The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) updated its India travel advice on 24 September, highlighting the roll-out of the new electronic Overseas Citizen of India (e-OCI) card and introducing a mandatory self-declaration health form for all international arrivals. Travellers must complete the form on the Air Suvidha portal within 24 hours of departure and may face Ebola screening at designated airports. British nationals of Indian origin can now store OCI rights digitally, eliminating the need to carry the physical booklet that often caused confusion at immigration counters. The e-OCI will sync automatically with India’s immigration systems and can be presented via a smartphone app. Traditional OCI booklets remain valid but will be phased out by 2028. For mobility managers, the update simplifies documentation for UK-India assignees but adds a pre-travel compliance step: airlines may deny boarding without proof of the health declaration QR code. Companies running frequent travel rotations between London and Indian tech hubs should build the online form into their travel approval workflows and remind staff that passports still need six months’ validity. The FCDO also reiterates warnings against travel within 10 km of the Pakistan border and to parts of Jammu & Kashmir and Manipur. Insurers have begun adjusting premium loadings for trips that ignore the advice, so travel buyers should check policy exclusions.
Source: FCDO – GOV.UK
