45 mins at Indian immigration vs 45 secs in Singapore: CFO says India has ‘a long way to go’

An Indian CFO has highlighted the difference between India and Singapore’s airport immigration processes.

An Indian executive has highlighted the difference between India and Singapore’s airport immigration processes, claiming India has a long way to go before it can match Singapore in efficiency. Venkat Patakota, the Group CFO of A-Sunmarine Engineering, shared his recent travel experience on X. He said that he spent around 45 minutes clearing Indian immigration, while Singapore’s automated immigration process took him just 45 seconds.

An Indian traveller shared how Singapore's immigration process was smooth and quick. (Representational image/Unsplash)

‘45 minutes in India, 45 seconds in Singapore’

Venkat Patakota criticised the experience of travelling through Indian airports, especially immigration and security processes, noting how he recently spent 45 minutes clearing immigration. He said there were just two officials to handle the large crowd in India, resulting in delays.

Recalling his journey to Singapore, Patakota said he reached Indian immigration at around 6:45 pm and found a long queue.

“Time taken at Indian immigration - 6.45 pm stood in the queue, around 75 people in the queue - just 2 officers,” he wrote. “Suddenly at 7.15 pm, 15 people jumped the lane mentioning their boarding closes at 7.45 pm. Finally completed immigration in 45 minutes,” he added.

In contrast, he described Singapore immigration as a quick, technology-driven process. It involved just a passport scan and facial recognition, with no added security checks.

“Singapore immigration - 30 Sec - scan passport and then facial recognition. No Security check !!” Patakota wrote.

Return journey: India process still slower

Patakota said his return experience was similar, with Singapore’s immigration taking less than a minute.

“Singapore immigration - 45 sec - including thumb impression,” he said.

After arriving in India, he said he managed to clear immigration faster because of his seat position, but others faced longer waits.

“India - lucky that my seat no is 8A, could clear in 15 minutes while 100 plus members in the queue again with 2 officers physically certifying,” he wrote. He added that security clearance took another 15 minutes.

Patakota also raised concerns about the way new health declaration procedures were being handled at airports.

“Then today onwards EBOLA health declaration. Did online submission, but wanted physical signature finally no one is there to check,” he wrote.

The CFO argued that the issue was not just the waiting time but also the lack of accountability during the process. “On top of this I felt immigration officers to be indifferent and not concerned about queues. There is no higher authority at least to address this issue,” he said.

What internet users said

Many people in the comments section advised Patakota to get enrolled in the Fast Track Immigration programme to expedite the process.

“Dear Sir, we understand your concern. For a faster immigration experience on your future journeys, you may consider enrolling in the Fast Track Immigration – Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP),” the official X account of Hyderabad Airport advised.

Some people noted how manual security checks delay things at Indian airports. “Also, the requirement of manual security checks in India: we have to empty all the electronic gadgets and are subjected to physical checks are quite outdated ; recently travelled through Joberg, Cape Town, DXB, Victoria falls and Addis Ababa where these things aren’t required,” said Rakesh Gangadhar.