Facility of Indian visa on arrival being used by thousands of foreigners
by Guneet S - May 25, 2011
India, 25th May: The recent facility of Indian visa on arrival is being used by a large number of foreigners wanting to visit India.
Record number of foreign tourists using Indian visa on arrival facility-- According to recent official figures, India saw arrival of around 4,000 foreign tourists hailing from 11 nations on the basis of Indian tourist visas in a short span of first quarter of the year 2011.
The figures by Indian tourism ministry show that among the foreigners visiting India during the first quarter of 2011, majority were from Japan, New Zealand and the Philippines.
Giving details of the foreigners availing the facility of VoAs (Indian Visas on Arrival), the ministry maintained that between January till April 2011, a total of 4,139 Indian visas on Arrival were issued. New Zealand (946) grabbed the highest number of Indian visas while Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and Finland followed by claiming 777, 623, 596, 551 and 516 Indian visas on Arrival.
India VoAs likely to increase in coming months—Number of foreigners coming to visit and travel India on Indian visa on arrival is going to go higher in the coming months this year, the Indian tourism ministry officials maintain. As compared to the year 2010 when the number of foreigners visiting India was around 6,500, the first quarter of 2011 has already attracted 4,319 foreigners on Indian visa on arrival.
The scheme of India VoAs was initially introduced on 1st January 2010 for nationals of Japan, New Zealand, Finland, Singapore and Luxembourg and the program was extended to six additional nations like Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos in January this year.
India VoAs to be extended to more nations—As per the Indian tourism ministry, the Indian visa on arrival scheme is going to be extended to more nations. Under this scheme, foreign tourists can come to India without the requirement of applying for a visa in advance.
This scheme of visas is especially for those foreigners who usually make planning of their foreign visits at very short notice. Such Indian visa can be obtained easily at major Indian airports. The aim of this move by Indian tourism ministry is to attract higher number of foreign tourists to India.
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