Context: Recently, Government of India has given its approval for the Immigration Visa Foreigners Registration Tracking (IVFRT) scheme’s continuation for a period of five years till 31 March 31, 2026.

• The government’s commitment to the IVFRT’s fundamental goal of upgrading and modernizing visa and immigration services has been demonstrated by the scheme’s continuation.

About the Scheme

• It seeks to interlink and optimise functions relating to immigration, visa issuance, registration of foreigners and tracking of their movements in the country.
• Its core objective is modernisation and upgradation of immigration and visa services.
• It has been identified and included as one of the Mission Mode Projects to be undertaken by the Ministry of Home Affairs under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP).
• Currently, it covers 192 Indian missions across the globe, 108 Immigration Check Posts in India, 12 Foreigners Regional Registration Officers and offices and more than 700 Foreigners Registration Officers, Superintendents of Police/Deputy Commissioners of Police across the country.
• After the commencement of IVFRT, the number of visa and Overseas Citizen of India cards issued increased from 44.43 lakh in 2014 to 64.59 lakh in 2019 at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.7%.

About Compounded Annual Growth Rate(CAGR)

• CAGR is the mean yearly growth rate of an investment over a period of time greater than one year. 
• It is one of the most accurate methods for calculating and determining returns for investment portfolios, individual assets, and anything else that has the potential to increase or decrease in value over time.

By: Shubham Tiwari