Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport has quietly added a new pre-arrival requirement for all foreign travellers—including Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card-holders—landing at Kolkata. As per a passenger-information bulletin last updated on 12 October 2026, visitors must complete an online e-Arrival Card within 72 hours before touchdown via the Bureau of Immigration (BoI) portal. The digital card captures passport data, flight details, address in India and a short health declaration. Travellers receive a QR code that must be shown—on a phone or print-out—at immigration counters. Officials say the system is integrated with BoI’s Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) and Trusted Traveller e-gates, allowing risk-profiling before the aircraft lands and shaving 30–45 seconds off per-passenger processing. Airlines operating into Kolkata—Emirates, Singapore Airlines, IndiGo, among others—have begun emailing the requirement alongside web-check-in reminders. Carriers face fines up to ₹50,000 per non-compliant passenger under India’s Immigration (Carrier Liability) Regulations. Frequent flyers reported smooth passage on Monday, though some first-time visitors had to step aside to fill the form on airport Wi-Fi. Travel-management companies welcomed the move but urged authorities to harmonise procedures across India’s other international gateways to avoid confusion. Delhi and Mumbai pilot-tested similar cards during the pandemic but later suspended them. A senior BoI official told Global Mobility News that national rollout is “under active consideration” as part of the IVFRT 2.0 upgrade scheduled for 2027. Until then, corporate travel managers should update employee pre-trip checklists, incorporate the e-Arrival link in duty-of-care apps and remind expatriate assignees returning from Diwali breaks to complete the form well before boarding.
