New Delhi [India], March 25 (ANI): The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the continuation of the Immigration, Visa, Foreigners Registration & Tracking (IVFRT) Scheme beyond March 31, 2026, for a period of five years up to March 31, 2031 with a budget outlay of Rs 1800 crore.

Informing the media about decisions of the Union Cabinet, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the core objective of the IVFRT is to modernize and upgrade immigration and visa services within a secure and integrated service delivery framework. It aims to facilitate legitimate travellers while strengthening national security.

The IVFRT platform seeks to interlink and optimize functions related to immigration, visa issuance and registration of foreigners in India.

This project was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on March 13, 2010 with a budget outlay of Rs 1011 crore and with project duration till September, 2014.

A release said that the he budget outlay for the project was revised to Rs 638.90 crore in 2015 along with extension of the implementation timeline up to March 31, 2017, and further up to March 31, 2021 without any additional financial implications.

The expenditure of Rs 613.28 core was incurred against the total revised outlay of Rs.638.90 crore. The extension of the project for a further continuation for a period of five years from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2026 was approved by the Cabinet on January 19, 2022 with a budget outlay of Rs 1365 crore.

The scheme seeks to expand and strengthen the scope and capacity of the existing IVFRT Scheme not only by reimagining and revamping the existing structure, but also introducing the state-of-the-art technological solutions to enhance user experience without compromising the security architecture, the release said.

'The modernization of the IVFRT project is essential to meet the evolving demands of global travel and address emerging national security challenges,' it said.

It said that after the recent enactment of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 and its subsequent Rules and Order, it has become imperative to strengthen and modernize IVFRT system to effectively meet emerging requirements and future challenges in the domain of immigration control and foreigner management including illegal migration.

The continuation of the project is not just a technical upgrade, but a strategic transformation aligned with the vision of the Government of India to promote international mobility through a world-class immigration and visa issuance system.

The next phase would focus on three broad areas - emerging technology innovations, transformation of core infrastructure, and technology and service optimization.

The scheme will modernize the immigration and visa ecosystem through adoption of emerging technologies, including mobile-based services and self-service kiosks for seamless and secure passenger movement.

It will upgrade and expand core infrastructure across Immigration Posts, FRROs, and Data Centres to build a resilient and scalable system nationwide.

Additionally, it will optimize technology and service delivery by introducing unified digital platforms, revamping core application architecture, and strengthening network and deployment frameworks for improved efficiency and user experience, which will facilitate legitimate travellers while strengthening national security.

'It will help maintain service continuity and induct innovative technological solutions to attract more foreign tourists in India in future. This will thus give a boost to the tourism, medical and business sectors. IVFRT has immense positive externalities that would boost international traffic, business, commerce, and tourism. This would pave the way for economic growth and would thus contribute towards employment opportunities,' the release said.

The scheme has covered 117 Immigration Posts (JPs), 15 Foreigners Regional Registration Officers (FRROs) and 854 Foreigners Registration Officers (FROs)/Superintendents of Police (SPs)/Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) across the country.

The release said that IVFRT system has led to significant improvements in service delivery and operational efficiency across immigration and visa functions.

'The system has enabled a 100% contactless and faceless visa process with online appointment scheduling and payment facilities, leading to faster visa processing times with 91.24% of e-Visa applications having been cleared within 72 hours during the past five years,' it said.

'Average passenger clearance time at Immigration Posts has also been reduced to 2.5-3 minutes including biometrics, from the conventional 5-6 minutes,' it added.

The release said that Fast Track Immigration-Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP) through automated e-gates implemented at 13 major airports, reduces the time taken for immigration clearance from 2.5-3 minutes to 30 seconds. Its enrolment is on gratis basis currently available for Indian nationals and OCI cardholders.

Huge economic benefits on account of ease of doing business, convenience and security assurance have been made possible by the IVFRT System, the release said, adding that tourism, business, trade & commerce, service industry, especially aviation and hospitality industry have been extensively benefited by the IVFRT system. (ANI)