India Issues New Guidelines For Tourist Visa; No Visa For Land Routes, Only Single Entry Allowed

As you may already know that, last week the Indian Govt has announced that it will resume issuing fresh visas for foreign tourists starting from Oct 15th.

In view of this, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued new guidelines for granting tourist visas to foreigners and said that tourists entering India via land routes will not be issued visas.

This means that tourists from India’s neighboring countries like China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Myanmar, which share land borders with India will not be able to able to visit the country on a tourist visa if they travel via land.

In absence of land routes, tourists from neighboring countries can only enter India via air and sea routes.

The new guidelines also stated that tourist and e-visas will be single entry and having a validity of 30 days instead of the earlier double entry.

Relaxation On Visa and Travel For Foreign Tourists

• All foreign nationals intending to visit India for tourism purposes will be allowed to enter into India on e-Tourist Visa/Tourist Visa through Charted flights (for group tourism only) from October 15, 2021; and
• All individual foreign nationals intending to visit India for tourism purposes will be allowed to enter into India on an e-Tourist visa/Tourist Visa W.E.F. 15.11.2021.

The New guidelines also clarified that foreign tourists would have to apply for fresh tourist visas to visit India as the existing visa or the ones issued before and were not used will remain suspended.

Free Visa To First 5 lakh Tourists

The first five lakh foreign tourists will be issued visas free of cost in an attempt to revive the tourism, hospitality, and aviation sectors badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020 when a nationwide lockdown was announced.

• Once international travel resumes, the first 5 lakh tourists who come to India will not have to pay visa fees.
• Scheme applicable till March 31, 2022, or will be closed after distribution of first 5 lakh visas.
• One tourist can avail of benefits only once.

Also Read: India To Resume Visa Exemption For Maldivian Nationals From Oct 15