International flyers from India won't need physical boarding pass from September 1

Passengers flying internationally from India will no longer be required to carry a physical boarding pass or get it stamped at immigration counters from September 1, according to an internal communication reviewed by HT.

The Bureau of Immigration has communicated the decision to all stakeholders, including international airport operators and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), officials said. The move is aimed at making the immigration clearance process more convenient.

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In an internal communication by Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) in Delhi Deepak Yadav, the mandatory requirement of producing a physical boarding pass and getting it stamped by an immigration officer would be discontinued at all international airports in the country from September.

The communication said that the existing process of requiring passengers to produce physical boarding passes caused inconvenience, while instances of errors in reading boarding passes due to improper or incorrect stamping had also been reported.

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“The matter has been examined by the Bureau of Immigration and it has now been decided to do away with the mandatory requirement of physical boarding passes and the stamping of boarding passes at Immigration counters, at all international airports in the country,” the internal communication read.

“Passengers may produce their e-boarding passes at the Immigration counters for clearance. It may, however, be clarified that physical boarding passes will continue to be accepted at the Immigration counters, however, these will not be stamped,” it added.

The Bureau of Immigration, through the communication, has asked airport and aviation stakeholders to sensitise their staff about the change, which will come into effect from Tuesday, September 1.