Note4students
Mains Paper 2: IR | India and its neighborhood- relations
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: New visa norms
Mains level: Promoting tourism through visa norms relaxation
News
- Recently, government has made series of amendments in e-visa regime, liberalizing it further and making it more tourist friendly.
- The e-Tourist Visa which was introduced in Sept. 2014 with 46 countries has now been made applicable for 166 countries.
Changes in e-Tourist Visa
- On e-Tourist Visa continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 90 days in case of nationals of all countries who are eligible for grant of e-visa except nationals of USA, UK, Canada and Japan.
- In case of nationals of USA, UK, Canada and Japan continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 180 days.
- In all cases no registration will be required.
Changes in e-Business Visa
- Continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 180 days in case of nationals of all countries who are eligible for grant of e-visa
- No registration will be required if the stay is for a period of less than 180 days.
Other changes:
- e-Visa is valid for entry through 2 (two) more designated Airports (Bhubaneswar and Port Blair) raising the total number of such airports to 28.
- Attending Destination wedding under normal e-Tourist visa or Tourist visa- No separate category of Destination Wedding Visa
- Foreign nationals who fall sick during their stay in India can now avail medical treatment without converting their visa into Medical Visa.
- This would take care of sudden medical emergencies.
- Visa-on-Arrival facility extended to the nationals of Republic of Korea.