As reported in the notification dated 2nd April, 2020, the Central Government has decided to allow the transit of foreign nationals who have been stranded in India amid the pandemic and the national lockdown. The notification was issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs stating forth the representations made by the foreign countries for evacuation of their nationals from India, the requests will be thereby considered by the Ministry of External Affairs on cases to case basis.
The foreign nationals who test negative for the Covid-19 virus will be allowed to travel back in flights arranged by their respective governments.
The Protocol to be observed has been issued by the MEA and is as follows :
- The chartered flight would be arranged by the concerned foreign government in consultation with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India
- Prior to departure, the foreign nationals would be screened for Covid-19 symptoms as per the standard health protocol. Only those foreign nationals would be allowed to leave who are asymptomatic for Covid-19. In case of symptomatic persons the future course of treatment would be followed as per the standard health protocol.
- The local transportation arrangements from the place of stay of the foreign nationals to the point of embarkation would be arranged by the local Embassy/Consulate of the respective foreign government.
- The transit pass for movement of the vehicle deployed for movement of the foreign nationals would be issued by the Government of State/Union territory where the foreign nationals are staying.
