Is Mumbai Your First Port of Entry? Check Out the Latest Guidelines for International Passengers Arriving in Mumbai

Many states in India have tightened the entry rules in an attempt to curb the severe impact of the second wave of COVID-19. Given the alarming rise of COVID-19 cases in the state, Maharashtra has resorted to imposing stringent lockdown-like restrictions along with the implementation of Section 144 across the state for 15 days (till May 1, 2021). The current situation, which calls for constant revision of guidelines, makes it imperative that travelers stay in the know of the minute-to-minute updates related to travel requirements, entry rules and quarantine norms in effect in the city they are traveling to. This article brings to you the latest guidelines for international passengers arriving in Mumbai, one of India’s major ports of entry.

• All international travelers, including children and infants, must submit the filled-out self-declaration form (SDF) on the Air Suvidha portal 72 hours before the scheduled travel.
• They must also update a negative COVID-19 report along with a declaration with respect to the authenticity of the report. The RT-PCR test should have been conducted within 72 hours before boarding the flight to Mumbai.
• All passengers must download the Aarogya Setu app on their mobile devices. Only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the flight to India after the thermal screening.
• Passengers also need to submit a hard copy of an undertaking form to MCGM officers upon arrival at the Mumbai airport.
• Mumbai mandates self-paid institutional (hotel) quarantine for 7 days followed by 7 days of home quarantine for all international travelers coming from the Middle East, Europe, UK, South Africa, and Brazil. These travelers need to take the COVID-19 test (at their own cost) on the seventh day and all the passengers who tested negative for COVID-19 must home quarantine themselves for 7 days.
• International passengers arriving from countries other than those mentioned above must mandatorily undergo a home quarantine of 14 days.
• BMC’s (Bombay Municipal Corporation) latest guidelines for international passengers arriving in Mumbai updated on 20/03/2021 deem the following categories as eligible for seeking exemption from institutional quarantine.

1. Passengers above the age of 65 years.
2. Pregnant women in the advanced stage of pregnancy.
3. Parents who accompany children below 5 years.
4. Passengers who require immediate medical attention (on condition that they provide supporting documents and medical conditions that need admission in a medical institution immediately).
5. Extreme family distress conditions such as death in the family, or if a family member is facing critical health conditions or has met with a serious accident.
6. Vaccinated passengers (on presenting the vaccination certificates and a self-declaration)
7. Medical professionals traveling to India to perform life-saving surgery or attend to critical patients (relevant proofs from the hospitals must be provided)

• As per the latest guidelines for international passengers arriving in Mumbai, passengers transiting through Mumbai to their final destination (domestic) will be subjected to the RT-PCR test before taking their connecting flight at the Mumbai airport. However, passengers arriving from UK, Brazil and South Africa are required to wait for the test result and will be allowed to proceed for their onward journey only if the test result comes out negative.