Indore (Madhya Pradesh): An Italian-origin passenger coming from Dubai to Devi Ahilyabai Holkar airport by Air India’s Dubai-Indore flight on Saturday night was deported back to Dubai from the airport after 2 days on Monday. The passenger had an E-visa, which is not accessible here.
More than 100 passengers were on board Air India’s AI-904 Dubai-Indore flight that comes from Dubai to the city every Saturday. After landing here, when all the passengers and their documents were being checked, an Italian passenger showed the immigration authorities an E-visa instead of a physical one. Due to non-availability of the e-visa reading facility at the city airport, the passenger was barred from exiting the airport.
The passenger said he was not aware about the rule, or else he would have come with a physical visa. But the authorities, citing the rules, said they could not allow him to leave the airport and enter the country. He was told that he would have to return to Dubai on Monday on a flight to Dubai and, till then, he would have to stay at the airport.
Official sources at the airport said the passenger was deported back to Dubai on an Indore-Dubai flight on Monday.
In the past too, over 4 passengers were debarred from entering the country via the city. They had E-visas and so, were deported back by an outbound Dubai flight due to non-availability of the E-visa reading facility. Earlier, when instances like this happened, passengers did not have much trouble as the flight back to Dubai was on the same day. But now, the Dubai flight arrives on Saturdays and leaves on Mondays. So, this passenger had to remain restricted to the airport for two days before the flight back. However, the airport management has arranged for a room for him, besides food and drinks.
E-visa facility is ready but not yet rolled out
It is unfortunate that, even though E-visa access facilities have been made ready by the airport management here since September 2021, the basic infrastructure—such as biometric check-up, E-visa counter, Internet connection and so forth—are not ready yet. As the Union home ministry has not yet issued the notification to roll out the facility, it could not be started.
