Ministry of Civil Aviation mandates Air Suvidha Portal for Ease of Travelling

To guarantee the smooth passage of international travelers arriving in India, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has directed contactless self-declaration at Air Suvidha Portal. The portal has assisted in accommodating the travel guidelines issued on November 30, 2021; this portal was launched in August 2020. Air Suvidha has been a pioneer for easing international passenger arrival in India. It aids passengers in providing their travel details along with final stay, RTPCR, Vaccination status, etc. MOCA developed it. Air Suvidha anticipates delivering hassle-free, queue-free, and fitting air travel to all international passengers arriving in India. Since updating the new travel guidelines on November 30, 2021, It has already aided 251,210 passengers from December 1 to December 5, 2021. Furthermore, over 1crore (10 million) passengers have been benefitted from the Air Suvidha portal since its launch in August 2020.

To certify the needed prevention of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, the Exemption from Air Suvidha has been dropped, and mandatory filings for all passengers have been implemented. All international passengers arriving in India are instructed to announce their current health status before boarding on the Air Suvidha Portal along with the required documents: Copy of Passport, PCR Negative Certificate from a Test conducted within 72 hours of departure, and the Vaccination Certificate. For Immigration, the APHO counter has to verify the copy on the email.

Several Updates to make Air Suvidha friendlier for passengers and Health/State officials are:-

• To ensure smooth arrival segregation and processing, applicants from "at-risk" countries are marked with an "H" and red band, whereas others are marked as green. MOHFW ensures that the list is updated dynamically.
• These applications consider applicants who have visited "at-risk" countries in the last 14 days. This field is made into a multi-select drop-down option for standardization.
• Fields have been standardized, providing a drop-down list; this includes district and state for address.
• Updated FAQ list and customer care link along with the newest advisory at the start of the portal.
• For 'At Risk' countries, passengers are directed to pre-book their test on arrival test, and the link to the particular testing facility is provided to the passengers on SDF submission.

All international passengers are mandated to follow the below procedures arriving/transiting from Countries at-risk

• Submit self-declaration form on Air Suvidha portal
• Upload negative RT-PCR report (conducted within 72 hrs. before the journey)
• Post-arrival COVID-19 test at arriving Airport (self-paid)
• Home quarantine for seven days,
• Re-test on the 8th day and if adverse, self-health monitoring for next seven days

Countries that will be required to follow the additional procedures on arrival in India, which includes post-arrival testing (Countries at-risk) (Updated as of December 6th, 2021)

1. Countries in Europe, including The United Kingdom
2. South Africa
3. Brazil
4. Botswana
5. China
6. Ghana
7. Mauritius
8. New Zealand
9. Zimbabwe
10. Singapore
11. Tanzania
12. Hong Kong
13. Israel

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.