From July 1st, Indians who will be flying abroad will not be required to fill departure form. However, those traveling by train, sea and land immigration check post will need to fill the embarking form.
An order issued by the union home ministry said, “It has been decided to discontinue the practice of filling up of departure card by Indians at all international airports with effect from July 1, 2017.” This is so as to ensure hassle free movement of passengers going abroad.
The form presently needs details such as name, date of birth, passport number, address in India, flight number and date of boarding. The Home Ministry order said that “The same information (about the passengers) is available in the system from other sources.”
This will help in reducing the time required to complete immigration related formalities by passengers. It will also enable airports and the authorities concerned to attend to more people. Apart from the Departure card, the need to fill such cards on their arrival in India has also been removed.
The customs department had last year removed the necessity of Indian passengers to fill up a declaration form while coming to India if they were not carrying dutiable goods. Those passengers that are carrying prohibited and dutiable goods are the only ones required to fill up an ‘Indian Customs Declaration Form’.
