Indians Can Now Skip Long Immigration Lines at US Airports Through GEP
- Publish date: Monday، 03 July 2023
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A new policy will allow pre-approved Indians to skip past immigration lines and counters through the Global Entry Program (GEP) at airports in the US.
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This procedure is a US Customs & Border Protection initiative, which allows low-risk travellers from India to get instant clearance on arrival through automatic kiosks.
These kiosks at the US airports require applicants to get approvals from at least 11 intelligence and enforcement agencies way ahead of the applicant's travel date.
The applicant has to apply online at the Customs and Border Protection’s official website.
He or she has to pay an application fee of $100 after which the application will be forwarded to the Ministry of External Affairs in India.
Other ministries involved in the clearance process include the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The agencies to which the applications are forwarded for clearance include the Enforcement Directorate, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, National Investigation Agency, Security and Exchange Board of India, Directorate General of GST Intelligence, Serious Fraud Investigation Office, Income Tax, CBI, and Narcotics Control Bureau.
In 2022-2023, 6,073 applications were processed for the Global Entry Program.
Since then, agencies have been working towards reducing the pendency time, which lasts for six months.
The Central Economic and Intelligence Bureau has been designated the nodal agency to generate final approval or rejection of applications.