News
Travel
India relaxes tourist visa norms in phases starting October 15

NITN | @notintownlive | 08 Oct 2021, 04:04 am

India relaxes tourist visa norms in phases starting October 15 Tourist visa to India

Image credit: Image by Richard Mcall from Pixabay

New Delhi/NITN: The Indian government has relaxed its rules for visa for international travellers and will start issuing the same in phases starting October 15 this year.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it will start granting fresh Tourist visas (provided all necessary conditions are fulfilled) for foreigners coming to India through chartered flights with effect from October 15, 2021. 

Foreign tourists entering into India by flights other than chartered aircraft will be able to do so only with effect from November 15, 2021 on fresh Tourist Visas, the ministry said in a release.

All due protocols and norms relating to COVID-19 as notified by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare from time to time, have to be adhered to by the foreign tourists, carriers bringing them into India and all other stakeholders at landing stations.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all visas granted to foreigners were suspended last year. 

Various other restrictions were also imposed on international travel by the Union government to arrest the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

After considering the evolving COVID-19 situation, foreigners were later on allowed to avail any kind of Indian visa other than Tourist Visa for entry and stay in India.

However, following representations from several state governments as well as various stakeholders in the tourism sector to start Tourist Visas also, to allow foreign tourists to come to India, the MHA decided to relax its visa policy. 

Prior to that, the MHA consulted all major stakeholders like the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Tourism and various state governments where foreign tourists are expected to arrive.

Over 300 flights cancelled ...

Tokyo: Airlines were forced to cancel over 300 flights following the collision between a Japan Coast Guard aircraft and a Japan Airlines passenger plane at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Tuesday evening even as reports said the plane was cleared to land ahead of the tragedy.

New discount membership clu ...

New Delhi/NITN: Regular flyers on Jazeera Airways, Kuwait’s low-cost carrier, can now avail a host of discounts and benefits by enrolling for the new membership club introduced by the airline, recently.

Air India deploys newly ind ...

Gurugram: Air India, a global airline in India, has initiated the deployment of its recently acquired Boeing 777 aircraft to serve all three non-stop routes from Mumbai to the United States.