The Union government on Thursday reiterated that visas issued by the Chinese Embassy on loose sheets of paper were unacceptable and immigration authorities have been sensitised to the possibility of these being used to travel via Hong Kong.
Replying to questions in the Rajya Sabha, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said: “We have taken a position that no stapled paper attached to Indian passport is acceptable to us as visa… we have taken up the matter with China on several occasions in the recent past.”
He confirmed that it had come to their notice that some Indians with stapled Chinese visa were travelling to China via Hong Kong.
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Mr. Krishna said Indian nationals received a 14-day visa on arrival in Hong Kong and apparently the Hong Kong immigration authorities accepted stapled visas for onward travel to China. “Such stapled visas are not considered valid for travel abroad by the government…”