Visa on arrival extended to 4 more nations

December 31, 2010 12:18 am | Updated 12:18 am IST - NEW DELHI:

The government on Thursday extended tourist visa-on-arrival (TVOA) facility to nationals of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines from January.

The TVOA will be allowed for a maximum period of 30 days with single entry facility by immigration officers at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata Airports.

In order to encourage tourism, the scheme was introduced for nationals of Japan, Singapore, Finland, Luxembourg and New Zealand from January 1, this year.

“The TVOA shall be allowed for a maximum of two times in a calendar year to a foreigner with a minimum gap of two months. The TVOA shall be non-extendable and non-convertible,'' an official statement said.

The visa-on-arrival will be provided only at the designated international airports on payment of a fee of $60 or equivalent amount in rupees per passenger including children.

As per the new scheme, to be introduced from new year, the foreigners may also avail the TVOA for upto 30 days for medical treatment, for casual business or to visit friends or relatives.

"The scheme has been found to be useful by foreign nationals. Up to November 2010, 5,664 nationals availed the facility of TVOA,” it said.

"The TVOA facility shall not be applicable to the holders of Diplomatic or Official Passports. Further, the TVOA shall not be granted to foreigners who have permanent residence or occupation in India. Such persons can visit India on normal visa, as applicable,” the statement said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.