As of December 1, 2013, both Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have become the first states to implement the Immigration, Visa, Foreigners Registration and Tracking (IVERT) system.
The IVERT system is a part of the national e-governance project, that will facilitate integrated visa and immigration services to foreigners and capture information about visiting foreigners, mentioned as report in The Times of India.
The report quoted an officer as saying that the system will track every foreigner visiting the country, from the time he applies for a visa to the time he leaves the country.
A foreigners’ regional registration officers (FRRO) will be constituted by the district collectors and the superintendent of police. All the information will be put up online, making the process completely paperless.
In Chennai, the foreigners will be strictly monitored, even routine college attendance of foreign students will be tracked. Every foreign national will be given a number and a permanent virtual folder will be made. The project will be conducted by the Home Ministry and the information can later be used to process visas. The system will be interlinked with all the embassies, consulates, immigration checkpoints in the country and with the seven FRROs. The central network will also link the local registration camp offices and registration offices of the state and central department.
