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In the past month, the Government has scrapped several archaic rules to make airports more passenger-friendly and world class. Continuing wi...

In the past month, the Government has scrapped several archaic rules to make airports more passenger-friendly and world class. Continuing with the same zeal, it is all set to revolutionise the Immigration services by hooking it to the global computer networks.

If you have wondered why it takes long to clear Immigration at airports here, the answer is simple. The official checking your details knows nothing about you till you reach his desk. In contrast, if you are flying to the US, your passport details, description etc., are passed on electronically within half-an-hour of your departure.By the time you get there, the authorities have done all the regulation checks and you breeze past the immigration counter.

The same is being proposed for India. The Civil Aviation Ministry has started the process with the Home Ministry to revamp the system of immigration checks. Once implemented, officials say long queues at immigration counters could all become a thing of the past.

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The revamp is designed around introducing two new technologies. The first — called the Advance Passenger Information System — will integrate Immigration posts with a global network providing them access to passenger database at several airline bases across the world.

Sources say the system will be integrated with the immigration database of countries like the US, Canada, Australia and a chunk of West European countries. Linked with this is the second system — the Advance Passenger Processing. The passenger data collected by the airlines will be transmitted to authorities in advance.

By the time the flight lands, the Immigration would have segregated the low-risk from the high-risk passengers. ‘‘The low risk passengers can be cleared while the Immigration focuses more on the suspected cases,’’ says an official.

Officials claim — disputed by other agencies — that they take, as of now, 30-45 minutes to clear a flight. To make it quicker, the Government plans to bring in equipment which can process machine-readable passports.