INDIA: Changes to E-Tourist Visa to Increase Tourism

January 11, 2017


The Indian Government has recently announced changes to the e-Tourist Visa (e-TV) in an effort to increase tourism to the country.

The e-TV will be extended to a further eight nations, taking the total number of eligible countries to 161, and for the first time, five seaports have been added as designated e-TV entry ports in addition to the 16 existing airports. The list of all designated e-TV entry ports are as follows:

Seaports:

  • Chennai
  • Goa
  • Kochi
  • Mangalore
  • Mumbai

Airports:

  • Ahmedabad
  • Amritsar
  • Bengaluru (Bangalore)
  • Chennai
  • Cochin
  • Delhi
  • Gaya
  • Goa
  • Hyderabad
  • Jaipur
  • Kolkata
  • Lucknow
  • Mumbai
  • Tiruchirapalli
  • Trivandrum
  • Varanasi

The e-TV will now allow visitors to enter India for tourism and business purposes, and also for short-term medical visits. It is expected that the validity of the e-TV will be doubled to 60 days, and can be applied for up to four months prior to the date of travel.

A total of 1,62,250 international tourists visited India in December 2016 on the e-Tourist Visa compared to 1,03,617 during December 2015, showing a growth of 56.6%. The UK occupies top spot with 22.4% of the visits, followed by 16.4% of visitors from the USA and 7.7% from Russia, amongst countries using the e-tourist visa facility in December 2016. This impressive increase in tourism has been credited to the e-TV scheme. The new amendments made to the scheme should generate further tourism to India in the coming years.

To find out whether you are eligible for the e-TV, or for advice on Indian immigration in general, please contact us at [email protected].