Visa On Arrival Facility On The Anvil For U.S. Tourists

NEW DELHI: India is working on a proposal for visa on arrival (VoA) facility for U.S tourists, one of the big-ticket announcements expected to be made during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's high-profile visit to the U.S beginning September 26.

The ministry of home affairs is working overtime to finish the work on the VoA proposal to finalize it in time for the Prime Minister's visit, according to government sources.

MHA in consultation with the tourism ministry is working on the tourist VoA under which visa can be granted to U.S citizens who do not have a residence or occupation in India and whose sole objective of visiting India would be recreation, sightseeing, casual visit to meet friends and relatives, etc, the sources said.

Under the new proposal, which is still being worked out, the stay limit is expected to be 30 days.

Initially, in January 2010 TvoA scheme was introduced for citizens of five countries and now, the facility is available for citizens of 11 countries — Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia and South Korea.

However, even despite being strategic partners, there is no TVoA facility for the citizens of India and the U.S in each other's country. As per some estimates, the annual flow of U.S tourists stand around 10 lakh, currently.

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