Question : E-Visa

(a) the salient features of the visa on the arrival policy alongwith entry points designated for e-visa and number of foreigners issued the said visa during each of the last three years and the current year;

(b) the details of the number of countries involved under this policy so far;

(c) whether the Government has included/proposes to include some more countries under this policy and simplify the procedure for e-visa and make it more secure;

(d) if so, the details thereof, countrywise;

(e) whether the Government has recently got some relaxation from any of the countries under this policy; and

(f) if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
(SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a): Visa-on-Arrival (VOA) is granted to the nationals of Japan and South Korea. VOA provides double entry for a period not exceeding 60 days for
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business, tourism, conference and medical purposes at 6 designated international airports namely, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. e-Visa has 5 subcategories, namely, (1) e-Tourist Visa (2) e-Business Visa (3) e-Conference Visa (4) e-Medical Visa and (5) e-Medical Attendant Visa. The entry points designated for e-Visa are 26 airports –(1) Delhi (2) Mumbai (3) Chennai (4) Kolkata (5) Thiruvananthapuram (6) Bengaluru (7) Hyderabad (8) Cochin (9) Goa (10) Ahmedabad (11) Amritsar (12) Gaya (13) Jaipur (14) Lucknow (15) Trichy (16) Varanasi (17) Calicut (18) Mangalore (19) Pune (20) Nagpur (21) Coimbatore (22) Bagdogra (23) Guwahati (24) Chandigarh (25) Vishakhapatnam& (26) Madurai and 5 seaports –
(1) Mumbai (2) Cochin (3) Mormugao (4) Chennai and (5) New Mangalore. Details of e-Visas and VOA issued are:


Year No. of e-Visas issued No. of V.O.A. issued
2015 5,16,510 --
2016 11,80,933 6,827
2017 19,01,420 12,024
2018 21,82,532 (up to 30th November 2018 6,172 (up to 14th December 2018

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(b) to (d): e-Visa facility has been extended to the nationals of 166 countries (As per annexure). Review of visa policy to include more countries under e-visa regime is a continuous process and decided in consultation with all the stake holders on the considerations of reciprocity, security and national interests.

(e) to (f): ‘E- Visa’ policy was launched by Government to boost inbound tourism to India. This policy was announced unilaterally without envisaging reciprocity from any country. Recently, Myanmar has announced Visa-on-Arrival policy for Indian nationals.
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