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Special News |
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E-tourist visa
extended to 37 more
nations |
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Delivering on the
commitment made by
finance minister
ArunJaitley in his
2015-16 budget
speech, the home
ministry will extend
e-tourist visa
scheme to 37 more
nations starting
Friday, taking the
number of
beneficiary
countries to 150.The
countries added in
the latest round
include Albania,
Austria, Bosnia &
Herzegovina,
Botswana, Brunei,
Bulgaria, Cape
Verde, Comoros, Cote
D'Ivoire, Croatia,
Czech Republic,
Denmark, Eritrea,
Gabon, Gambia,
Ghana, Greece,
Guinea, Iceland,
Lesotho, Liberia,
Madagascar, Malawi,
Moldova, Namibia,
Romania, San Marino,
Senegal, Serbia,
Slovakia, South
Africa, Swaziland,
Switzerland,
Tajikistan, Trinidad
& Tobago, Zambia and
Zimbabwe.
“With this addition,
the total count of
countries under the
e-tourist visa
scheme will rise to
150, as promised in
the last budget," a
senior home ministry
officer said. The
move is timed just
days ahead of the
presentation of
Union Budget
2016-17.
The government had
launched the
e-tourist visa
scheme on November
27, 2014. Until the
latest addition, the
scheme covered 113
countries with nine
airports designated
for providing
e-tourist visa
service.
Over 7.5 lakh visas
have been issued
since the e-tourist
visa scheme was
launched. This
translates to an
average of 3,500
e-tourist visas on a
dailybasis to
foreign nationals. |
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