eFlyer Asia - Intelligence

India Clarifies Tourist Visa Rules

The Indian government has released official clarification of its new rules for tourist visas. The new rule required all visitors travelling on any tourist visa, even a multiple-entry visa, to leave a two-month gap between visits to India.

The two-month provision threatened to cause problems for tourists using India as a base to explore neighbouring countries and other destinations in Asia. The Indian government said these strict measures were introduced to curb the misuse of tourist visas in India. The United States and United Kingdom were among the countries that issued diplomatic protests.

However this week, the Bureau of Immigration of India’s Ministry of Home Affairs issued a statement saying that visitors who can provide proof they are using India as a base for their tour should be able to obtain special permission to re-enter.

In related news, on Jan. 1, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs announced that nationals of Finland, Japan, Luxemburg, New Zealand and Singapore can now get a single-entry 30-day tourist visa on arrival. The entry visas are only available for tourists from these five countries landing at Delhi (DEL), Mumbai (BOM), Chennai (MAA) and Kolkata (CCU) and not at any other Immigration Check Posts.

The new visa-on-arrival costs USD 60 or an equivalent amount in Indian rupees per adult or child and will only be granted twice within one calendar year to foreign nationals with a minimum gap of two months between each visit.
For more information on India tourist visa regulations visit the Ministry of Home Affairs’ bureau of immigration website.

 

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