A mammoth exercise, involving different arms of the government?s security establishment, is underway to transform the way India regulates the entry and exit of foreign nationals. The first major change, prompted by the case of David Coleman Headley, has already been effected for Pakistani passport-holders and those of Pakistani-origin, regardless of their nationality.

From now on, every Pakistani or Pakistani-origin applicant will be treated as PRC (Prior Referral Case), which means the decision will lie with the home ministry. For this, online link-ups have been established between the Indian High Commission, Islamabad, and New Delhi. A stipulated 30 days is the maximum time for this screening to be done. This was put in place just for Pakistan because the home ministry was keen to take this up on priority for security reasons. What is in the works is a massive overhaul of the entire system, starting from the point of issuing visas to having the ability to track foreigners while they are in India.

The idea is to create a secure and massive centralised database as well as visa processing facility under the home ministry, where all details about a foreigner travelling to India are kept constantly updated in a dedicated folder.

Called the Immigration, Visas, Foreigners? Registration and Tracking Project (IVFRT), this Rs 1,100-crore exercise has already got the clearance of the Cabinet Committee on Security and is now undergoing rapid implementation with the government planning to cover Indian missions in Dhaka and London by next year in the first phase. These two missions account for the highest volume of Indian visas issued. A new India visa sticker is also going to be out by August, which would make duplication difficult.

The way it works is that every foreign national who applies to India must be tagged. Just like national identity numbers, a unique case file identity (UCFID) folder is created for every applicant. This identity number will be a permanent fixture, stored in a central database, and each time the person travels to India or gets another visa issued, the activity will be recorded against this UCFID.

In line with the best practices adopted by developed countries, biometric profiling will be carried out with two fingerprints in the first phase. This would be taken at the Indian missions abroad at the time of interviewing applicants. And once done, it would automatically be sent to Delhi through an online system.

At the heart of this overhaul is the creation of one centralised database under the home ministry, which will also act as a processing system for vetting visa applications. This nodal unit would act as a hub, which would be networked on a real-time basis with about 170 Indian missions abroad, the seven FRROs (Foreign Regional Registration Office) and 78 immigration check posts at air, land and sea ports across the country. All visa applications will have to be filled online or uploaded after filling.

The watchlist or the blacklist created in coordination with various security agencies would be available on this centralised facility to quicken the visa clearance process. At the same time, suspect cases would have to wait at least a month for a decision.

So, once an application is accepted by the Indian mission, it would have to be uploaded immediately and passed on through a secure virtual private network to the home ministry?s centralised system. Here, it would be run automatically against the watchlist. Also, a UCFID will be created in case of a first-time applicant, else the necessary information would just be added to the applicant?s existing UCFID folder.

The other linkage planned in the project is with the Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS). This system enables airlines to provide the details of passengers travelling on a particular aircraft to authorities at the destination point.

If this system had been in place, sources said, those monitoring the central facility would have got the overall picture of Headley?s numerous visits to India and even detected the pattern. Not just that, his departure record would also have been built up in a UCFID folder, which would have revealed his visits to Pakistan because, under this system, all immigration check points would be connected with this facility. While the entire project is supposed to be completed in four years, the working deadline has been kept at three years. However, there are immediate targets set for August next year:

* Implementation of an integrated online visa application system with appointment scheduling to be in place at Indian missions in Islamabad, Dhaka and London.

* The centralised data centre and visa processing office would be established.

* Uniform systems without biometrics would be in place at all missions, integrated check posts and FRROs.

* Secure virtual private network connectivity with all missions.

* Experimentation with biometrics would have begun.