The Government has extended e-Tourist Visa facility to passport holders of China, Hong Kong and Macau.
“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 July 30, 2015, as announced by the Prime Minister during his recent visit to China,” Ministry of Home Affairs said in an official statement.
“It is expected that this move will boost the tourist arrival from these regions and strengthen bilateral ties among people of these territories.”
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 scheme will be extended to more countries/ territories in a phased manner,” the ministry said.
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.
Since the launch of the scheme, about 2,00,000 e-TVs have been issued to nationals of different countries.
During the last three years, a total of 1,79,873 tourist visas have been issued to nationals of Republic of China, Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR.