Wrong date of birth and year in passport

Question

In my mother's passport her date of birth is 25 November 1962 but her actual date of birth is 26 November 1963. My mother's elder sister's date of birth in her passport is 23 August 1962 which is correct. This means my mother and her sister have the same birth year in their passports. I want my mother to visit me in Australia but because of the issue of birth year she is not applying. Even her school document does not have the correct birth year. My aunt has been to Australia so all her details are with the embassy and if my mom applies for a visa now, it might create a problem. Any suggestion as to what we can do??

Answer 1

The theoretical answer is to get your mother's passport corrected, but I gather that in India doing this requires Herculean battles with bureaucracy.

So I would suggest that she simply apply with her current passport. Australia has no way of knowing that the year is incorrect, especially if all her other documentation is consistent in using the wrong date. Unless she applies at the same time as her sister, I really doubt anybody would notice that the dates seem to conflict, and (as noted in the comments) there's a whole slew of ways they would be less than 9 months apart.

Answer 2

@bushra: As per info on the internet, you have to get this done as quickly as possible:

"The cases where the applicant comes to PIA for change/correction with regard to date of birth in Passport after a period of five years from the date of issue of passport with alleged wrong date of birth, no such request shall be entertained/accepted by the PIA and be rejected out rightly (sic)," the memorandum said.

Passport showing wrong entry of date of birth must be corrected.

As per the memorandum, the only exemption that can be granted is in the case of an applicant who was a minor when the passport was originally issued. In such a case, application for correcting date of birth should be filed upon attaining the age of majority and the PIA can consider such an application irrespective of the date of issuance of passport. If the PIA is satisfied about the claim and the documents submitted by such an applicant, the request for changing date of birth can be accepted without imposing any penalty.

In all other cases, if the request for changing date of birth is made within five years and if the document relied is not the Register of Births and Deaths, the PIA should levy appropriate penalty from the applicant for obtaining the earlier passport by providing wrong information regarding date of birth, the memorandum said.

PIAs need not relegate applicants to obtain declaratory court order for correcting date of births anymore as they have been given the power to make necessary changes in genuine cases, said the memorandum that revised the provisions in Passport Manual, 2010 for dealing with correcting date of birth entries.

The passport website says:

If your passport is due to expire, you need to apply for "Re-issue" of passport. In case of "Re-issue" of passport, you need to submit a proof of date of birth, if either your old passport has been lost/damaged or you want to change date of birth in the passport.

and some replies on a forum say:

rectification for change in entry of date of birth in a passport is subject to the verification of DATE OF BIRTH CERTIFICATE and SSC Marks card.... your problem is that of entry in your 10th memo.... file suit of declaration before jurisdictional court..... and after that you can submit the correct date of birth to RPO for next level of correction in your passport.

The better way is to contact the passport office on their helpline: 1800-258-1800 and ask them what the procedure is. Based on the complexity of the procedure, you could either seek professional legal help or follow the necessary steps that the helpline gives you.

So the actual problem you have is because the date of birth of both sisters appears the same, and on paper, they appear to be twins....hmm...

One related question: Issuing fresh passport in India when birthdate is wrong in some documents

Another person who says:

I wish to inform you that you may first correct your date of birth in your education documents after which you may have correction in passport and other documents. If other parties refuse to change your date of birth then a court order declaring your date of birth may be required. Generally as you are born before 26-01-89 thus you do not require birth certificate as proof of your date of birth and your school certificate can be regarded as sufficient proof of your date of birth for any legal formality. .

Personally, I feel it's better to spend some money on legal fees and use your contacts to get the matter clarified from a lawyer who knows what issues may crop up in future if your mother travels using her existing passport, or whether it's better for her to get the school certificate and passport corrected and approximately how much time and effort it would take.

The legal fee would cost much lesser than the time you spend worrying about the matter or the missed opportunity for your mother to travel.

Answer 3

If you want to be on the safe side, you should get get it corrected. Wrong data on passports can create all kinds of problems in the long run if it is inconsistent with other information. You should have some documentation that states the actual birth date. Ask at the passport office (a) what is the administrative process to get a new passport with the correct information using the documentation for the correct date of birth, and (b) what is the cost.

Note that inconsistent information on the passport is problematic since it may trigger warning signs both at the visa office and at the border entry point. As a traveler, you don't want that as it puts your plans at risk. So getting it corrected is the way to go.

Answer 4

It shouldn't be a problem as long as you aren't trying to hide anything. Fill out the visa application truthfully, possibly including a note explaining the error.

My mother in law is currently in Australia on a passport with a blank date of birth. It's a bit unusual and the immigration website can't find her visa, but it has never been a problem with either issuing a visa or getting through immigration on arrival.

Visas are always issued with data matching the passport, and all they really want to know to let you in is that you aren't hiding anything.