A mother can’t remain impassive to the needs of her children. Finally, India sent cheers to her citizens stranded abroad through a positive response to their distress calls for return to home. On May 4, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced to begin the process, in a phased manner starting May 7, for repatriation of Indian nationals from abroad on compelling grounds. Early this month, the petitions filed with the Supreme Court for repatriation of Indian nationals stuck overseas were dismissed citing the nationwide lockdown, the rising COVID19 graph, and the country’s limited healthcare resources as unavoidable reason for the unfeasibility of evacuating them. However, the Ministry of External Affairs gave in to the mounting pressure of the growing distress among India’s senior citizens, students, laid-off professionals and jobless migrant workers stranded abroad.
In discussion with Indian consulates abroad, the Civil Aviation Minister and Air India, the Foreign Ministry has reportedly worked on a detailed evacuation plan for the stranded and distressed citizens. Harsh Vardhan Shringla, the Foreign Secretary of India, presented the plan with such details as estimated counts of Indians stranded in different countries and numbers of special flights that need to be arranged for selective evacuation of them to top government officials including state chief ministers.
Picture Credit: Business Traveller
The plan for repatriation flights to India from USA and other countries mandates two conditions for those seeking to return home from abroad. Only asymptomatic individuals will be allowed to board special flights at origin airports. They will have to undergo medical screening before boarding. All the passengers on board will be required to follow mandatory health protocols to be issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Upon arrival in India, they will have to download the Ministry of Health’s Aarogya Setu App and register on it. Medical screening of the passengers will also be done in India. 14-day quarantine is mandatory for whoever returns from abroad in a hospital or an institutional quarantine facility.
The other condition is that those seeking repatriation to India from USA and other countries will have to pay the fare for special or regular flights. The fare may vary from country to country, and depending on their final destinations in India. The special fare for evacuation flights to India is expected to be not as high as US government-organized repatriation flights for US citizens stranded in India.
Not only stranded Indian nationals, but also those Indians who want to visit their ailing parents in India or wish to return home for some unavoidable ‘humanitarian’ reason can register for special flights to be organized by the government of India. Special ‘evacuation’ flights to India from USA and other countries will be planned based on the degree of feasibility for state government officials to receive them and quarantine them if needed.
Also Check: Here’s How Major Indian Airports Plan to Reopen post Lockdown
Indian missions have been directed to register the details of Indian nationals seeking evacuation or repatriation. The Consulate General of India in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston and San Francisco has started registration of Indian nationals stranded in the United States. Those from Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, DC, and District of Columbia can register themselves with the Embassy of India in Washington DC for special evacuation/repatriation flights to India. The Consulate General of India in New York has not yet posted any update on its website.
2.76 lakh expatriates from Kerala in 150 countries have registered for repatriation flights, according to Times Now News. Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Gujarat and Rajasthan have sizeable numbers of expatriates abroad. The COVID19 help lines of the states have received thousands of distress calls and messages. The government of Kerala is ready to receive its diaspora amid the COVID19 pandemic.
With the strategic plans ready for special flights to India from USA, the Gulf and other countries for evacuation/repatriation of Indians, the foreign ministry and the civil aviation ministry are advising state governments to make proper arrangements for onward movement, medical screening and quarantine of those returnees from abroad.
Travel Beats is a leading overseas Indian community portal by Indian Eagle, a most trusted travel partner of Indian Diaspora in the United States. Subscribe to our free newsletter and tune in to our Facebook page for NRI community stories and latest updates on travel to India.
Dear sir, Good morning to you.
Hello sir Myself L.R.Dayal would like to inform you that my wife aged 57 yrs. got stuck in Canberra-Australia with my daughter. She visited to extend help during my daughter’s delivery. My wife is ailing with health problems & nine months passed out now she want to fly back to India-Hyderabad. I am a senior citizen alone in India at Hyderabad-Telangana state.
Please help & guide me to how to proceed so that my wife can join with me in early May.2020. Kindly help me
L.R.DAYAL
Hyderabad-500047
Telangana state. INDIA
Hello Sir! We understand what we are going through. Indian consulates and embassies in different countries are directed to register details of Indians stranded overseas. Please tell your wife and daughter to contact the consulate or embassy in Australia.
Is this information from reliable sources? There is no information regarding registration of people wishing to travel on the consulate portal in the consulates in US. Also is Covid-19 -ve certification mandatory in US it is not possible to get it done if one doesn’t have symptoms,.
Dear Sir,
My wife is 8th Month Pregnent and she is currently in Maharashtra. My travel plan was already made to go back to India from Brussels, Belgium. But I got stuck here. I need to travel urgently as she is alone in India so need to be there to take care. Can you please let me know when special flights get arranged from Belgium to India?
