The Tiruchi International Airport on Saturday became one of the gateways for foreign tourists entering the country with e-tourist visas, an online visa issue system introduced by the Union government.
Tiruchi is now one of the 16 designated airports in the country, which have been approved as entry points for foreigners arriving in the country with e-tourist visas. While nine airports, including Chennai, were already approved, Tiruchi and six other airports - Amritsar, Gaya, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, and Varanasi - have been added to the system now. Tourists from 113 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Georgia, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Mauritius, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Spain, Portugal, Seychelles, The Netherlands, Sweden and United Kingdom, could use the e-tourist visa facility.
Under the system, foreign tourists can apply for visas through the websitewww.indianvisaonline.
gov.inminimum four days in advance of their arrival. They can pay the fee online and would be required to arrive at the designated airports with a print out of the e-TV (tourist visa) generated online. The visas would have a validity of 30 days from the date of arrival. Biometric details of the applicant will be mandatorily captured on arrival in India. The facility can be availed for a maximum of two visits to the country in a calendar year.
The Airports Authority of India, the Bureau of Immigration and the National Informatics Centre have created the necessary infrastructure at the Tiruchi airport for the introduction of the system. Dedicated counters and equipment, including passport readers, bio-metric capture machines, web cameras and computers have been installed for the purpose. A team of immigration personnel has been trained in Chennai for the purpose
“The system became operational at the airport at 12 a.m. on Saturday. However, we are awaiting the first passenger to arrive with an e-tourist visa,” an Immigration official told The Hindu .
The introduction of the system at the airport is expected to give a big push to tourism in the central parts of the State. “Already, tourists from Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore arrive in the country through Tiruchi to visit various tourist and pilgrimage destinations in the Central districts. We expect more number of people to come in, especially from these countries, as they can plan their travel at a short notice and get visas quickly without any hassle,” said M.S.Paramasivam, chairman, Travel Agents Association of India, South Tamil Nadu Chapter.
