Srinagar, April 5 -- According to data from the Ministry of External Affairs, in Jammu, passport processing for normal applications took an average of 4 days in 2020. This figure increased sharply to 62 days in 2021. However, the timeline came down significantly to 6 days in 2022, and stabilized at 11 days in both 2023 and 2024.

The data shows no separate Tatkal category processing times for Jammu in these years.

Srinagar witnessed a similar trend. The Regional Passport Office there processed normal passport applications in an average of 3 days in 2020. This changed dramatically in 2021 when the average time rose to 89 days, the highest among all RPOs in the country that year.

The timeline was reduced to 9 days in both 2022 and 2023, a...