Kolkata Airport Biometric Kiosks have been introduced to make immigration faster for foreign nationals arriving in India for the first time on an e-visa.
Four self-service kiosks are now operational at the airport for mandatory biometric registration.
The new system allows eligible travellers to complete fingerprint and facial image registration themselves before reaching the immigration counter.
According to the reported information, this has reduced the processing time at the e-visa immigration counter from around 6–7 minutes per passenger to less than a minute.
Kolkata Airport Biometric Kiosks Speed Up Immigration
The Bureau of Immigration has operationalised four self-service biometric registration kiosks at Kolkata airport.
The facility is intended for foreign nationals arriving in India for the first time with an e-visa, who are required to register their biometrics on arrival.
Earlier, biometric capture had to be completed at the immigration counter.
This could take several minutes for each traveller and could also add to the waiting time for other passengers in the queue.
With the new arrangement, the biometric registration is completed before the traveller reaches the immigration desk.
The officer can then focus on checking the passport and completing the immigration process.
How the Biometric Kiosk Works
A first-time e-visa traveller needs to scan the passport at the self-service kiosk.
The passenger then captures a live photograph and records fingerprints using the touchscreen system.
After the biometric process is completed, the kiosk generates a confirmation slip.
The traveller takes this slip to the immigration counter, where the passport is checked and the immigration process is completed.
According to an immigration official quoted in the report, passport checking and stamping can now be completed in less than a minute after the biometric registration has been done at the kiosk.
Who Can Use the New Kiosks
The facility is aimed at foreign nationals arriving in India for the first time on an e-visa.
It does not mean that every international passenger arriving at Kolkata airport will use these particular kiosks.
India’s official e-visa information states that biometric details are mandatorily captured at immigration on arrival.
The new self-service system changes where and how that biometric registration is completed for eligible travellers.
Similar self-service biometric kiosks are already operational at airports in Delhi, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram. Kolkata’s rollout therefore adds another major airport to the system.
Other Fast-Track Immigration Facility at Kolkata
Kolkata airport also has the Fast Track Immigration–Trusted Travellers’ Programme, or FTI-TTP, which is aimed at eligible Indian nationals and foreign nationals holding OCI cards.
Under FTI-TTP, eligible travellers provide biometric information such as fingerprints and a face image during enrolment and can use e-gates for faster immigration clearance.
The programme is separate from the new self-service kiosks for first-time e-visa arrivals.
The introduction of the kiosks is part of a wider move towards technology-based immigration processing at Indian airports.
For eligible e-visa travellers, completing biometric registration before reaching the immigration counter could mean less time spent waiting at the desk.
