Flying to India this summer: the new arrival card and baggage rules every OCI holder should know

If you have not flown home to India for a while, two things will be different when you land this December. Foreign passport holders and OCI cardholders now submit their arrival details online before they land, through India’s e-Arrival Card. And India’s customs rules have been rewritten for the first time in a decade, with a higher duty-free allowance and gold jewellery limits that are now measured only in grams, whatever the price of gold.

For Indian Australians who travel on Australian passports with an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, both changes apply directly. Here is what the official sources say.

The e-Arrival Card: who must file it

India’s Bureau of Immigration states that foreigners and OCI cardholders can complete and submit the e-Arrival Card online, within 72 hours before their arrival in India. The Embassy of India in Manila announced that from 1 October 2025 foreigners and OCI cardholders are required to submit the e-Arrival Card online, and the High Commission of India in Pretoria gave the same start date for foreign nationals.

In practical terms for Australian families:

• Australian passport holders, including those of Indian origin and those holding an OCI card, are foreign nationals for immigration purposes and must file the card. The Bureau of Immigration and the Embassy of India in Manila name OCI cardholders specifically.
• Indian passport holders are not among the groups the Bureau of Immigration names. Its e-Arrival Card page refers to foreigners and OCI cardholders, so a family member still travelling on an Indian passport should check the Bureau of Immigration site before travel rather than assume either way.
• The 72-hour window matters. The Bureau of Immigration says the card is submitted within 72 hours before arrival, so a card cannot be filed a week ahead. On an overnight or connecting flight from Australia, that means filing in the day or two before departure, while you still have reliable internet.

How to submit it

There are three official channels, all named by the Bureau of Immigration:

• the Bureau of Immigration website, boi.gov.in
• the Indian Visa website, indianvisaonline.gov.in
• the official Indian Visa Su-Swagatam mobile app, available on iOS and Android

The Bureau of Immigration stresses that the e-Arrival Card is for arrival information and is not a visa. Australian passport holders still need a valid OCI card or Indian visa to enter. Keep a copy of your submission on your phone and, if you are travelling with elderly parents or children, consider a printed copy as backup.

The Embassy of India in Manila advises travellers to make sure the information they submit is accurate and up to date, to avoid delays at immigration.

India’s Baggage Rules 2026: what changed

On 1 February 2026, the Ministry of Finance notified the Baggage Rules, 2026 (Notification No. 14/2026-Customs (N.T.)), which came into force on 2 February 2026. They replace the Baggage Rules, 2016.

The headline change is the general duty-free allowance for passengers arriving by air or sea:

• Residents and tourists of Indian origin: goods up to ₹75,000 in value, carried on the person or in accompanied baggage, up from ₹50,000.
• Tourists of foreign origin: goods up to ₹25,000, up from ₹15,000.
• Infants, defined as a child not more than two years old, receive no general free allowance. Like every passenger, they may bring used personal effects and travel souvenirs duty free.
• Laptops: every passenger aged 18 or over, other than crew, may bring one new laptop or notepad duty free.

The category you fall into matters. The customs FAQ on the Baggage Rules 2026, published on the Bengaluru Customs website, states that “tourist of Indian origin” includes Non-Resident Indians and OCI cardholders. That means an Australian citizen with an OCI card is treated as a tourist of Indian origin and qualifies for the ₹75,000 allowance, rather than the ₹25,000 limit for foreign tourists.

The same FAQ makes a point that differs from Australian rules: in India, one passenger’s free allowance cannot be pooled with another passenger’s. Each traveller’s allowance stands alone. The FAQ also states that two litres of alcoholic liquor or wine may be brought in duty free.

Gold jewellery: grams, not rupees

Rule 6 of the Baggage Rules, 2026 allows a resident or tourist of Indian origin who has been residing abroad for more than one year to bring jewellery duty free of up to 40 grams if the passenger is female, or 20 grams for any other passenger. The customs FAQ gives the same eligibility. Travellers of foreign origin do not get this allowance.

The weights are familiar. What has gone is the rupee cap. Gulf News reports that under the 2016 rules the 40 gram allowance for women carried a ₹1,00,000 value limit and the 20 gram allowance for men carried a ₹50,000 limit, and that the value cap has now been removed so only the weight limit remains. Khaleej Times also reports that jewellery allowances have moved from value-based caps to weight limits. Under the old rules, a 40 gram set worth more than ₹1,00,000 could attract duty even though it was within the weight allowance.

For Indian Australians who have lived here for more than a year, the practical message is to know the weight of the jewellery you are wearing or carrying, rather than its current market value.

Declaring goods digitally

Alongside the new rules, the Ministry of Finance notified the Customs Baggage (Declaration and Processing) Regulations, 2026 (Notification No. 15/2026-Customs (N.T.)), also in force from 2 February 2026. Passengers with nothing dutiable or prohibited may walk through the Green Channel without a baggage declaration, although currency above the foreign exchange limits must still be declared.

If you are carrying dutiable or prohibited goods, the regulations require you to declare your accompanied baggage electronically in Form CBD-I before entering the Green Channel, through the ICEGATE portal (icegate.gov.in) or the Atithi web or mobile application. The declaration can be filed up to three days before arrival, and customs can accept a declaration in another form on arrival if you could not file online. Atithi was developed by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs and, according to the High Commission of India in Pretoria, can be used by all air travellers to India, both Indian residents and foreign nationals.

Coming back to Australia

The return leg has its own rules. The Australian Border Force states that travellers aged 18 and over can bring up to AUD900 worth of general goods into Australia duty free, and AUD450 for those under 18. Adults can also bring 2.25 litres of alcoholic beverages duty free. Unlike India, Australia allows families travelling together on the same flight to combine their general goods limits if they stay together through customs clearance, so two adults and two children have a combined allowance of AUD2,700. The ABF warns that if you exceed a limit, duty and tax apply to all items of that type, not only the amount over the limit.

The takeaway

Neither change is complicated, but both reward a few minutes of preparation. The e-Arrival Card has a narrow filing window and applies to every Australian passport holder heading to India, OCI card or not. The Baggage Rules 2026 raise the duty-free allowances, and for eligible travellers of Indian origin the jewellery allowance no longer has a rupee cap, but each traveller’s allowance stands alone. File the arrival card in the 72 hours before landing, note the weight of any jewellery you carry, and if the shopping bags grow heavy, use Atithi to declare before you reach the airport.