Canada On The List Of Countries For Proposed Visa On Arrival!
The countries for which visa onarrival facility are proposed tobe extended include Canada,Brazil, the UAE, Saudi Arabia,France, Italy, Sweden, theNetherlands, Switzerland,Spain, Belgium, Austria,Denmark, Poland, Norway andIreland.
NEW DELHI – Tourist visa onarrival for 40 more countriesincluding U.S., UK andGermany could become a realitysoon, with the Plan panel conveninga meeting of the ministriesconcerned on February 5to remove the last hurdle.The proposal is stuck as HomeMinistry has not given its nod sofar to extend the facility of onarrivaltourist visa to the citizensof these 40 more countries.”The meeting is called mainly tohear the views of the Ministryof Home Affairs as its approvalis a prerequisite for extendingthe facility, ” an official sourcesaid.”All other ministries and departmentsincluding Tourism,External Affairs, PrimeMinister’s Offices and NationalSecurity Advisor are in favour ofextending this facility to 40more countries,” he added.Last year in October, theCommission had called a meetingto discuss this proposalwhich was attended by itsDeputy Chairman MontekSingh Ahluwalia, ForeignSecretary Sujatha Singh,Tourism Secretary ParvezDewan, Additional HomeSecretary and representativesfrom the Intelligence Bureauand the PMO (Prime Minister’sOffice), among others.All these officials would meetagain next month to review statusand progress made on theaction points that emerged inthe last meeting held in October.Planning Minister Rajeev Shuklahad also expressed hope lastmonth that the proposal wouldbe through soon as only HomeMinistry’s last and final nod wasrequired for the purpose.”Home Ministry’s clearancewould be last and final approvalrequired for this proposal as ithas already been approved byother ministries and departmentslike External Affairs,Tourism and Prime Minister’sOffice,” the Minister had said.The countries for which visa onarrival facility are proposed tobe extended include Canada,Brazil, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, The countries for which visa on arrivalfacility are proposed to be extendedinclude Canada, Brazil, the UAE, SaudiArabia, France, Italy, Sweden, theNetherlands, Switzerland, Spain,Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Poland,Norway and Ireland.Under the visa-on-arrival system, Indiahas agreement with various countries,including Japan, Finland, Singapore,Indonesia, Luxembourg, New Zealand,Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines,Laos and Myanmar.Besides seeking to extend visa on arrivalfor 40 more countries, the Commissionhad also stressed on making India a moretourist friendly destination, whichincludes simplifying online visa andattracting senior citizen foreign visitors.
