Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Indian govt relaxes visa norms for tourists...

The government has eased restrictions on tourist visas which had mandated a two-month gap between consecutive visits by foreign nationals.

However, nationals of Afghanistan, China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan, Bangladesh, foreigners of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin and "stateless persons" will continue to come under the 60-day gap rule. The move is likely to breathe fresh life into the tourism industry and comes just ahead of the peak tourist season. India's share of international tourist arrivals in 2011 was a mere 0.64%.

The tourist visa restriction, which was relaxed on Monday, was introduced in November 2009 in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks when it was found that Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley had succeeded in breaching security norms to visit India several times over a period of 3-4 years.

 A decision to review the visa restrictions was taken by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in January 2012 after concerns were raised by the tourism ministry that the negative perception following the move had affected flow of tourists to India. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. India needs to streamline visa, infrastructure to tap tourism...
  2. Pakistan is 'world leader' in visa application fraud, says British ambassador...
  3. Pakistan wedding rush to beat new UK visa laws...
  4. 'My cousin wanted me for a passport'
  5. When Indian expats abandon their wives and run off with the dowry. WTF!
  6. Illegal Indian and Britain's biggest visa scam...

No comments:

Post a Comment