India Moves Child Passport Cutoff From 15 to 18

India’s child passports now run until the 18th birthday, not the 15th, after the Ministry of External Affairs substituted Rule 12 of the Passports Rules, 1980. The gazette is dated 15 September 2026 and appeared in the Gazette of India on 17 September, when the new wording came into force.

Rule 12 has used a five-year span for under-15s since 1998. The September gazette changes the other limb of the same sentence, swapping the 15th birthday for the 18th, and it ties every fee to the July price list.

The Old Rule Stopped the Booklet at 15

Joint Secretary and Chief Passport Officer B.S. Mubarak signed the Passports (Amendment) Rules, 2026 as G.S.R. 820(E), File No. 401/01/20/2025. The same file number sat on the June fee gazette. This one rewrites duration, not the price column.

Rule 12 as it stood since 1998 said a 36-page ordinary passport for a child below 15 “shall be in force for a period of 5 years from the date of its issue or until the child attains the age of 15 years, whichever is earlier.” That sentence was inserted by G.S.R. 605(E) of 5 October 1998, with effect from 8 October 1998, and it stood for 28 years.

Adults, and anyone who is not a child below 15, still get up to 10 years under Rule 12(1). The September text leaves that adult span alone. It only substitutes sub-rule (1A).

An ordinary passport for a child below the age of fifteen years, containing thirty-six pages, shall be in force for a period of five years from the date of its issue or until the child attains the age of eighteen years, whichever is earlier.

B.S. Mubarak, Joint Secretary and Chief Passport Officer, G.S.R. 820(E)

Passport Seva forms already described a minor booklet as five years or until 18, and the June fee schedule used the same 18-year limb for applicants below 18. Rule 12 still killed an under-15 booklet on the 15th birthday until this gazette. The September text closes that gap.

What a 14-Year-Old’s Passport Now Lasts

The five-year clock still starts on the issue date. The new work is at the far end, for children who would have hit 15 before five years ran out. A 14-year-old used to hold a one-year booklet. That child now keeps it until 18, a four-year run, unless a parent reprints sooner.

OLD CUTOFF VERSUS NEW CUTOFF

A 10-year-old still gets five years either way, because 15 arrives with the five-year mark and 18 is later. The gain concentrates in the 11-to-14 group, where the old birthday rule was clipping the booklet short. The substituted sub-rule still names a 36-page ordinary passport and a child below 15, so the extra run is for that booklet, not a 60-page adult book printed in a child’s name.

The Fee Hike Is Now Locked Into the Rules

G.S.R. 820(E) also rewrites Rule 8(1). Fees for each class of application must be the rates set against that class in Schedule IV. That is how the September gazette pulls in prices that have been live since 1 July 2026.

Those prices arrived in G.S.R. 516(E), dated 20 June 2026 and published in the Gazette on 25 June, signed by the same officer on the same file. The June instrument replaced Schedule IV and said the new list would apply from 1 July. The last across-the-board published fee list before that was G.S.R. 731(E) of 28 September 2012, in force from 1 October 2012, 14 years earlier. The substituted Schedule IV fee table is the working list.

INDIA FEES BEFORE AND FROM 1 JULY 2026

The standard adult 36-page booklet is Rs 1,000 more, a two-thirds rise. The minor 36-page booklet is Rs 750 more, a 75 percent rise, and the 60-page adult booklet is also 75 percent higher. Tatkaal totals in Schedule IV already include the normal fee. A lost or damaged 60-page adult booklet is Rs 6,000, or Rs 8,500 under Tatkaal.

The Passport Seva application portal warns that fees changed from 1 July, though one older fee-structure page on the same site still prints the pre-July chart. Many families still budget extra cash for the police verification visit, which is outside Schedule IV, so the gazette figure is the booklet price, not the full outlay.

