2nd National Conference on Immigration, Visa, Foreigners’ Registration and Tracking (IVFRT) was organised by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and National Informatics Centre (NIC) at India Habitat Centre (IHC), New Delhi on 10th January 2013. More than 300 Delegates from Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Bureau of Immigration (BoI), Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (FRROs)/ Foreigners Registration Offices (FROs), all State IVFRT Coordinators from NIC, representatives from states and entire IVFRT team of NIC (HQ) had participated in the Conference. At the outset, Dr. Y. K. Sharma, DG, NIC in the welcome speech welcomed all the dignitaries and stressed upon the importance of IVFRT-Mission Mode Project (MMP) project. Sh. V. Vumlunmang, JS (F), MHA in his theme address elaborated objective of the national conference in terms of facilitation of legitimate travellers while strengthening security. Sh. Khurshid Ahmed Ganai, AS (F), MHA in his inaugural address elaborated the overview of the IVFRT-MMP Project and expressed his happiness on the progress achieved in the project so far. Sh. P. K. Bhardwaj, JD (I) delivered his speech on the topic “Perspective on IVFRT-MMP” He stressed upon the integration on the top of facilitation and security aspects in the IVFRT System. Dr. (Mrs.) Neena Malhotra, JS (PV), MEA delivered speech on “Perspective of MEA and Indian Missions on IVFRT”. The topic for deliberation of Sh. H. K. Sharma, Consultant (MMP) was on “Milestones achieved and way forward”. A hearty Vote of Thanks for the inaugural session was extended by Dr. B. N. Shetty, DDG, NIC.  

IVFRT-MMP was sanctioned by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in May, 2010 and is to be implemented by September, 2014 at estimated cost of over Rs. 1000 Crore. The core objective of this project is to develop and implement a secure and integrated service delivery framework that facilitates the legitimate travellers while strengthening the security. IVFRT-MMP has global outreach since the scope of the project includes 180 Indian Missions, 81 Immigration Check Posts (ICPs), 12 Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (FRROs) and over 700 Foreigners Registration Offices(FROs) in the District Headquarters. The implementation of the project is being carried out in a planned and phased manner in consonance with infrastructure/connectivity readiness of locations supported by effective communication, training and capacity building.

Three technical sessions were conducted to brief the participating officers about various modules of the IVFRT system. The first session covered Online Visa Application System/ Prior Reference Check System by Sh. N.S. Rawat, Visa Issuance System by Sh. J. G. Christopher, Immigration Clearance System and APIS by Sh. Madhvendra Singh, FRRO/FRO Front end as well as Back end system by Mr. K. Ramasubramanian and Sh. A. Ravikumar respectively. The second session were on the Biometrics in IVFRT by Dr. R. K. Mishra, Unique Case File by Sh. Shambhu Kumar, Mission Support Centre and VPN Services by Sh. R. Prasith Lal and Sh. Hasan Mehmood, Arms Licenses System by Sh. Moloy Sanyal, US (Arms), MHA. The third session was on Indian Citizenship by Sh. C. L. Sharma, Infrastructure Issues by Sh. S. K. Saxena and BOI Support Centre by Sh. Alok Roy Chaudhary. Dr. B. N. Shetty, DDG, NIC, Sh. Anuj Sharma Dir (I & C) and Sh. N. S. Bundela, DD (I) acted as moderators in these sessions. The Conference ended with huge round of applauds from all corners.