[john.sw]

Foreign tourists keen on visiting India may no longer have to do umpteen rounds of the local Indian embassy to get their tourist visas. The government is considering a proposal to provide visa on arrivals to tourists coming from 18 countries, which already get five-year multiple entry visas.

These 18 countries include Argentina , Belgium , Brazil , Chile , Finland , France , Germany , Iceland , Japan , Luxemburg , Mexico , Netherlands , New Zealand , Norway , Spain , South Korea , Switzerland and Vietnam.

Besides this, tourists from the United Kingdom also get a five-year visa while those from the United States of America get a 10-year visa.

[vandy]

WHAT,  No Australia.   Damn, Damn, Damn.  

Maybe Depending on the Results of Upcoming Cricket Series between India V Aust, That may Change.  

If I tell them I support India when it comes to Cricket, Who Knows ?  

Maybe  the Relations between Indian & Aust Cricket has got something to do with this.  

vandy  

[Shiver me Timbers]

Well, there's no Ireland there either - and we beat Pakistan at the world cup!!! What have we got to do?

[iwanttogoback]

just another reason to emigrate to new zealand vandy.

[vandy]

Bhaaaa, Bhaaaa. !!!!!!!!!    


vandy  

[whoami?]

Unless of course you are a British born citizen with parent(s) born in Pakistan. Then you only get a single entry visa and have to do the umteen trips to the Indian Embassy!

It sucks.

[kullukid]

john.sw, on Apr 30 2008, 07:20 PM, said:

Besides this, tourists from the United Kingdom also get a five-year visa while those from the United States of America get a 10-year visa.

What, where, when??? More details please John, do you have a link to this info? When does it start? Is it for real?
I've just filled in a visa form this morn for my August visit, so keen to find out more....soonest. KK

[john.sw]

This is only a proposal at present - I wouldn't hold your breath if I were you, KK!

http://www.financial...untries/302743/

[john.sw]

Apparently is was also proposed in 2001!

http://news.bbc.co.u...sia/1340524.stm

[ChrisJ]

Five year visa would be a dream come true!

[kullukid]

john.sw, on May 1 2008, 12:06 PM, said:

Apparently is was also proposed in 2001!

http://news.bbc.co.u...sia/1340524.stm

Well old news is better than no news   .......or something like that! KK

[john.sw]

I think that the feeling is that it may get though this time because of the Commonwealth Games being held in Delhi in 2010.

http://www.cwgdelhi2010.org

[WonderWomanUSA]

I think it will only become true when the other countries offer Indians an automatic "visa" upon arrival; hell may freeze over before that happens.

Visa rules are usually reciprocal.

Edited by WonderWomanUSA, 01 May 2008 - 09:18 PM.

[iwanttogoback]

i think wwusa has hit it on the head - a case of international schoolyard behaviour - i'm not giving you any of mine if you don't give me any of yours.

[john.sw]

iwanttogoback, on May 2 2008, 01:50 AM, said:

...a case of international schoolyard behaviour - i'm not giving you any of mine if you don't give me any of yours.

Yes, this is what happens in a lot of countries, but this rule doesn't apply in countries that want the tourist dollar.

India is well aware that China has 49 million tourists a year and we only get about 4.5 million.

Countries like France (79.1 million tourists a year) and Spain (58.5 million tourists a year), don't need to have reciprocal visa arrangements and it is certain that many people arranging their holidays would far rather arrive in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Maldives or wherever and have their passports stamped with a visa on arrival than stand in a queue on a rainy London street waiting hours for a tourist visa.

Don't forget, for many tourists it means having a day off work and paying for a journey to their Indian High Commission or Embassy - even the visa surgeries are over-subscribed and can take several hours of queuing and several more of waiting!

Let's face it, the tourist visa is nothing more than a source of income.  The average tourist visa is issued without any checks being carried out.  The Indian government has no idea if the applicant has enough money to finance the trip, has no knowledge of any criminal record the applicant may have and they don't even know where the applicant is planning to stay or if they have a ticket to return to their country of origin!.

What is the point of having Name, Addresses and Telephone number of two referees in India when the tourist probably doesn't even know any Indian people and nobody checks it anyway?

Surely it would be better to simply charge tourists Rs.2500 for a visa on arrival - less hassle for everyone and the same level of income for the government?

There is a twist in the tail though.  Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni has said that the long-term visa would carry stay stipulation of 90 days on each visit.  Now that's going to upset quite a few tourists!