred Q.2952, 13 August 2026, accessed 2026-08-27). The exact dates from MEA’s press release are 26 May 2025 in India and 28 October 2025 abroad (MEA press release, 12 November 2025, accessed 2026-08-27).
If you hold an older non-chip passport, it stays valid until its expiry date. There is nothing to do and no upgrade to apply for. You get an e-passport at your next re-issue.
ECR is a status, not a passport type
ECR and Non-ECR describe emigration-clearance status printed inside a deep blue ordinary passport. They are not separate types of passport and not a different colour. Our guide to ECR and ECNR in a passport covers who falls under ECR, the 18 countries, the education threshold and how to convert.
What people get wrong
Belief | The reality |
ECR holders get an orange passport | None was ever designed or issued. The proposal was reversed on 29 January 2018 |
The last page of the passport was removed | It was not. That decision was reversed at the same meeting |
IAS officers get a special colour automatically | Entitlement follows the assignment, not the service |
A diplomatic passport can be used for a private holiday | Rules do not allow it to be used for personal or private visits abroad |
You have to apply for an e-passport | Every new passport is one. Older non-chip passports stay valid to expiry |
An e-passport has a different cover | Same colour, plus a small gold symbol below the front cover |
There are only three travel documents | The Act also provides for the Emergency Certificate and the Certificate of Identity |
A 60-page passport is a different type | Same ordinary passport, more pages, INR 1,000 more |
Where this sits in your passport journey
Once you know which passport you are applying for, the next question is what goes in the file.
· Documents required for an Indian passport covers proof of address, date of birth and nationality, and the annexures named above.
· ECR and ECNR in a passport is the page for the status printed on the last page.
· Passport renewal process covers re-issue, which is how an older non-chip booklet becomes an e-passport.
· Changing the name or address on a passport covers a change of personal particulars, which is also a re-issue.
On insurance, briefly and honestly: the type of passport you hold has no bearing on travel cover. Where it does connect is timing, because a re-issue takes weeks and a trip booked around one has money already committed. If you are travelling abroad, travel insurance is a separate decision that turns on your destination and how long you are away.
Frequently asked questions
How many types of passport are there in India? Three: the ordinary passport with a deep blue cover, the official passport with a white cover, and the diplomatic passport with a maroon cover. The Passports Act, 1967 also provides for two further travel documents, the Emergency Certificate and the Certificate of Identity.
What is the orange passport in India? There is no orange passport. MEA announced on 12 January 2018 that ECR passport holders would get an orange cover jacket, reversed the decision at a meeting on 29 January 2018 and announced the reversal on 30 January 2018. The booklets were never designed, so none was ever issued, and the position was confirmed again in Parliament in 2021.
What colour passport does an IAS officer get? For personal or private travel, an ordinary deep blue passport, the same as any other citizen. A white official or maroon diplomatic passport is issued for a specific official or diplomatic assignment abroad, not automatically on joining a service, and rules do not allow a diplomatic passport to be used for personal or private visits.
What is the difference between an official and a diplomatic passport? The official passport is white and is issued to designated government servants deputed abroad on an official assignment. The diplomatic passport is maroon and is issued to people holding diplomatic status and to officials proceeding abroad on a diplomatic assignment or for official purposes. Both are issued free by the CPV Division. The portal sets out two surrender rules rather than a general one: the original booklet is surrendered for cancellation when it is re-issued, and an officer retiring within six months of applying gives an undertaking to surrender it to their office on return from the assignment.
Do I need to apply for an e-passport? No. Every newly issued Indian passport is an e-passport, following a rollout that completed in May 2025 in India and October 2025 at Indian Missions abroad. An older non-chip passport stays valid until its expiry date, and you receive an e-passport at your next re-issue.
Is an ECR passport a different colour? No. ECR is a status, not a type of passport. ECR holders receive the same deep blue ordinary passport, with ECR printed at the top of the last page. If nothing is printed there, the passport is Non-ECR.
