02-15-2008, 11:14 PM
<b>Visa on arrival? Nearly there...</b>
Ranjeet S Jamwal
NEW DELHI, Feb. 13: If the tourism ministry has its way, âvisa on arrivalâ might soon become a reality in India.
As this would give a boost to arrival of foreign tourists in the country, the ministry is working on getting its proposal cleared from the home ministry, which is said to be giving the finishing touches.
âWe hope to get clearance for the proposal (to grant visa on arrival) sooner rather than later,â a senior ministry official said. The ministry of external affairs has cleared the proposal.
Apart from the home ministry clearance to the proposal, the visa on arrival scheme also needs âthe advanced passenger information systemâ in place for its implementation.
The APIS is an electronic database system that stores information about airline travellers.
The system provides searchable biographical and security information on travellers entering a country from a foreign location.
âThe APIS is a must for us to grant visa on arrival. With this system we can have advance information regarding tourists arriving in the country. So, a visa can be granted or denied to a tourist on the basis of information provided,â a senior ministry official said.
The APIS is expected to come into operation at six major airports in the country by April and the visa on arrival scheme could become operational after the system comes into use.
It would help the authorities to verify the background of all in-bound tourists before they get the visa on arrival.
To begin with, the ministry plans to provide the visa on arrival facility to tourists from the 18 countries to whose citizens India has started giving five-year multiple entry visas on a trial basis.
Those countries include the USA, Japan, France, Germany, New Zealand, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland, South Korea, Vietnam, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and the UK. According to rough estimates, 10 million foreign tourists are expected to arrive in the country by 2010.
Ranjeet S Jamwal
NEW DELHI, Feb. 13: If the tourism ministry has its way, âvisa on arrivalâ might soon become a reality in India.
As this would give a boost to arrival of foreign tourists in the country, the ministry is working on getting its proposal cleared from the home ministry, which is said to be giving the finishing touches.
âWe hope to get clearance for the proposal (to grant visa on arrival) sooner rather than later,â a senior ministry official said. The ministry of external affairs has cleared the proposal.
Apart from the home ministry clearance to the proposal, the visa on arrival scheme also needs âthe advanced passenger information systemâ in place for its implementation.
The APIS is an electronic database system that stores information about airline travellers.
The system provides searchable biographical and security information on travellers entering a country from a foreign location.
âThe APIS is a must for us to grant visa on arrival. With this system we can have advance information regarding tourists arriving in the country. So, a visa can be granted or denied to a tourist on the basis of information provided,â a senior ministry official said.
The APIS is expected to come into operation at six major airports in the country by April and the visa on arrival scheme could become operational after the system comes into use.
It would help the authorities to verify the background of all in-bound tourists before they get the visa on arrival.
To begin with, the ministry plans to provide the visa on arrival facility to tourists from the 18 countries to whose citizens India has started giving five-year multiple entry visas on a trial basis.
Those countries include the USA, Japan, France, Germany, New Zealand, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland, South Korea, Vietnam, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and the UK. According to rough estimates, 10 million foreign tourists are expected to arrive in the country by 2010.