VIBHA VERMA
PANAJI
A Russian national who once appeared in advertising campaigns alongside Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and John Abraham, and former India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, is among dozens of foreigners deported by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) Goa this year.
The man, whose identity has not been officially disclosed, entered India on a tourist visa on February 22, 2020. Like thousands of foreigners caught in the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, he was initially permitted to remain in the country after international travel ground to a halt. But while many foreigners later regularised their visas, he allegedly failed to do so and continued living in India illegally.
The FRRO probe revealed the Russian travelled across the country for commercial assignments before shifting to Arambol, where he had been staying for a couple of weeks when immigration authorities tracked him down. He had overstayed by about 962 days before being deported on May 13.
The actor's deportation stands out because of his work in Indian advertising. For immigration officials, however, it was part of a much larger exercise against long-term visa overstayers.
If his case drew attention because of his commercial work, the longest overstay uncovered this year belonged to a Nigerian woman who had allegedly remained in India illegally since 2011.
Based in Delhi for years, she travelled to Goa earlier this year, only to be traced by FRRO officials within days of her arrival. She was lodged at the detention centre before being deported on May 6 after an illegal stay of nearly 5,060 days -- close to 14 years.
Superintendent of Police Braz Menezes holding charge of FRRO said they have deported 43 overstaying foreigners since January, including 15 Russians, eight Bangladeshis, eight Ugandans, three Kenyans, two Nigerians, two Nepalese, one Iranian, one Belarusian, one Australian, one Ukrainian and one Uzbek national.
“A total of 23 men and 20 women who had overstayed their visas were deported during the first six months of this year. Besides, 14 more overstaying foreigners are currently lodged at the detention centre awaiting completion of deportation formalities,” he told The Goan.
The deportation records reveal that prolonged visa violations were not isolated cases. Besides the longest overstay of the Nigerian, FRRO officials deported an Australian who had remained illegally for 1,724 days, Russians with overstays of 2,136, 1,904 and 1,595 days, an Uzbek national with 1,169 days and a Ugandan national with 1,033 days.
Several others had exceeded their visas by well over two years.
