Immigration gets faster with e-arrival cards from October 1

NEW DELHI: Flying into India is expected to become a smooth affair from Oct 1 for foreigners, with delays at immigration counters set to become a thing of the past. They will no longer be required to fill physical disembarkation cards that are currently submitted at immigration. All foreign nationals travelling here for work, tourism, study or business will have the option of submitting a digital arrival cards online.The e-arrival card will require usual details like passport number, nationality, purpose of visit, address in India and contact details. No documents need to be uploaded. Indian nationals and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card holders will not be require to fill these e-arrival cards.Amit Shah-led Union home ministry has been using technology for speeding up immigration. Earlier this month, he inaugurated the Fast Track Immigration – Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP) at Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram, Trichy, Kozhikode, and Amritsar airports. FTI-TTP can be used by Indian citizens and OCI card holders. This programme was launched in 2024 from Delhi, followed by its implementation in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Kochi, and Ahmedabad. As of now, 13 airports have FTI-TTP. The upcoming Navi Mumbai and Greater Noida airports will also get the facility. “Travellers now experience no long queues or manual checking, receiving immigration clearance in just 30 seconds without delays. About 3 lakh travellers have registered on (FTI-TTP) portal, of which 2.65 lakh have utilised it during travel,” a govt statement of Sept 11 had said.