Hi Vibhav! This morning Indian government announced to arrange special flights for return of Indian citizens from abroad starting May 7 in a phased manner. You are required to register yourself on the website of Indian Embassy or consulate there.
Is there any official documentation posted on any of the Indian government sites and/or embassies in the US? I was able to find these advisory on any of the sites. Also, it’s unclear what the registration procedure is.
Hello Sir,
My family members came to visit me in Dublin Ireland in early march and were planned to leave by march end, but due to covid outbreak all are stuck here. I running out of money and resources and embassy is not coming up with any realistic answer. Kindly help me in sending my family back to India.
Sukanya Mishra
Dublin
How reliable is this information as there isn’t any detail found on the Indian consulate portals in the USA.
Hi Arun! We publish to disseminate only reliable and authentic information. If you visit the website of any Consul General of India in USA, you find the registration link for those seeking to return to India. Details were not published on the Indian consulate portals since the plan for repatriation of Indians stranded abroad was awaiting a green signal. This morning, Indian government announced to bring back citizens stranded abroad in a phased manner starting on May 7.
I came to Mauritius for my internship, then I got stuck here for the COVID19.
Hello there,
I would like to ask that how to register with Indian Embassy as I live in Colorado and want to return India as I got laid-off from my company since March. Please assist me with any suggestion.
Thanks
Hi Priyanka! We are very sorry about your job loss. Since Colorado is under the jurisdiction of the Consulate General of India in Houston, you need to register for repatriation flight here https://cgihouston.gov.in/registration_form. FYI, Indian government announced to arrange repatriation flights starting May 7 in a phased manner.
Hi we also stuck like this can u please give us ur contact number!! We are actually moving out is any one know how many baggage’s they are allowing
Hello Sir/Madam,
My friend’s mom passed away, what are her options to visit india at this moment. She will be travelling from Atlanta to chennai
Hi Anitha! We are very sorry about your friend’s loss. Indian government has announced to arrange repatriation flights starting May 7 in a phased manner. Your friend is required to register with the nearest Indian Consulate in the United States.
Hi,
What is the provision for indians stuck in canada.
Appreciate your response.
Thanks,
Monika
Hi Monika! The same provision for those stranded in Canada. The government of India has scheduled 64 flights to bring back Indians stranded across the world.
Hi
I want to know is there any flight with that PR can go back to USA from India.
Hello, can you please send link to fill up form for return from ATLANTA. My parents are senior citizens and are stranded there since January, Medical emergency followed by Covid-19.
Please Revert at the earliest as I could not find any link on the consulate site of Atlanta, USA.
Hit Krunal! Please visit the website the Atlanta Consult General of India and you will find the registration link there.
My father got struck here.His flight got cancelled thrice.Already we registered in the link provided by Indian embassy Washington DC.How long it will take for flights to get started full fledge.Everyone is facing problems who got struck here from longtime.
Hi Nalini! Repatriation flights from USA to India are scheduled from May 9. In a tweet yesterday, India’s civil aviation minister hinted at possible recommencement of air travel in a phased manner post lockdown. Air India too has published a schedule of international flights on its website, but booking has not yet started. We are also eagerly waiting to make people travel on cheap flights to and from India. Please watch out for the latest updates on our Facebook page.
Hi, it was very nice to read some assurance being provided by you for the distressed people like us, we are stranded in Columbus city of Ohio state, we had come here to facilitate the delivery of child of our daughter in law, now we are to move back as our daughter is pregnant and due date is 2nd week of June, in both the cases it was first pregnancy, and hence we are compelled to travel due to complications of health of the person before delivery in USA, after the delivery we were stranded due to the lockdown, we were in deep stress, until we heard about the evacuation process, we have hence registered yesterday for evacuation to Bangalore in Karnataka state, we are both elderly citizens ,complying to the family requirements ,due to compelling reasons , we thank the Hon Prime minister for his broad perspective to help the common citizens like us to do the minimum help in time of necessity to children , Sir my question is how will I be informed about date , of travel,as we may require atleast 48 hrs to pack and get prepared to move due to our age , and movement,
I have received a message for registration done on my mail, but no information of plans envisaged, could you kindly throw some light please, thanking you in anticipation for some reliable information .
With regards
One of my friend(from Hyd) has visa problems and he is being held in Detention Facility in US(washington) we have also filled the form 1 week back, but when spoken to Indian embassy they spoken as if they are not concerned. He informed us there are cases of COVID in that facility. We are concerned about his health, please help us to get him out.
Hello,
Can you please provide guidance based on my situation. I hold a valid Canadian work permit, I came to Mumbai for vacation and now I can’t return back to Canada because of lock down. I have my job over there, but I don’t know if Indian government has created any website where Indian foreign workers stuck in India can return to their country of residence. I’m concerned about my return and my job in Canada. Please help me out with possible options if any. Thank you!