30th July 2015  

 

To, All Members,

 

Dear Colleagues, 

 

Sub: Extension of e-Tourist Visa scheme to the nationals of China, Hong Kong and Macau from today, the 30th July 2015 

 

As you are aware, we have been pleading with the Government to include China for the e-Tourist Visa Scheme along with other major tourists generating countries.  

 

You will be pleased to know that China along with Hong Kong and Macau have been included in the list and this facility has been extended to these three countries w.e.f. today the 30th July 2015.  Now the total number of countries/territories covered under the e-Tourist Visa scheme has gone up from 74 to 77, with the inclusion of these 3 countries. We hope,  soon Government will announce extension of this scheme to more countries. The list of 77 countries and all other details are available on the link 

 

 

A copy of the Press Release issued by Press Information Bureau (PIB) dated 29th July 2015 is enclosed for your reference. 

 

Our sincere thanks to Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Hon’ble Tourism Minister and the team in the Ministry of Tourism for making our dreams come true. We are sure all the 150 countries as announced by the government will be covered under this scheme very soon. 

 

Members are requested to kindly give it a wide publicity and encourage foreign tourists to make use of this facility so that more countries could be added in the list based on the response from foreign tourists under this Scheme of e-Tourist Visa.   

 

With best regards, 

 

Sincerely,

 

Subhash Goyal

President 

 

29-July-2015 20:30 IST 

 

The Government has finalised arrangements to extend and implement the e-Tourist Visa facility to the passport holders of People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong Administrative Region and Macau Special Administrative Region with effect from the July 30, 2015, as announced by the Prime Minister during his recent visit to China. The total number of countries/territories covered under the e-Tourist Visa scheme will go up from 74 to 77, with the inclusion of these countries/territories. 

 

The 74 countries already included are Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Island, Chile, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Laos, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Myanmar, Nauru, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niue Island, Norway, Oman, Palau, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Republic of Macedonia, Russia, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, Tuvalu, UAE, Ukraine, USA, Vanuatu, Vatican City-Holy See and Vietnam. 

 

The e-Tourist Visa scheme launched by the Government of India on the November 27, 2015 has been extended to 77 countries/territories so far. The scheme will be extended to more countries/ territories in a phased manner. Under this scheme, tourists with e-Tourist Visas can arrive at nine designated airports (Bengaluru, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai & Trivandrum). Since the launch of the scheme, about 2,00,000 (Two lakh) e-TVs have been issued to nationals of different countries. 

 

During the last three years, a total of 1,79,873 (one lakh seventy nine thousand eight hundred seventy three) tourist visas have been issued to nationals of Republic of China, Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR. It is expected that extending the e-Tourist Visa facility to the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR will boost the tourist arrival from these regions and strengthen bilateral ties among people of these territories.