Govt plans database to mark countries with overstaying nationals

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  • The Union government wants to identify countries whose residents tend to overstay in India and is considering creating a database of foreign visitors to help with this process, The Indian Express has learnt.
  • According to sources, the government is planning to use Artificial Intelligence to analyse this database: the resulting list of countries is expected to help Indian Missions put in place checks while issuing visas to foreign citizens. The Home Ministry’s Foreigners Division, the External Affairs Ministry, and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) are to be involved in the exercise, it is learnt.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi had brought up the idea during a conference of Director Generals of Police (DGPs) and Inspector Generals of Police (IGPs) in Lucknow in November 2021, an official said.
  • Last month, this plan was again discussed with DGPs and IGPs in a meeting called by the Ministry of Home Affairs, according to officials aware of the development. The action points for this meeting came from the Prime Minister, they said.
  • “(At last month’s meeting), it was discussed to create a database for superior monitoring of people overstaying in India past their issued visas and identifying the regions where they come from. In countries like Bangladesh, India has more than a dozen visa facilitation centres but biometric scanning has to be strengthened across all centres for sufficient monitoring so that the information can be shared with our Indian Missions and other agencies,” said an official, requesting anonymity.
  • In December 2021, the Karnataka High Court had suggested to the Centre to make changes in the law governing grant of visa to foreign nationals to check instances of foreigners staying in India despite expiry of visa.
  • As per the current norms, overstaying on an Indian visa can lead to heavy penalties, a ban from entering India and even imprisonment. A foreigner is classed as an illegal immigrant upon the expiry of the visa.
  • The quantum of the monetary penalties, meanwhile, depend on the duration of the illegal stay.
  • In a response to a written question in Rajya Sabha on February 2, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai had clarified: “In genuine cases, where the overstay is unintentional or because of ignorance or under compelling circumstances, the period of overstay is regularised and visa extension fee is charged for the overstay period”.
  • The government’s bureau of immigration also tracks visa details of all foreigners visiting India under the Immigration, Visa and Foreigner’s Registration Tracking project.

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