Government Approves Continuation of IVFRT Scheme .
Government approves continuation of IVFRT scheme .
What is the news :
The Government has approved the continuation of the Immigration Visa Foreigners Registration Tracking(IVFRT) Scheme beyond March 31, 2021 for a period of five years from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2026.
IVFRT Scheme was launched in 2014.
Ministry involved :
The scheme is under ministry of home affairs
Home minister of india – Amit Shah
Corpus of the scheme
1,364.88 crore.
Objectives of the scheme :
The core objective of IVFRT, which is modernization and up-gradation of Immigration and Visa services. The Ministry of Home Affairs aims to providea secure and integrated service delivery framework that facilitates legitimate travelers while strengthening national security, through this scheme.
About the project :
The project has a global outreach and seeks to interlink and optimize functions relating to immigration, visa issuance, registration of foreigners and tracking of their movements in India by covering 192 Indian Missions across the globe, 108 Immigration Check Posts (ICPs) in India, 12 Foreigners Regional Registration Officers (FRROs) and offices and more than 700 Foreigners Registration Officers (FROs), Superintendents of Police (SPs)/Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) across the country.
Scheme’s outcomes:
After the commencement of IVFRT, the number of Visa and OCI cards issued increased from 44.43 lakh in 2014 to 64.59 lakh in 2019 at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.7 per cent.
Average visa processing time of 15 to 30 days (during pre-IVFRT period) has been reduced to a maximum of 72 hours in e-visas, with 95 per cent of e-visas issued within 24 hours.
International traffic to and from India grew from 3.71 crore to 7.5 crore during last 10 years at a CAGR of 7.2 per cent.
Benefits :
The scope of the project includes 169 Missions, 77 ICPs (Immigration Check Posts), 5 FRROs (Foreigners Regional Registration Offices), and FROs (Foreigners Registration Offices) in the State /District Headquarters.
The implementation of this MMP will enable authentication of traveler’s identity at the Missions, Immigration Check Posts (ICPs) and Foreigners Registration Offices (FROs) through use of intelligent document scanners and biometrics, updation of foreigner’s details at entry and exit points, improved tracking of foreigner’s through sharing of information captured during visa issuance at Missions, during immigration check at ICPs, and during registration at FRRO/ FROs.
Focus of the IVFRT Project
Security, Facilitation, Enablement and Integration of various Immigration related activities.
Authentication of traveler’s Identity at all encounter points.
Online Registration of Foreigners and automated service delivery system.