E-Gates to give immigration clearance in few seconds to citizens of select countries

Come January 2019, lowrisk foreign travellers will not have to wait in long queues at airport immigration counters as the government plans to install special automated kiosks for speedy document and identity verification.

Low-risk travellers from select countries from January 2019 can enter India without standing in long queues at immigration counters as the government has plans to install these automated kiosks, officials said on Sunday.

These kiosks will ensure smooth entry of foreigners in seconds after verification of antecedents, they said.

Electronic gates or e-Gates will be put in place at the arrival wing of international airports where foreigners can present their machinereadable passports, place their fingerprints on the scanner for verification and complete a customs declaration.

Without any human intervention, e-cameras will clear the travellers who present approved biometric. They can then go straight to the baggage claim area after de-boarding the plane and then to the exit, a Home Ministry official told PTI.

The whole exercise is expected to be completed within a minute a traveller hits any e-Gate kiosk.

The foreigners division of the ministry is working on the plan and putting up all logistics before its formal launch sometime later this year, the official said.

However, a final decision is yet to be taken on the countries whose citizens the facility would be offered.