By Ankur Sharma,News18

Copyright news18

For decades, the experience of arriving in India began with a long queue at immigration, form-filling, and manual checks that slowed the journey just as it was about to end. Beginning October 1, the Ministry of Home Affairs is rolling out digital e-arrival cards and scaling up the Fast Track Immigration Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP) across India’s busiest airports.
The initiative promises to transform the arrival experience for foreign nationals, OCI cardholders, and Indian citizens alike, reducing immigration clearance to a matter of seconds.
For arriving passengers, the difference will be palpable. Instead of fumbling with pens and paper forms, waiting in long lines, and repeating the same questions to immigration officers, clearance will become a scan-and-go experience.
It is a small but meaningful step toward making India’s airports reflect its aspirations: modern, efficient, and welcoming. By replacing queues with clicks, home minister Amit Shah’s immigration reform is not just about passenger convenience but about projecting a confident India to the world.
The rollout of the FTI-TTP is not just administrative. Shah has repeatedly framed it as part of the government’s larger vision of ‘Speed, Scale, and Scope’, tied to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda of Viksit Bharat @2047.
At the September 11 inauguration, Shah drew a symbolic parallel with Swami Vivekananda’s 1893 speech in Chicago, suggesting that just as Vivekananda introduced the world to India’s spiritual heritage, modern travellers arriving through these fast-track systems would witness a new, technologically confident India.
From Disembarkation Cards to Digital Entry
One of the most immediate changes passengers will notice from October is the end of the paper disembarkation card. For decades, every foreigner flying into India had to fill this physical form, which was a tedious exercise after long-haul flights. Starting next month, this will be replaced with e-arrival cards, filed digitally before or during travel.
The seemingly small shift eliminates paperwork, reduces errors, and cuts down processing time at immigration counters. More importantly, it integrates with India’s broader push toward digital border management, where pre-filled information syncs directly with immigration systems.
The FTI-TTP: India’s Own Global Entry
At the heart of this modernisation push is the Fast Track Immigration-Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP). Launched initially at Delhi airport in June 2024, the programme is steadily expanding. As of September, it is operational at 13 airports, including Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Ahmedabad, and five new additions: Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram, Trichy, Kozhikode, and Amritsar. Plans are already underway to cover 21 airports in the first phase, extending later to new hubs like Navi Mumbai and Jewar.
The premise is simple: instead of standing in line for a manual passport check, registered travellers use automated e-gates. The system verifies their passport, boarding pass, and biometrics—fingerprints and facial recognition—in under 30 seconds. Once authenticated, the e-gate opens automatically, and immigration clearance is complete.
For frequent international travellers, it is India’s answer to Global Entry in the US or Registered Traveller in the UK— a trusted corridor for low-risk passengers.
Who Can Use It?
In its first phase, the programme covers Indian citizens, Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders.
Enrollment requires online registration on the FTI-TTP portal with passport details and supporting documents. Biometrics are captured either at a Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) or during the first airport passage. The registration is valid for five years or until passport expiry, whichever comes earlier.
Phase two will extend the facility to foreign nationals, marking a complete overhaul of immigration handling for all inbound passengers.
Free, Fast, and Secure
Unlike similar programmes abroad that charge hefty fees, the FTI-TTP is free of cost. Shah has emphasised that the initiative is not just about convenience but also national security. By pre-vetting travellers and creating a white list of “trusted” passengers, the government can allocate immigration manpower more efficiently focusing scrutiny on higher-risk arrivals while easing the flow of low-risk ones.
So far, about 3,00,000 travellers have registered, with 2,65,000 already using the e-gates. While this number is modest compared to India’s international passenger traffic, over eight crore people in 2024 alone officials expect registrations to grow rapidly as awareness spreads.
A Response to Rising Travel Volumes
The programme is also a response to India’s rapidly growing international travel market. According to Shah, outbound Indian travellers increased from 3.54 crore in 2014 to 6.12 crore in 2024—a 73 per cent jump. Foreign arrivals grew from 1.53 crore to nearly 2 crore in the same period. Combined, that’s a 60 per cent increase in cross-border movement within a decade.
Traditional immigration infrastructure, designed for smaller volumes, has struggled to keep pace. E-gates and digital systems are seen as essential upgrades to prevent bottlenecks as India positions itself as both an outbound hub and an attractive destination.
Challenges Ahead
Despite its promise, the programme faces hurdles. With only 3,00,000 registrations so far, uptake remains limited compared to the millions eligible. Authorities are considering linking enrolment to passport and OCI issuance to scale participation.
Also, many travellers are unaware of the programme or its benefits. Effective outreach, especially via airlines and travel agents, will be key.
The E-gates also require robust biometric systems, real-time data sync, and backup mechanisms to prevent glitches from causing new queues.