Foreign tourists in Puri. Picture by Sarat Patra

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 29: Foreign nationals staying in the city with a visa validity of more than 180 days simply need to apply online and get registered.

The new system spares them a trek to the foreign registration office (FRO) in Bhubaneswar to register themselves.

The online registration of foreigners with a visa validity of more than 180 days started today as a part of the Centre-sponsored project, immigration, visa and foreigners registration & tracking (IVFRT) system.

On the first day, two Sweden nationals were given their online registration slips. The system is being run in the capital city on a pilot basis and National Informatics Centre (NIC) is providing the technical support for execution of the project in the country.

A foreign national arriving in India with an appropriate visa and intending to stay over 180 days in the country is required to register with the FRO. The moves assumes significance in view of some past cases such as the one involving Italian tour operator, Paolo Bosusco, who came into limelight in 2012 after being kidnapped by Maoists. He had been staying in Puri even after his visa had expired.

Similarly, the FRO in the city was today linked with 250 other such facilities in the country that intends to make the registration and tracking of foreign nationals easier.

Police said Pakistani nationals with visa validity of more than 180 days should register themselves within 24 hours of landing in the country, while for others the deadline is 14 days.

Earlier the city police had launched a component of the IVFRT under which all hotels, guest houses, educational institutes and dharmasalas which attract foreigners would have to register themselves with the FRO.

“So far, 30 hotels and three educational institutes have registered themselves with the FRO,” said an official.

There are more than 350 hotels and around 15 educational institutes, which attract foreign nationals.

A NIC official said that the pilot project would also be implemented in five other districts — Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Angul and Jharsuguda. The police officials of these districts attended a training programme in the city today.

“Apart from tracking foreigners moving inside the country, this would ensure that tourists do not stay in the city after expiry of their visa,” said NIC deputy director-general B.N. Shetty.

He also said IVFRT project is expected to cover the entire country by September.

A number of states including Delhi, Gujarat, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh have already implemented the online project.