With an aim to increase footfall of American tourists, India is working on a proposal to give Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVoA) to citizens of United States of America (USA). The announcement is likely to be made during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US by the end of the month. As per Bureau of Immigration records, nearly 10.8 lakh US tourists visited India.
The Prime Minister will be on a five-day visit to the US during which he will address the United Nations General Assembly in New York and then travel to Washington where he will hold bilateral talks with US President Barack Obama.MHA official sources said that the TVoA is likely to come up during bilateral discussions with the US Government, hence, the Ministry has been asked to speed up the work on it. The MHA is winding up its consultation with various stake holders including the Tourism Ministry.
Despite being strategic partners, there is no TVoA facility for the citizens of India and US in each other’s country.However, sources said such a reciprocatory arrangement is not always necessary. In fact, India has urged US to relax its visa norms for its professionals. During US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit India had raised concerns over high visa fees and discriminatory social security benefits to Indian professionals working in America. The US has substantially increased the fees for H1B and l1 categories of visas for applicants which employ more than 50 persons in the US or have more than 50 per cent their employees admitted on non-immigrant visas. India feels that high visa costs and corresponding higher wage implications will have a severe impact on India’s IT industry and professionals under the US Immigration Reforms.
VoA is given for maximum 30 days, from nine entry ports in the country. It can be given twice in one calendar year for those whose objective of visiting India would be recreation, sightseeing, casual business visit, medical treatment, or to meet friends and relatives. India would be open to extend the facility to US citizens on these grounds only.