The 10 Percent Off Fresh Applications Only

Note 3 under the new Schedule IV keeps a ten percent cut on passport fee for fresh applications by minors up to 8 years and by senior citizens above 60. The same note shuts that cut on reissue. A child who prints the first booklet at 3, at the discounted minor rate, pays the full Rs 1,750 when that five-year book is reissued at 8, even if the child is still small.

WHO GETS THE TEN PERCENT CUT

• Under-8 fresh: Ten percent off Rs 1,750 leaves Rs 1,575 for a first 36-page minor booklet.
• Seniors above 60, fresh: Ten percent off Rs 2,500 leaves Rs 2,250 for a first adult 36-page booklet.
• Every reissue: The cut does not apply, including a child still under 8 who is reprinting rather than applying for the first time.
• Ages 9 to 59: No concession on the Schedule IV rate.

That is why the advertised child concession is a one-shot on the first print. The five-year span, which Rule 12 still uses, sends the same child back to a full-price reissue long before 18.

Why a 16-Year-Old Can Still Buy 10 Years

Schedule IV splits the queue in a way Rule 12(1A) does not. Serial I(a) covers applicants 18 and above, and minors aged 15 to 18 if they file in that category, with validity that shall not exceed 10 years. Serial I(b) covers minor applicants below 18, with validity of five years or until 18, whichever is earlier, at the Rs 1,750 rate.

A 16-year-old can still choose. File as a minor and pay Rs 1,750 for a booklet that dies at 18. File in the adult category and pay Rs 2,500 for up to 10 years. The September Rule 12 text does not erase that fork. It only stops an under-15 booklet from expiring on the 15th birthday when five years have not yet run.

Parents of 15-to-17-year-olds who expect heavy travel get more years per rupee on the adult fee. Parents who only need a school trip or a visa stamp before college still have the cheaper short book. Either choice is a paid print at the July rates, with no ten percent cut on a reissue.

Dollar Fees at Indian Missions

Schedule IV bills a second column for applications abroad, in US dollars. An adult 36-page fresh or reissue is $125, or $250 under Tatkaal. A minor 36-page fresh or reissue is $90, or $215 under Tatkaal. Those dollar figures moved with the July list, and Rule 8 now points at them the same way it points at the rupee column.

THE 2026 PASSPORT GAZETTES

1. 20 June 2026: G.S.R. 516(E) substitutes Schedule IV, File No. 401/01/20/2025.
2. 1 July 2026: The new fee list comes into force in India and abroad.
3. 15 September 2026: G.S.R. 820(E) is dated, substituting Rule 12(1A) and aligning Rule 8 with Schedule IV.
4. 17 September 2026: The Gazette of India publishes that instrument, and the new duration rule comes into force.

A parent who prints a booklet for a 14-year-old from 17 September now holds a document that can run to the 18th birthday. The reprint after that is an adult 10-year passport at Rs 2,500.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Rule 12(1A) Cover a 60-Page Child Passport?

No. The substituted sub-rule names an ordinary passport for a child below 15 containing 36 pages. A 60-page booklet is priced in the adult rows of Schedule IV, and Rule 12(1) still gives persons other than children below 15 a span of 10 years for 36-page or 60-page ordinary passports.

How Much Is a Police Clearance Certificate After the July List?

Schedule IV serial 9 sets Rs 750 in India, and $40 abroad, for a Police Clearance Certificate, a surrender certificate, Global Entry Program verification, or other miscellaneous certificates based on the passport. Tatkaal is listed as not applicable on that row.

What Does a Certificate of Identity Cost?

The special travel document row prices a Certificate of Identity at Rs 1,000 in India and $50 abroad. An Emergency Certificate is listed as not applicable in India and $15 abroad, with no Tatkaal column on either document.

How Much Does an Under-8 First Passport Cost After the Discount?

Ten percent off the minor 36-page fee of Rs 1,750 is Rs 175, so a fresh application for a child up to 8 years is Rs 1,575. That arithmetic does not carry over to a reissue, and it does not apply to a child aged 9 or above on a first print.