New Delhi:  Many forget to renew their passports on time and often miss the opportunity to travel abroad because a person cannot travel abroad unless his or her passport has a minimum validity of six months. The External Affairs Ministry has now started a service of sending two text messages to Passport holders, nine and seven months before the expiry of Passports. 

 The Regional Passport Offices across the country will now send SMS alerts to such Passport holders six months before the expiry dates so that people remember to renew them. 

The text messages to be sent to all Passport holders will read: “Dear Passport Holder, Your Passport Kxxxx949 will expire on such and such date. Apply reissue at www.passportindia.gov.in or on mPassport Seva App. Please ignore, if applied.”

The rules for renewing a Passport six months before its expiry are similar to renewal rules of an expired Passport. Police verification is not needed in cases of reissue up to three years from the date of expiry unless there is any “adverse report” against a Passport holder, the Ministry release stated.