With a decline in cases in Hong Kong, China,Singapore, Republic of Korea, Thailand and Japan, India has now relaxed travel norms for passengers from these select countries. It means that the notification regarding mandatory travel requirements that include online Air Suvidha form and negative RT-PCR test results (with effective from 1st January 2023), is now withdrawn and the travel from these countries has become seamless.
The new arrangement will take effect from February 13 at 11 am.
In a letter to the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Health Ministry cited a sustained decline in COVID-19 cases in these countries and a global decline of 89% in newly confirmed cases in the past 28 days. “India has continued to witness a declining trajectory, with less than 100 new cases/day are being reported. In view of the above, this Ministry is updating its ‘Guidelines for International Arrivals’, and dropping the existing requirements of pre-departure Covid-19 testing and uploading of Self-Health Declaration on the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s ‘Air Suvidha’ portal applicable for international travellers coming from/via China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Thailand and Japan,” Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in the letter.
Despite the relaxed norms, the random testing of 2% of travellers coming to India will continue to monitor infections from mutated variants of SARS-CoV-2.
(updated on 10th, February 2023)
Previous notification and article dated 3rd January, 2023
after Covid-19 cases have serged in Japan, China and many other countries, Government of India issued new notifications and requirements for traveling to India. Government of India has reintroduced RT-PCR test requirements before traveling to India. This new notifications come with effect from January 1st, 2023 for the passengers from high-risk countries.
Complete Guideline:
- 1. Effective 1st Jan. 2023 (1000 hours IST), all international passengers arriving/ transiting from high-risk countries must mandatorily self-declare on the Air Suvidha portal.
- 2. A negative COVID-19 RT-PCR report conducted within 72 hours of undertaking the journey from any of the high-risk countries must also be uploaded onto the Air Suvidha portal.
- 3. The 6 high-risk countries are China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Thailand and Japan.
- Passengers transiting through high – risk countries, irrespective of their originating country before coming to any Indian Airport, must mandatorily self-declare on the Air Suvidha portal along with their negative RT-PCR certificate (as described above).
- Please use Air Suvidha link to complete the form – Air Suvidha Form Link
- 4. All precautionary measures instituted inside the airplane and at the airport (wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing) must be followed.
Review of COVID-19 Guidelines for International Flight Operations/ Arrivals
Review of COVID-19 Guidelines for International Flight Operations/ Arrivals
Additional circular has been issued on Dec 29th, 2022.
