India has for the first time introduced visa on arrival scheme for five countries including Japan and New Zealand. This is to facilitate bonafied foreign tourists who plan their visit at short notice. The other three countries are Singapore , Finland, and Luxembourg . According to the External Affairs Ministry, the scheme has been introduced for one year on experimental basis. The visa will have the maximum validity of 30 days and single entry facility will be granted by the immigration Officers at Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata airports. The rule of a gap of two months between two visits will apply to only tourists visa holders . This restriction will not apply to persons of Indian origin(PIO) or overseas citizens of India (OCI) card holders as well as foreigners holding business employment, students and other categories of visa.
The government has also slightly relaxed the visa rules for the tourists who use India as a hub and visit neighbouring countries. In such cases, if the itinerary shows visits to India and other countries as part of the same trip, the government has allowed the Visa Issuing Authorities to relax the 60-day period of break and permit up to three entries into India. For others however after the tourist visits India and leaves the country, there has to be a break of 60 days before he or she can apply for another tourist visa. The residents of Bangalore and Chandigarh will become the first to benefit from an e-governance project that ensures the issuance of passports within three days of the police verifications of the applicants.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment