There’s a lot of confusion on this and conflicting statements from different consulates around the world. The Bureau of Immigration homepage has a note under “Lastest Updates” at the bottom that says:

”

Lastest Updates

Foreigners and OCI Card holders can complete and submit the e-Arrival card online within 72 hours before their arrival in India at boi.gov.in or indianvisaonline.gov.in or via official 'Indian Visa Su-Swagatam' Mobile App.”

It’s possible that OCIs who have FTI-TTP are exempt, but that’s not mentioned anywhere.

Classic babu bureaucracy. Half baked and contradictory guidelines rolled out without giving out the full details.

Even apart from the OCI confusion, none of this makes sense. If you have entered the data, why do you need to then print out (or even show on the phone) a confirmation? Everything should be visible on their screen based on the passport.

Indeed, there is nothing in the form fields that cannot be determined automatically without requiring form entry. They already do it for Indians. They just need the airlines to tell them that we are coming.

Even fast-track domestic security involves unnecessary steps. In the US, the airlines submit their booked passenger data to TSA, and so the fast track process (Precheck) is simple and painless.

But who am I kidding? I needed "Misc Services" at the local Indian Consulate, and I had to submit a notarized paper copy of my OCI---the same OCI that they had issued, but I had to prove to them that they had issued it. It is as though computer databases haven't been invented yet.

The data collected on the arrival card is to capture the information the FRROs need to keep track of the foreigners in their area. Since OCI don't have to register with the FRRO the card is waived.

Other countries do the same. In Germany every person staying at a hotel also provides this info which is filed with the local police similar to FORM c in India. The US wants to know where you are staying too.

By this logic, OCIs did not have to fill out the paper form earlier either??

But my experience, and that of all OCIs I know, is that we had to fill out the paper form every single time - the immigration officer specifically asked for it, looked at it, and put it away in the pile of those forms.

Of course, it may be too much to expect much logic here with the babus.

I will note that the digital form has less information than the paper form - no mention of the incoming flight. Except for the address you declare, everything else can be deduced by the immigration system from your visa information and the airline passenger manifest. Even for the address, most other countries will use information submitted in your visa application for where you plan to stay as the starting point to track you down if they need to. People don't stay in one place when visiting a country anyway, and there's no cross-check that the address in the form is valid in any way either. So it seems rather pointless. Oh, well. <shrug>

I did not know Germany still does this, France stopped a long time ago because those paper forms filed with police were never looked at again. It is a joke everywhere including India. It is just a symbolic action from a bureaucratic "generate more records for their own sake" mentality.

PS If someone has to register with the FRRO, clearly the arrival card is not needed since the person will provide the info to the FRRO. Will the FRRO get the info from the arrival card? Of course not. And the address field is absurd, honest people enter their first hotel name/address (from which they will soon move on), while others just enter some random address.

Su-swagatam app updated
 

The su-swagatam app has been updated. The older login window doesnt show up anymore. Instead user is asked to opt between e-arrival card or FtI-TTP website login. opting for the e-arrival card presents the e-arrival form with option to add more members.

The e-arrival card link clearly mentions (foreigner and oci card holders only) so looks like oci card holders do need to fill out e-arrival.

Yes seems every website has got on the same page after a week or so of initial confusion. Various consulates I checked, and the official e-arrival card page itself mentions it. The US Embassy in India page initially mentioned OCI holders are exempt but updated itself.

Yes, it seems that things have settled down. Every foreigner - on any visa or an OCI holder - has to fill out the digital form.

* At least very recently they were still accepting the paper forms - there may be a grace period of a few months before the digital form becomes mandatory.

* Contrary to many news articles, I believe there is NO need to print out the form again and show it. Even the QR code from the online submission may not be necessary. I (as an OCI) did not have a print-out nor was I asked for the QR code generated from the online submission, when I last entered.

​​​​​​​Of course, obligatory disclaimer: YMMV.

I arrived in DEL on 19th October. I had filled out the digital card ahead of time, and brought the printout with me (which I probably didn't need, but I have found that it's always good to have lots of paperwork along when traveling in India).

Paper forms were still available at DEL, and Air India handed out paper forms on the flight.

Thanks to the electronic data I had submitted to GOI which included my email address I received an email from PM Modi on October 20th wishing me a Happy Diwali.

It does seem like Indian immigration is asking more questions, both when I enter and leave the country (on a tourist visa).

OCI here. Arrived last week at DEL after filling out the online form. Filled the form twice because of a small error the first time. No questions were asked by the immigration officer. I had a printout of the arrival card and the officer said no need. There were also paper forms and a lot of people were filling them.

I filled a dummy one just to check the process. Provided a valid email address but never received the email. Have you guys received emails?

No email just the final page with the pdf and QR code you can save

Thing is I will have to fill in the form using my phone as I won't have access to a computer.. hopefully all goes fine

They updated the Su-Swagatam app, it works surprisingly well now. No need to show any QR code or printout at DEL the last two times for me.