AGARTALA, Dec 15 (TIWN / IANS) A passport office will open here soon, an external affairs ministry official said on Tuesday.

"By this month-end or early January, a mini Passport Seva Kendra would be made operational here," project director A.K. Sobti told reporters.

Handwritten passports have become invalid across the world since November 24. 

Sobti and three other officials arrived here on Monday to oversee the arrangements to set up the passport office in Agartala.

Only one passport office in Guwahati and a Passport Seva Kendra in Manipur cater to the entire north-eastern region, comprising eight states.

The Kolkata regional passport office issues passports to Tripura residents and applicants.

An official circular said the government had been issuing machine readable passport (MRPs) since 2001. Those issued before 2001, particularly in the mid-90s with a validity of 20 years, fall into the non-MRPs category.

Passport Seva Kendras are likely to open in Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim soon.