Foreign nationals arriving in India are generally asked to fill an arrival card, and any passenger carrying dutiable or restricted goods must file a customs declaration and use the red channel. Passengers within the duty-free allowance, currently ₹75,000 for eligible travellers, may use the green channel. Gold beyond the personal jewellery limit and large amounts of currency must be declared.
Updated July 2026 · HappyFares
Most arrivals into India involve no paperwork at all. The trouble starts when someone assumes that applies to them, walks through the green channel with something dutiable in the bag, and finds out otherwise.
Who has to fill an arrival card for India?
Foreign nationals arriving in India are generally asked to complete an arrival card, usually handed out by cabin crew before landing or available in the arrivals hall. It asks for your name exactly as printed in the passport, passport number, nationality, date of birth, flight number, and the address where you will stay in India, plus your purpose of visit.
The Bureau of Immigration has steadily reduced paperwork for Indian passport holders in recent years, so many Indian travellers arriving by air are processed without filling a card. Treat that as the usual case rather than a rule you can rely on, because requirements differ by port of entry and can change. If crew offer you a card, take it and fill it in your seat rather than at the counter.
Fill it in block letters and copy the passport spelling exactly. A card that does not match the passport is the easiest way to turn a quick stop at the counter into a long one.
What does the Indian customs declaration ask for?
The declaration is a short honesty statement about what is in your bags. Broadly, you are asked to declare anything dutiable or restricted, and that includes goods beyond your free allowance, gold or silver in any form other than personal jewellery, foreign currency above the notified thresholds, prohibited articles, items in commercial quantity, and unaccompanied baggage arriving separately.
Indian Customs has offered an app called ATITHI for filing the declaration before you land, which saves fumbling with a form after a long flight. Availability and features can vary, so treat it as a convenience rather than a substitute for knowing the rules.
One mindset shift helps here. Declaring something is not the same as being taxed on it. A declaration simply puts the item in front of an officer, who then applies the rules. Not declaring something that should have been declared is what turns an ordinary customs stop into a penalty.
Green channel or red channel: which one do you take?
The green channel is for passengers who have nothing to declare, meaning everything they carry sits within the free allowance and nothing is restricted or prohibited. The red channel is for everyone else: dutiable goods, restricted items, currency above the declaration threshold, or anything you are unsure about.
Choosing green while carrying dutiable goods is treated as misdeclaration under the Customs Act, not as an honest mistake. The consequences can include seizure of the goods, a penalty, and in serious cases prosecution. Customs officers can also screen green-channel passengers and run bags through an x-ray, so the channel you pick is a declaration in itself, not a way of avoiding one.
If you genuinely cannot tell which channel applies, take the red one and ask. Officers deal with that question all day, and asking costs you nothing.
What are the 2026 allowances for goods, gold and currency?
Three sets of limits matter to almost every arriving passenger. The general duty-free allowance for eligible passengers is ₹75,000, covering used personal effects and articles carried as bona fide baggage. Lower limits apply to passengers arriving from certain neighbouring countries and to very short stays, and allowances differ by age, so check your own category on the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) site.
| What you are carrying | How it is treated |
|---|---|
| General goods and gifts | Duty-free up to ₹75,000 for eligible passengers; anything above is dutiable and must be declared |
| Gold jewellery | The concession is set by weight in grams, with separate limits for male and female passengers, and applies only after a qualifying stay abroad |
| Gold bars, coins and biscuits | Not covered by the jewellery concession; dutiable and must be declared |
| Foreign currency | A Currency Declaration Form is required above USD 5,000 in banknotes, or USD 10,000 in total including travellers cheques |
| Indian rupees | Residents may carry only a limited amount of Indian currency, under the ceiling set by the Reserve Bank of India |
The gold rules are the ones travellers most often get wrong. The duty-free jewellery concession is now expressed as a weight in grams rather than a rupee value, with different limits for male and female passengers, and it is available only to passengers who have stayed abroad beyond the qualifying period. Gold in bar, coin or biscuit form does not qualify at all and is dutiable whatever the amount, so declare it.
Alcohol and tobacco sit outside the general allowance with their own separate quantity limits, and they are among the most frequently checked items in the hall. Look up the current quantities before you buy at a duty-free shop, not after.
What actually gets people stopped at the green channel?
Rarely the obvious things. It is usually a mix of restricted items travellers did not know about and quantities that look commercial rather than personal.
- Drones, which are restricted and are commonly detained at Indian airports
- Satellite phones, which need prior authorisation in India
- Electronic cigarettes and vaping devices, whose import is prohibited under India’s e-cigarettes law
- Gold worn on the body in an attempt to stay under the limit
- Multiple sealed new phones, laptops or identical items, which read as commercial quantity
- Seeds, plants, meat and some food products, which face agricultural and quarantine restrictions
- Cash above the declaration threshold, undeclared
If something is held back, ask for a detention receipt. Goods are often detained rather than seized, which leaves the door open to clear them later on payment of duty or to re-export them when you leave.
One preventive habit is worth building. If you are taking an expensive camera, laptop or a piece of jewellery out of India and bringing it back, get an export certificate from customs before departure. It is a short formality at the airport and it removes the argument about whether you bought the item abroad.
Common Questions
Do I have to declare my laptop and phone?
Personal electronics in normal personal quantity are not a problem, and one laptop is generally allowed to an adult passenger in addition to the free allowance. What draws attention is several sealed, boxed devices, which look like goods for resale rather than personal use.
Is the ₹75,000 allowance per person or per family?
It is per eligible passenger. Under the baggage rules, one passenger’s free allowance cannot be pooled with another’s, so a family of four cannot combine four allowances to clear a single expensive item. Each traveller’s own allowance applies to what they themselves are carrying.
What about jewellery I already own and took out of India?
Jewellery you took out of the country can come back without duty if you can show it left with you. An export certificate obtained from customs before you departed is the cleanest proof. Old purchase invoices and dated photographs help, but they carry less weight than the certificate.
What happens if customs stops me?
Your bag is examined, any dutiable item is assessed, and you either pay the duty and leave with the goods or the item is detained against a receipt. Payment facilities at the airport counter vary, so having a card is sensible. Stay polite and keep the receipt safe.
Can I fill the customs declaration before I land?
Yes, in most cases. The ATITHI app from Indian Customs has allowed international passengers to file the declaration in advance, and some arrivals also offer kiosks. If the digital route is not working, the paper form on arrival remains valid, so it is never worth risking the green channel over.
Do children get their own allowance?
Allowances differ by age, and infants are generally restricted to used personal effects rather than a full articles allowance. Since the age bands and amounts are set out in the baggage rules and can be revised, check the current figures for your child’s age on the CBIC site before you travel.
Heading home to India? Compare fares, routes and arrival times across airlines on HappyFares and land with your paperwork already sorted.
Customs rules, allowances and thresholds change. Verify current specifics with CBIC, the Bureau of Immigration, your airline or the airport before you travel.
