‘One less thing to fold’: Immigration bureau reminds flyers to go digital with funny iPhone Duo e-boarding pass meme

From September 1, international travellers from India can use an e-boarding pass. The Bureau of Immigration humorously announced this with an iPhone Duo twist.

The launch of Apple’s most expensive phone ever — the iPhone Duo, Apple’s first-ever foldable phone, has sparked a meme fest on social media. The Indian Bureau of Immigration also joined the trend by sharing an informative yet funny post on Instagram.

Bureau of Immigration joins the iPhone Duo meme fest

On September 11, the official Instagram account of the Bureau of Immigration in India shared a picture of the new iPhone Duo and announced, in a quirky manner, that e-boarding passes would now be accepted at all immigration counters in the country.

The picture the Bureau of Immigration posted features two images of the iPhone Duo — one showing a standard screensaver with the caption ‘One more thing to fold’ and the other showing an e-boarding pass with the caption ‘One less thing to fold’. Below this, the bureau informed passengers, “e-Boarding passes are now accepted at all Immigration counters. You no longer need to carry a physical boarding pass to clear immigration.”

Passengers don't need to carry a physical boarding pass

The meme comes after it was announced that passengers flying internationally from India will no longer be required to carry a physical boarding pass or get it stamped at immigration counters from September 1.

Reportedly, the change was communicated in an internal memo by Senior Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (Delhi) Deepak Yadav to airport operators, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and other stakeholders. According to the memo, the requirement to produce a physical boarding pass had been causing delays at counters. Moreover, poorly inked stamps sometimes threw up reading errors during clearance.

“The matter has been examined by the Bureau of Immigration, and it has now been decided to do away with the mandatory requirement of physical boarding passes and the stamping of boarding passes at Immigration counters, at all international airports in the country,” the internal memo read.

Passengers still need to complete standard immigration formalities and present their passports.

How did the internet react?

Instagram users flooded the comments section with cheeky comments. One user wrote, “What if your phone suddenly stops working?”

Someone else commented, “Listening to this after being to 35 countries is absurd and funny. The Airport staff needs to know more about this than the public...because when I tried using my eboarding pass, they asked me if I am travelling for the first time (and I don't know about getting a physical pass).”

“Will e-boarding passes work at FTI gates?” another user asked. Someone else wrote, “Brilliant marketing 👏 give ur editor a raise 🙌”