TRIVANDRUM: Holidaymakers arriving in luxury vessels with an e-visa do not need biometric enrolment for three years.

The initiative to make India attractive to cruise passengers and to promote cruise tourism is expected to help Kerala’s two major ports — the existing Cochin port and the upcoming Vizhinjam.

“This will facilitate in expeditious immigration clearance of cruise passengers with e-visa enabling them to spend more time on shore,” the shipping ministry said in a statement here on Friday.

“Exemption is an important deciding criterion for cruise lines to include a destination in their itinerary.”

It said the ministry had been working towards providing customer friendly and hassle-free logistic process for embarking and disembarking of passengers through a simplified immigration clearance procedure.

As per the schedule of arrivals of the cruise ships for the current cruise season, many coming to India are mega ships with 2000-4000 passengers on board.

e-Visa is in place in the five major ports in India — Mumbai, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin and Chennai. Most of the cruise passengers are expected to arrive on e-Visa.

Biometrics of the passengers were required at the port of the first arrival for immigration clearance. With the existing facilities in the cruise terminals at the five major ports, the immigration procedure was taking more than the internationally accepted norm of clearing all cruise passengers in 90 minutes.

“This simplified immigration clearance procedure is in a series of steps to attract and to enhance cruise passenger experience at the major ports,” it said.

“Earlier, the standard operating procedures to handle cruise was revised and is being implemented uniformly at all ports.”