India to offer e-Tourist Visa fee based on tourist footfall

India will introduce a flexible e-tourist visa regime for more than 160 countries based on tourist footfall. As per this the e-tourist visa fee would be higher for peak season of July to March and a considerably lower fee during lean period of April to June. The objective behind the move is to encourage foreign tourists to visit India.

Both the Union Home Ministry and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) have given approval to the flexible e-tourist visa regime.

Key Highlights

Fee for e-visa with a validity of 30 days to 5 years ranges between $10 and $80.

There will be no visa fee for tourists from belonging to Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC), which consists of 14 Pacific Island nations namely- Cook Islands, Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Niue Island, Samoa, Fiji, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands and Tonga. Visa fee will also be exempted for tourist from Mauritius, Uruguay, Myanamar, Indonesia, Jamaica, Seychelles and South Africa and Argentina.

Tourists from all countries to which India has extended e-visa facility will pay $10 for 30 day e-visa during lean season and will have to pay $25 during peak period. Tourists from these nations will have to pay $40 for 1-year e-visa and $80 for 5-year e-visa validity.

For Sri Lanka, Japan and Singapore, the 30-day lean period visa fee is suggested to cost $10, and for peak season 30-day visa and for 1-year and 5-year e-visa fee is $25.

Month: Current Affairs - August, 2019