India Implements E-Arrival Card Within 72 Hours Before Arrival During Six-Month Transition Period

India’s Bureau of Immigration has made India’s e-Arrival Card mandatory for all foreign nationals at every international airport since its full rollout on October 1, 2025, requiring travelers to submit the digital form online and present a QR code or printout on arrival.

Airlines have stepped up checks at departure, with boarding denials reported when passengers cannot show proof of submission during check-in. Travelers must file India’s e-Arrival Card within 72 hours before arrival, with the system accepting submissions from three days before arrival up to departure time and rejecting entries outside that window.

A six-month transition period allows paper cards until March 31, 2026, but authorities have urged travelers to adopt the digital process to avoid delays, especially during busy travel periods.

Scope and rollout

The Bureau of Immigration rolled out the e-Arrival Card nationwide to fully replace the traditional paper disembarkation form at international airports, with public guidance issued on October 23, 2025, confirming the program’s permanence and operational changes based on early implementation.

The policy explicitly includes Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders after a government regulation change on October 4, 2025, closing what the guidance described as a brief exemption window.

Pilot tests at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport and Bengaluru reported average clearance times reduced by 40%, a result presented as easing peak-hour bottlenecks that can spill across hubs including Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata.

Submission rules and process

The system requires travelers to submit the e-Arrival Card within 72 hours before arrival. The window accepts submissions from three days before arrival up to departure time and rejects entries outside that window.

Travelers connecting through multiple airports submit once for their first port of entry, rather than filing separate forms for onward domestic segments after entering the country. The confirmation generates instantly and produces a QR code that travelers can display on a phone or carry as a printout.

The process does not require document uploads; guidance describes prompts designed to ensure completeness before the QR confirmation generates. Officials have required travelers to show proof of submission via QR code or printout to immigration officers upon arrival.

Where to submit

The e-Arrival Card submission process runs through official online channels listed in the guidance: the Bureau of Immigration website at boi.gov.in, Indian Visa Online at Indian Visa Online, and the Indian Visa Su-Swagatam mobile app.

What the form collects

The form collects core fields presented as essential for assessment at the border, including personal data such as full name, nationality, and passport number.

• Arrival information: flight information, date, and port of entry
• Stated purpose of travel: tourism, business, study, medical, employment, research, or conference
• Local address in India: hotel, residence, or host address
• Contact information: email, phone, and an emergency contact

The family provision allows groups of up to five people to file a single submission while still requiring individual passport details for each person. The guidance requires each person’s passport details to be entered accurately, which can complicate filings when names and numbers must match documents exactly.

Operational impacts

Airlines such as Virgin Atlantic have integrated reminders into their systems, warning passengers that failure to show proof at check-in can result in boarding denials. Those checks have shifted practical compliance to the days before travel when passengers must collect and enter passport information and itinerary details within the 72-hour rule.

For employers and corporate travel programs, the change has pushed companies to embed reminders into booking flows and to treat the e-Arrival Card as a required pre-travel task alongside visas and passport validity checks. Universities, hotels, tours, and insurers have also adapted by adding prompts and onboarding address instructions.

The policy has tightened practical requirements for travelers who hold visas: the e-Arrival Card is an additional requirement that must be paired with a valid e-visa or physical visa. Compliance errors can occur even when a traveler holds a correct visa if they miss the separate requirement to submit the arrival card within the required window and carry the QR proof.

Data retention and future integration

The Bureau of Immigration retains the data encrypted for seven years under Immigration Rules, a design feature presented as supporting audit and tracking needs while India moves toward paperless border processing.

Officials also expect a Bureau of Immigration API for auto-population later in 2026, part of a push for paperless borders and integration with external systems for frequent travelers. India has presented the move as aligning with digital leaders like Singapore, Australia, and the UAE.

Benefits reported from pilots

The clearance-time reductions from the Delhi and Bengaluru pilots — cited as roughly 40% faster — have been linked to operational goals at large hubs facing congestion at peak times. Officials attribute faster processing to fewer handwriting errors and more complete digital submissions.

The family filing provision was framed as a response to user feedback from pilot operations, especially for parents traveling with children who previously had to complete separate paper forms for each family member.

Constraints and traveler guidance

The policy requires travelers to resubmit if their timing changes in a way that falls outside the 72-hour submission window. That strict time window has become a significant operational constraint for travelers and travel managers, especially on trips booked close to departure or rescheduled shortly before travel.

Early 2026 reporting referenced in the guidance describes system capacity as holding amid rising volumes, while noting that peak seasons test reliability and have prompted advisories to secure stable Wi-Fi pre-departure. Those advisories reflect how the move to digital can shift friction from arrival halls to pre-departure hours.

Who is affected

• Business travelers to technology and financial centers
• Tourists visiting destinations such as Goa, Jaipur, and Kerala
• Students arriving at universities in cities including Delhi and Pune
• Medical travelers going to hospitals in Chennai
• OCI cardholders (required to comply since October 4, 2025)

Practical checklist for travelers

1. Submit within 72 hours. Complete the e-Arrival Card no earlier than 72 hours before landing and no later than departure time.
2. Keep QR ready. Save a screenshot or print the QR confirmation to show at airline check-in and immigration.
3. Confirm details. Ensure passport details, flight and first port of entry, purpose of travel, and Indian address are accurate.
4. Group filings. Use the family provision for up to five people but enter each person’s passport details correctly.
5. Resubmit if timing changes. If itinerary shifts outside the submission window, submit again within the permitted timeframe.

The continued acceptance of paper cards until March 31, 2026 offers a temporary alternative, but the overall direction since the October 1, 2025 rollout has been toward digital-only processing at scale.

Authorities have linked the adoption push to rising travel volumes and international events, noting the approach of the 2026 G20 tourism year as a factor in emphasizing digital processing and smoother arrivals.

Timeline of key dates

1. October 1, 2025. Full nationwide rollout and mandatory use for foreign nationals at all international airports.
2. October 4, 2025. Regulation change expanding requirement to OCI cardholders.
3. October 23, 2025. Detailed public guidance issued confirming operational details.
4. March 31, 2026. End of the six-month transition period during which paper cards remain accepted.

The 72-hour submission window has remained constant across that timeline, defining the period in which travelers can complete the form and generate the QR code that they must present at check-in and to immigration officers on arrival.

For foreign travelers planning trips in the coming weeks, the practical rule remains the same: submit India’s e-Arrival Card within 72 hours before arrival, keep the QR confirmation ready for airline and immigration checks, and treat March 31, 2026 as the end date of the six-month transition period that still allows paper cards.