India’s new liberalised visa structure will kick off from Saturday, months after it was cleared by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 30 last year.
“The liberalised visa structure is ready for implementation from tomorrow [April 1]. These include liberalisation of the e-visa scheme, tourist, business, medical and employment visas. New categories of visas such as intern visa and film visa have been introduced,” a Home Ministry statement said.
More categories
E-visas have further been divided into e-tourist visa, e-business visa and e-medical visa.
The e-visa facility has been extended to the nationals of 161 countries for entry through 24 airports — earlier being done through 16 airports and three sea ports, Kochi, Goa and Mangaluru — to tap the potential of cruise tourism from different countries. This service will also be provided from Mumbai and Chennai seaports shortly.
The window for application under the e-visa scheme has been increased from 30 to 120 days and duration of stay on e-visa has been increased from 30 to 60 days with dual entry on e-tourist and e-business visa and triple entry on e-medical visa.
