India Travel Update: e-Arrival Card Launches October 2025

Planning a trip to India? Expect a far smoother experience the moment you land. Starting October 1, 2025, India is modernizing its immigration process for foreign travelers, promising to slash long airport queues. With the launch of the electronic Arrival Card for foreigners, the country takes another step toward making entry faster and more visitor-friendly. Your next journey to India could get off to a much calmer start!

The e-Arrival Card application is now live at official sites of the Bureau of Immigration and India’s Ministry of Home Affairs indianvisaonline.gov.in/, boi.gov.in/, or via the Su-Swagatam mobile app (Android or iOS).

Say goodbye to paper, hello to digital: the e-Arrival Card

The big change is replacing physical disembarkation cards with an optional digital Arrival Card. The move applies to all foreign nationals entering India for tourism, business, study or work. There is no fee and no consular charges.

Gone are the days of hunting for a pen mid-flight to fill out the form—simply submit your details online before you fly. Required information remains the same:

• Passport number

• Nationality

• Purpose of visit

• Travel dates

• Indian address

• Contact details

The process is streamlined: no documents are required for upload. The request must be submitted within 72 hours before you arrive in India. Once submitted, you can instantly download your e-Arrival Card as a PDF.

Note that Indian citizens and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders are not affected by the new digital Arrival Card.

A nationwide push to speed up immigration

This move is part of a wider push by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs to use technology and speed up entry procedures. It supplements the existing Fast Track Immigration – Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP), which serves Indian citizens and OCI holders. Already live in 13 major airports since its 2024 launch, the programme lets travelers clear immigration in 30 seconds, without queues or manual checks. According to government release, roughly 300,000 travelers have enrolled and 265,000 have used it successfully.