E-Tourist Visa Facility

The Ministry of Tourism has been working very closely with Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of External Affairs for easing of the Visa Regime in the country over a period of time. The Ministry supported the initiative regarding the implementation of Tourist Visa on Arrival enabled with Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) (renamed as e-Tourist Visa) strongly and committed all support to Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Civil Aviation for implementing this programme.

How e-Tourist Visa Work

The e-Tourist Visa enables the prospective visitor to apply for an Indian Visa from his/her home country online without visiting the Indian Mission and also pay the visa fee online. Once approved, the applicant receives an email authorizing him/her to travel to India and he/she can travel with a print out of this authorisation. On arrival, the visitor has to present the authorisation to the immigration authorities who would then stamp the entry into the country.

This facility is available to Foreigners whose sole objective of visiting India is recreation, sight-seeing, short duration medical treatment, casual business visit, etc. and not valid for any other purpose/activities. This will allow entry into India within 30 days from the date of approval of e-Tourist Visa and will be valid for 30 days stay in India from the date of arrival in India. The e-Tourist Visa cannot be availed more than twice in a calendar year. The facility will encourage people to travel with short-term planning, take via routes while travelling to other countries and bring family members while on business visits.

e-Tourist Visa Fee

Government of India w.e.f November 2015 has also revised the e-Tourist Visa (e-TV) fee in four slabs of 0, US$ 25, US$ 48, and US$ 60 from November 3, 2015. Presently e-TV application fee is US$ 60 and bank charge is US$ 2 which is uniform for all the countries. The revision of Visa fee has been done on the principle of reciprocity. Bank charges have also been reduced from US$ 2 to 2.5% of the e-TV fee. There is no bank charge for zero visa fees.

List of countries eligible for e-Tourist Visa on Arrival Scheme in India

Commencing from 27^th November 2014, e-Tourist Visa facility was available until 25^th February 2016 for citizens of 113 countries. The Government of India has extended this scheme for citizens of 37 more countries w.e.f 26^th February 2016 taking the tally to 150 countries. The list of 150 countries eligible for e-Tourist Visa as on 26.02.2016 is given below:-

Albania, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Island, Chile, China, China- SAR Hongkong, China- SAR Macau, Colombia, Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote d’lvoire, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niue Island, Norway, Oman, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Island, Tuvalu, UAE, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA, Vanuatu, Vatican City-Holy See, Venezuela, Vietnam., Zambia & Zimbabwe.

List of Airports where e-Tourist Visa facility is available

e-Tourist Visa facility is now available in the following 16 airports (as on 26.02.2016) – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Goa, Varanasi, Gaya, Ahmadabad, Amritsar, Tiruchirapalli, Jaipur and Lucknow.

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1. E-Tourist VISA Scheme of Indian Govt
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6. e Tourist Visa

Government of India introduced e-Tourist Visa (earlier known as Tourist Visa on Arrival enabled by ETA) on 27.11.2014 to facilitate the nationals of the 43 countries visiting India. The e-Tourist Visa as on 26.02.2016 is available for nationals of 150 countries.

The year 2015 witnessed a growth rate of 4.5% in terms of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India.   During 2015, FTAs were 8.03 million as compared to 7.68 million in 2014.  FTAs during the period January-March 2016 were 25.08 lakh with a growth of 10.0% as compared to the FTAs of 22.81 lakh in January-March 2015.

During January-December 2015 a total of 4,45,300 tourists arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 39,046 during January-December 2014 registering a growth of 1040.4%.

During the month of January-March 2016, a total of 3,21,049 tourists arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 75,859 during the month of January-March 2015 registering a growth of 323.2%.

The list of 150 countries eligible for e-Tourist Visa to India is given below:-

Albania, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Island, Chile, China, China- SAR Hongkong, China- SAR Macau, Colombia, Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote d’lvoire, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niue Island, Norway, Oman, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Island, Tuvalu, UAE, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA, Vanuatu, Vatican City-Holy See, Venezuela, Vietnam., Zambia, Zimbabwe.

This information was given by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge) and Minister of State for Civil Aviation in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

369.1% growth in Tourists arrival on E-tourist visa in february 2016 over the same period in 2015

UK continues to occupy top slot followed by USA and France amongst the countries availing E-tourist Visa facility during february 2016

A total of 1,17, 210 tourists arrived in February 2016 on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 24,985 during the month of February 2015 registering a growth of 369.1%.

Commencing from 27^th November 2014, e-Tourist Visa facility was available until 25^th February 2016 for citizens of 113 countries arriving at 16 Airports in India. The Government of India has extended this scheme for citizens of 37 more countries w.e.f 26^th February 2016 taking the tally to 150 countries. The following are the important highlights of e-Tourist Visa during February, 2016.

The following are the important highlights of e-Tourist Visa during February, 2016:

(i)       During the month of February, 2016 a total of 1,17,210 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 24,985 during the month of February, 2015 registering a growth of  369.1%. 

(ii)     This high growth may be attributed to introduction of e-Tourist Visa for 150 countries as against the earlier coverage of 43 countries. 

(iii)   The percentage shares of  top 10 source countries availing e-Tourist Visa facilities  during  February, 2016  were as follows:

UK (27.86%), USA (13.85%), France (8.08%), Russian Fed. (6.21%), Germany (4.92%), China (4.91%), Canada (4.21%), Australia (3.64%), Republic of Korea (2.15%) and Ukraine (2.00%).

(iv)   The percentage shares of top 10 ports in tourist arrivals on e-Tourist Visa during  February, 2016  were as follows:

New Delhi Airport (40.96%), Mumbai Airport (20.62%), Goa Airport (13.42%), Chennai Airport (6.19%), Bengaluru Airport (5.42%), Kochi Airport (3.44%), Kolkata Airport (2.50%), Trivandrum Airport (1.88%,) Hyderabad Airport (1.86%) and Ahmadabad Airport (1.58%).

UK Continues to Occupy Top Slot Followed by USA and Russia Amongst the Countries Aviling E-Tourist Visa Facility