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Guide : Traveling from Europe to India via VBM ( Vande Bharat Mission )

This is a guide for those who are stranded and trying to travel to India from Europe under the Vande Bharath Mission.

Registering in the embassy as stranded individual

I work in Berlin at an automotive company. Since COVID 19 outbreak, I have been working from home. My family (wife and kid) resides in Hyderabad, India. They were supposed to travel to Germany but due to lockdown they couldn’t. Meanwhile their tourist visa expired and German consulate stopped renewing or issuing new visas.

The only option available for me was to get back to my family. I had waited for months in the hope of international travel to be resumed.

I registered for the Repatriation flight program called Vande Bharath Mission offered by the Indian government.

The Indian embassy website has a Google Form taking details of the

  • Passport
  • Visa status
  • Urgency and reason of travel
  • Location details. Etc.

If your are selected to be a Traveller on the list , you will be approached by email.

I had to repeatedly fill out this form, whenever it was issued ( twice a month or monthly )

Note: Most of the updated communication is on Twitter. So better create an account.

Booking a flight ticket

Air India was the only service offering flights under VBM. Currently other services like AirFrance and Lufthansa are operating flights.

Air India announced flights from Frankfurt and Amsterdam every month under different phases of VBM. Usually two flights are offered from each city. For other countries there are more flights ( like USA).

Also based on the demand data collected by the embassy. You need to register providing your details on the Air India site under VBM program. https://repat.videshapps.gov.in/regis

When the date and time of booking is announced ( usually on Twitter) I was ready with multiple devices and apps open.

Air India accepted only credit card payments.

  • iOS app — fast but all my credit cards failed — not useful❌
  • Android App — slow❌
  • Website — slow but finally worked with credit card✅

I had to book a business class ticket for 940€. The economy class is 470€.

There was an error after payment was done, and had to get the ticket by email after calling the support.

Choosing destinations

There are lot of permutations and combinations on choosing destinations, especially based on the city you want to get institutional quarantine.

To simplify, try to choose the end destination where you want to get quarantined. You should avoid break journeys.

The flight I booked is FRA-MUM-HYD

If you book, separate flights on different carriers with a time gap in Mumbai you will be quarantined in Mumbai.

Be on the list of travelers

I got an email from embassy , saying that I’m in the list of chosen travellers for a particular date. They didn’t have the information about my booked ticket.

They gave options to buy the ticket by transferring amount to a direct bank account.

However, I’m was not sure if that works because on the day of flight booking all tickets were sold out.

I replied to the email with my existing booking. Also there was an option of additional payment for those travelers who cancelled their previous flights.

Reaching airport

On the day of travel you need to reach at least 4 hours before the flight ETD.

There was a very long queue which took me 3 hours to reach the counter.

There was an another queue who were booking domestic flights from Mumbai to other cities.

Economy accepts 23kg 1 piece of checkin baggage and cabin bag + hand bag (7kg)

Business class accepts 32kg 2 pieces of checkin + hand bag (7kg)+ cabin bag

You will be checked for symptoms ( temperature)

Important forms and Print-outs

  • Self declaration form which captures your destination address and contact details
  • Passport
  • Printed ticket (must, otherwise you need to stand in another queue )

In flight precautions

You will be provided with

  • Face shield
  • Mask
  • Sanitizers
  • Pre packed food ( fruit, sandwich, fruit juice )

Better to carry disinfectant spray to wipe surfaces and

Hand gloves ( esp during security check while touching trays)

Domestic transfer at Mumbai

There is terminal transfer at Mumbai and expect some delay.

You will be checked for symptoms and then given a PPE kit

A transit card is given to each traveler and new seat allocation on boarding card. Don’t lose the transit card and is must for each individual.

The same domestic flight was also going to Chennai with waiting period of 30min at Hyderabad.

Your luggage will be transferred.

Immigration at Hyderabad

More forms will be given to be filled.

Try to maintain same address and contact details.

The previously filled Self declaration forms will be collected along with form for

  • Passport collection
  • Institutional Quarantine choice

Passport collection

Passport is being collected by the immigration officer with a receipt and is promised to be given after 7 days of institutional quarantine at the location.

Institutional quarantine ( exceptions)

In Telangana it is mandatory for a 7 day institutional quarantine with few exceptions ( pregnancy or urgency at home)

Otherwise options like

8000 Rs — 3 star hotel ( eg; Conclave in Gachibowli)

16000Rs — 5 star hotel (eg; Novotel in Shamshabad)

are available.

I haven’t seen any free options.

Transport and registration at hotel

You need to drop the luggage in a cargo van which follows the shuttle bus, which takes you to the hotel.( I chose Novotel)

There is no receipt given for your luggage.There is a headcount done in the shuttle.

After reaching the hotel, your luggage will be disinfected and scanned.You need to do the payment and registration with an ID.

Facilities at Novotel

You will NOT be allowed to meet anyone from your family.

You are not supposed to go out into lobby.

However you can exchange stuff with the help of room service. Home cooked food is not allowed. Only medicines ,clothes etc are allowed.

  • Packaged drinking water will be given at the room daily
  • Breakfast , lunch and dinner are served at room in disposable packages
  • Temperature check is done once or twice

After 7 days your passport will arrive and you can checkout after 12pm.

Thanks to

Seema IFS

Nandini Priya Rabelli

Dilip Kumar N

Naveen Rabelli

Moritz M

Originally published on Medium ↗