Visitors from 43 countries including USA, Germany and Israel will, henceforth, just have to apply for e-visa on the designated website and pay the fee online to get electronic travel authorisation (ETA) within 72 hours.
This has been made possible after the Government on Thursday launched the much-awaited electronic visa facility for visitors from 43 countries. Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, UAE, Jordan, Kenya, Fiji, Finland, Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Mauritius, Mexico, Norway, Oman and Philippines have got the e-visa facility in the first phase.
“We want to promote tourism in the country in a big way. The contribution of tourism in the GDP is approximately seven per cent and we want to double it up,” Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said after launching the e-visa facility here.
“Currently we have included 43 countries in the first phase. Barring the ‘high-risk’ countries, we will extend this facility to almost every country in the world phase-wise,” Singh said.
E-visa will be valid for 30 days and a tourist can avail the facility twice a year. “But this manual system was causing delay so now we have introduced the IT-based system for faster result,” he said.
Congratulating all those involved in the launching of e-visa system, Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma said, “This is a historic day for tourism sector. The facility has opened the country to a vast world.”
Raising the issue of safety of tourists, Sharma asked Rajnath to provide fool-proof security to them. In response to the Tourism Minister’s concern, Singh assured safety and security for all tourists particularly foreigners who come to India.
“We are formulating a legal framework for this. We will ensure safety and security for all tourists,” he said
The e-visa facility has become operational at nine international airports - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Goa.
The other countries that will enjoy this facility are Cambodia, Cook Islands, Djibouti, Federated States of Micronesia, Indonesia, Japan, Kingdom of Tongo, laos, luxembourg, Myanmar, New Zealand, Niue, Palestine, Papua & New Guinea, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, Republic of Nauru, Republic of Palau, Russia, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Tuvalu, UAE, Ukraine, Vietnam and Vanuatu.