Context: Recently, Ministry of Home affairs has launched Fast Track Immigration – Trusted Traveler Program with the aim to fast track the immigration process at airports for pre-verified Indian nationals and people of Indian origin having the status of Overseas Citizens of India (OCI).
About Fast Track Immigration – Trusted Traveler Program
- Aim: The program aims to make international travel easy and secured by developing world class immigration facilities through an accelerated immigration pathway for international travellers screened through automated gates (e-Gates).
- Eligible beneficiaries: The program will be implemented into two phases. In Phase 1, Indian citizens and OCI cardholders will be covered and in Phase 2, foreign travelers will be covered.
- The program will run on e-gates or automated border gates which will minimize human intervention in the immigration clearance process.
- This facility will be available free of cost for all eligible passengers.
- Nodal Agency: Bureau of Immigration will be the nodal agency for fast-track immigration of various categories of travelers under this program.
- Enrollment under the Program: To enroll in this scheme, an applicant must register online on the portal with her/his details and required documents. After necessary, a White-list of ‘Trusted Travellers’ will be generated and fed for implementation through e-Gates. Biometrics of the ‘Trusted Traveller’ passing through e-Gates will be captured at the FRRO office or at the time of passage of the registered through the airport.
- Implementation of the Program: Under the process, as soon as the ‘registered passenger’ reaches the e-gates, he/she will scan his/her boarding pass issued by the airlines at the e-gates to get the details of his/her flight. Passport will also be scanned and biometric of passenger will be authenticated at the e-gates. Once the genuine identity of the passenger is established and biometric authentication is done, the e-gate will open automatically, and immigration clearance will be deemed to have been granted.
- Validity: TTP registration will be valid till the validity of the passport or 05 years whichever is earlier and will be renewed thereafter.
- Impact of the program: To facilitate faster, smoother and safer immigration of Indian citizens and OCI cardholders by enhancing their travel convenience and efficiency.
- Operational at: FTI-TTP will be launched at 21 major airports. In the first phase, it will be launched at 7 major airports – Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Kochi & Ahmedabad along with Delhi where this initiative was first launched.