Fast Track Immigration in India, known as FTI-TTP, clears pre-vetted travelers through biometric e-gates in about 30 seconds. It costs nothing, and a foreign national can join only by holding an OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) card. If you are a US citizen of Indian origin with a current OCI, you can enroll before your next trip and skip the manual immigration counter on the way in and on the way out.
What fast track immigration in India does
If you've come through immigration at Delhi or Mumbai any time in the past decade, you know how it goes. You step off a long-haul flight, walk half-asleep down a corridor, and join a queue that winds through the stanchions while one officer works through a stack of OCI booklets. At peak hours, Delhi's manual counters average six to eight minutes per passenger. The FTI-TTP e-gate does it in about 30 seconds.
FTI-TTP (the Fast Track Immigration-Trusted Travellers' Programme) is a Bureau of Immigration scheme that lets pre-vetted travelers bypass the manual counter completely. You walk up to the e-gate, scan your boarding pass and passport, let the camera match your face against the biometrics already on file, and the gate opens.
Where FTI-TTP works
The programme works in both directions, arrivals and departures, at 13 airports today: Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Lucknow, Amritsar, Calicut, Trivandrum and Trichy. The MHA (India's Ministry of Home Affairs) has the funding to bring that to 31 airports by 2027.
Who can use the trusted traveller programme
Just two groups can use it: Indian passport holders, and foreign nationals who hold an OCI card. For most US citizens of Indian origin, the second group is the one that matters. An Indian-origin US citizen with no OCI can't enroll at all, which is one more reason to keep the OCI itself in order. A current e-OCI (the digital OCI that India now issues by default) is what gets you into the fast lane. The changes to the OCI application are covered in OCI new rules 2026.
What it costs and how long it lasts
FTI-TTP is free. It has no application fee and no membership charge, and there is nothing to renew. Put that next to US Global Entry, which runs $120 and only speeds up arrivals into the States. India's version is good for ten years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first, and it works coming and going.
One detail most NRIs miss: no passport stamp
Go through an FTI-TTP e-gate and your passport gets no arrival or departure stamp. The record of the trip still exists (it's logged in your FTI-TTP portal account), but there's no ink on the page to show for it. For most people that makes no difference.
It can matter in three cases: you are counting US residency days for tax purposes, you are building a paper trail toward a future naturalization application, or you are filling out anything that asks for "stamped proof of entry." In those cases a clean passport can turn into a small headache. When it does, pull the record from the portal.
How to enroll in FTI-TTP
Enrollment needs a scan of a current OCI, so the OCI comes first. Take the steps in this order:
- Check that your OCI record is current. If you renewed your US passport, you have three months to update your OCI portal record at ociservices.gov.in. The details are in the OCI passport update rule.
- Let any OCI re-issuance finish. If you've got a re-issuance in progress under the new rules, wait for it. There is no sense enrolling against a record that is about to be replaced.
- Apply at least six weeks before you fly. Six weeks is the realistic minimum lead time for FTI-TTP enrollment.
- Upload your documents. The only real cost is the twenty minutes it takes to upload them, including the scan of your current OCI.
- Enroll your children over seven. As long as their OCI is in order, they get the same fast lane you do.
- Use the e-gate at the airport. Scan your boarding pass and passport, look at the camera, and walk through when the gate opens.
Here is how the timing works for one trip. Say you fly to Mumbai on August 10. Six weeks before that is June 29, so your application should be in by then. If you also renewed your US passport in May, update the OCI portal record first, then apply for FTI-TTP.
If the OCI itself needs work before you can enroll, our OCI service handles re-issuance and portal updates.
Who should enroll
- Enroll now if you hold a current OCI and set foot in India even once a year.
- Enroll your children too if they are over seven and their OCI is in order.
- Wait if an OCI re-issuance is in progress. Enroll once it is finished.
- Get an OCI first if you are an Indian-origin US citizen without one. You can't enroll until you have it.
Common questions
Can a US citizen use fast track immigration in India without an OCI?
No. The programme is open to Indian passport holders and to foreign nationals who hold an OCI card. An Indian-origin US citizen with no OCI can't enroll.
Does FTI-TTP work when you leave India too?
Yes. It works in both directions, arrivals and departures, at the 13 airports listed above. US Global Entry, by comparison, only speeds up arrivals into the States.
Can children use the e-gates?
Children over seven can be enrolled. As long as their OCI is in order, they get the same fast lane you do.
How do you prove a trip if the passport has no stamp?
Each trip is logged in your FTI-TTP portal account. If a form or an application asks for proof of entry, pull the record from the portal.
Playbook Move: If you hold an OCI and set foot in India even once a year, enroll. It's free, it lasts a decade, and the only real cost is the twenty minutes it takes to upload your documents. Start at least six weeks before your trip, and make sure your OCI record matches your current passport before you do.
From Edition 4 of the NRI Playbook newsletter. For informational purposes only; not financial, tax, or legal advice. For decisions about your specific situation, consult a qualified professional.