We are currently in the middle of an international crisis where most countries have implemented travel restrictions that make all but essential international travel impossible. I live my life in two countries. I am an Indian citizen presently working in Iraq. My family is in India.

COVID-19 has changed many aspects of life or put them on pause altogether. When we first began to quarantine, the thought of travelling distances both near and far seemed more daunting than ever. As the year progresses, more destinations are reopening their borders to travellers with new safety and health measures to keep you protected every step of the way.

A few days ago, I saw the news that India and Iraq have agreed on a travel bubble, which allows travel between the two countries. Air bubbles, Travel bubbles, or corona corridors are systems established between two countries that perceive each other to be safe and allow citizens of these countries with valid visas to fly either way without any restrictions. It is different from repatriation flights, which are only one way and the passengers have to register themselves with the embassy to board such flights.

In July, India had initially established travel bubbles with the United States, Germany and France. Since then, India has formed agreements with 10 other nations — the United Kingdom, Canada, the Maldives, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Nigeria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Japan. India is reportedly in negotiations with a few more countries to resume international flight operations. The news kindled my hope to visit home and meet my friends and family. I called up the Indian Ambassador and he also confirmed the news. He said he along with some other diplomats from the embassy were also planning to visit home.

Of course, zero transmitted cases are unlikely at this point in the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean low-risk travel has to wait. Travel bubbles do require a certain amount of faith and trust in partner countries and their ability to contain the virus, including widespread testing, contact tracing and effective quarantining. The mandatory requirement is to get an RT-PCR test done within 72-96 hours of the flight to check whether the traveller has tested negative for the Coronavirus responsible for COVID-19.

I immediately applied for vacation and booked my tickets to fly by Emirates on Oct 22. I went for the test on Oct 19 at an authorised lab in Baghdad. The lab is a nice one, clean and hygienic, manned by very polite staff. They have a nice system and procedure to ensure that hygiene and social distancing guidelines are maintained. I was told that the report would be available on Oct 21. I went to collect the report on Oct 21. They again checked my passport to ensure that the number was correctly recorded in their system. After some time, I received my “NEGATIVE” report, duly signed and stamped. Thank God!

As per the requirements of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, every international traveller in India has to fill out a self-declaration form online within 72 hours of the commencement of the journey. After getting the negative test result, I logged in my self-declaration form and immediately, I received the form in PDF on my email.

I will be entering India from Delhi airport. If a traveller has a negative RT-PCR test result, then he/she can request for exemption from mandatory 7-day institutional quarantine. I opened the site to seek exemption. It asked for the self-declaration reference, which automatically filled in the common data elements. I had to upload an image of my passport and the lab test report. It was a seamless experience. I immediately received the acknowledgement in my email. I checked my email after 10 minutes, I found the approval of exemption. It was so swift and prompt. I was really surprised by the speed.

On Oct 22, I left for the airport a bit earlier than the normal travel. The rush was much less and the handling of COVID-19 is well-entrenched in the system. There are many levels of security checks in Baghdad. The COVID-19 test report was just like checking passports and tickets at every place including the check-in counter. There was not a single moment of delay for these additional requirements. There were a few thermal checks inside the airport. Yes, the mask is necessary and I did not remove it for a second except at the emigration counter when I was asked to slide it down for a brief moment to check and image capture at the passport control desks.

After I went through all this, I went to the Diamond Lounge in the airport. It’s a new lounge in the airport and is used by many airlines, including Emirates for their Business class passengers. The lounge was empty when I checked in there. Later on, a few more passengers filled in.

The things in Dubai was normal only the crowd was less than normal. While boarding from Dubai, Emirates also handed us a face shield. We reached Delhi on time. I was expecting some delay in checks for COVID-19. I was greatly delighted at Delhi airport, with the way the health check guys were handling the checks. I got several copies of self-declaration forms, exemption forms, and test results expecting I might have to submit at various places. The guys were handling things quite professionally. They just asked to see the exception form and then led me ahead, where a guy put a stamp on my left forearm. After that, I proceeded to immigration. While leaving the airport, I found a few desks of health personnel. If anyone reaches the airport with the test result then he/she can get it done there and they said that the result would be available in circa 4 hours. I was not stopped there when they saw the stamp on my forearm.

Entire travel was so seamless and the process was handled quite efficiently at every level that the travel experience this time under the pandemic is no different. The only thing is that the mask was put on every time and people were not jostling and were trying to keep some distance. I hope the return journey will also be a pleasant one.