‘I felt like a foreigner’: Traveller questions health self-declaration form at Mumbai airport
Traveller Raises Questions Over Health Form at Mumbai Airport
Bharatmorning.com – A long international journey ended with an unexpected extra step for one Indian traveller arriving in Mumbai: completing an online health self-declaration before reaching immigration.
Abhimanyu Kulkarni, who had travelled from the Netherlands to India, shared his frustration on X after being asked to submit the form at Mumbai airport. His trip had begun in Eindhoven at 7 am, followed by a flight from Amsterdam at 11:45 am, before he landed in Mumbai at 12:20 pm. He described the overall journey as lasting close to 18 hours.
“Nothing reminds you that you’re back in India faster than landing at an Indian airport.”
Kulkarni said he had expected the immigration stage to be relatively straightforward after such a lengthy journey. Instead, Indian passengers were directed to an online Self Declaration Form before proceeding further.
Details requested before immigration
The form sought several pieces of information, including the passenger’s name, flight number, country of departure, Indian address and recent travel history. It also asked whether the traveller had passed through an African country.
For Kulkarni, the issue was less about the time taken to complete the form and more about why information had to be entered separately when immigration and airline systems already hold passport and flight records.
He also highlighted the practical difficulty for people who may struggle with a digital process at the airport. Senior citizens, parents travelling with children and exhausted passengers arriving after overnight or long-haul flights could find it inconvenient to search for a link, access the internet and fill in a form while waiting in an immigration queue.
Airports often rely on multiple checks because immigration, airline operations and public-health screening serve different purposes. A passport verifies identity and nationality, while health declarations can be designed to collect recent travel and health-related information in a standard format for screening measures. Still, travellers may question the process when it is introduced at the final stage of an already demanding trip.
Part of Air Suvidha 2.0 screening
The requirement is linked to India’s health screening framework for international arrivals. AIR SUVIDHA 2.0 was introduced in June 2026 following the Ebola outbreak and asks passengers to provide details about their health and recent travel.
Such declarations are intended to help authorities identify travel patterns that may be relevant to public-health monitoring. Questions about recent journeys, especially travel through specific regions, can therefore be separate from standard immigration formalities.
However, the airport experience can depend heavily on when and how a traveller receives the request. A form completed before boarding or during a flight may feel less disruptive than one presented after landing, when passengers are eager to clear formalities, collect baggage and continue their journey.
Online Debate Over the Requirement
Kulkarni’s post prompted divided reactions. Some social-media users felt the form was a reasonable precaution and noted that it could be completed quickly. Others agreed that the additional requirement was unnecessary or poorly timed.
“It’s not for immigration, it’s for the recent Ebola outbreak in Africa,” one user wrote, adding that it takes roughly two minutes to fill out.
Another response took a more humorous view of the complaint, suggesting that airport behaviour such as queue-jumping, pushing and poor civic conduct was a more immediate reminder of being back in India than a digital declaration.
“Filling a form reminds you you’re back? I thought it’s the people cutting lines, pushing & lacking basic civic sense that should have reminded you already.”
One commenter said the measure had been in place for months and added that paper versions were also available at certain airports. Another traveller recalled receiving the form while boarding in London, rather than after arriving in India. That passenger said Mumbai immigration had moved faster than the process they encountered at Amsterdam and London airports.
Not everyone accepted the need for the requirement. One commenter backed Kulkarni’s criticism directly.
“Completely agree. Such a ridiculous rule.”
Why arrival procedures matter
For international passengers, airport procedures are often judged not only by their purpose but also by their clarity. A short form may be manageable for a solo traveller with a working phone and reliable connectivity, yet the same task can become more difficult for families, people unfamiliar with online systems or those arriving after many hours of travel.
Clear communication before departure, visible instructions on arrival and accessible alternatives such as paper forms can help reduce uncertainty. Travellers are also more likely to accept an extra check when they understand what it is for, who needs to complete it and whether it can be done in advance.
The discussion around Kulkarni’s experience reflects a broader tension in modern air travel. Health safeguards and border procedures can be important, but passengers also expect processes to be simple, coordinated and considerate of the realities of international travel. At Mumbai airport, the self-declaration form has become one small but noticeable part of that wider conversation.
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