Foreign nationals submitting various immigration applications at the Foreigners' Registration Office (FROs) in Pune must complete biometric formalities, effective immediately. Fingerprints and eye scans will be collected from foreign nationals submitting in-country immigration applications such as registrations and visa extensions, to name a few. This process may be implemented across other Foreigners Regional Registration Offices and FROs in India in phases.

Background
This requirement has been implemented to improve security and to reduce potential overstayers.

This is in line with the Ministry of Home Affairs' efforts to maintain updated records of foreign nationals and enhance overall security within the Indian immigration environment.

What This Means for Employers and Foreign Nationals
Foreign nationals can expect to spend more time at the FRO due to this new administrative requirement when submitting in-country immigration applications in Pune.

We worked closely with Fragomen Immigration Services India (Pvt.) Limited ("Fragomen-India") to prepare this alert. It is provided for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to IndiaQueries_NewPolicy@fragomen.com.

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