Visa On Arrival Plan For US Tourists To Materialize By October End

In a bid to strengthen the ties between India and the US, the Indian government plans to issue visa-on-arrival for tourists from the US soon. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made several announcements regarding the consular and visa issues at Madison Square Garden in New York City in the US. Now it’s time when we can expect some action to materialize the plans that were shared.
“Systems are in place to introduce visa on arrival for US tourists in October itself,” said the Prime Minister Office in a statement.
Industry experts feel that the move will give a tremendous boost tourism industry in the country. “Extension of the Visa-on-Arrival facility to is an excellent step taken forward by India, and will certainly give a big fillip to inbound tourism, which is languishing far below its potential considering the diversity of experiences that India offers,” said Sharat Dhall, president of Yatra.com, an online travel portal, sometime back.
He had added that visa on arrival will allow travellers from the US to do impulse travelling to India and open up the country to tourists who decide at the last minute. “In addition, the proposal to allow travellers to apply for visas online and receive the electronic visa within 5 days, eases up the entire process of travelling to India. Arising out of this welcome step, we expect this to significantly boost demand for hotels, flights and land transport within India and act as a catalyst to economic growth as well,” noted Dhall.
Interestingly, tourists from the US have accounted for a major portion of the inbound tourism in the country. According to the statistics by the tourism ministry, the foreign tourist arrival (FTA) from USA was over 10 lakh in 2013 registering a growth of 15.58% over 2012.
Apart from issuing visa on arrival, the government will also issue lifelong PIO (Person of Indian Origin) cards to Indian NRIs living in the US.
“All PIO cards are now valid for the lifetime of the cardholder, instead of 15 years. This effectively fulfils the Prime Minister's announcement that PIO cardholders would enjoy a lifelong visa to India,” stated the PM’s office. The PIO cardholders wouldn’t be required to visit a police station even when their India visit exceeds 180 days.