Headley fallout:Foreign visitors will be tracked from entry to exit

Every foreigner who visits India will soon be tagged,and his/her unique case file identity folder will be stored as part of a massive database...

Every foreigner who visits India will soon be tagged,and his/her unique case file identity folder will be stored as part of a massive database being created under the Home Ministry. A new tamper-proof,machine-readable India visa sticker,sources said,will be launched by next month as part of this larger effort to revamp the foreigners visa,registration and tracking system.

Once the basic system has been set up,biometrics will be introduced for all visa applicants to be launched on an experimental basis next year.

The Rs 1,100-crore Immigration,Visas,Foreigners Registration and Tracking (IVFRT) project is a direct fallout of the David Headley case,in which the Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Toiba operative travelled undetected across India during multiple visits,scoping out terror targets.

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The project will give the Home Ministry control of the visa-issuing process,besides immigration and tracking of foreigners in India. This,officials said,will be in line with most developed countries.

The project will be complete in four years; the Home Ministry central database will be ready in a year. It will be linked to Indian missions in Islamabad,Dhaka and London in the first phase the Delhi-Islamabad and Delhi-Dhaka links have been established already. The process of issuing visas to Pakistani nationals too has been completely altered in line with the new format.

The central database and processing system will ultimately be networked with some 170 Indian missions,78 immigration checksposts,and seven foreigners registration offices. All hotels and travel agents will be required to register at a public interface portal,and update daily details of foreigners with whom they do business.

This information will be stored in the individual folder of the visitor. The idea,sources said,is to be able to get the entire travel,stay,entry-exit and related profile of a foreigner instantly. Indian officials are learnt to have interacted with the US Homeland Security Department before drawing up the project.