India is about to restore its e-visa service for the United Kingdom (UK) citizens for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020 just before the impending winter holidays. According to the Indian High Commission in London, the visa website would be ready in the near future so that applicants can submit their visa applications there.
Except for a few countries, notably the UK and Canada, this service was reinstituted earlier this year for almost all countries. India will soon resume offering e-Visas to UK citizens travelling to the nation, Vikram K. Doraiswami, the High Commissioner of India to the UK, revealed this in a video message on December 5.
Since the COVID outbreak in March 2020, this move has never been taken before. Doraiswami stated in the video message that the dates would be soon revealed and that the service would be made soon available to the public. He claimed that the reinstatement of this service will make it much simpler for friends from the UK to visit India.
According to the High Commissioner, “We are rolling out e-visas once again and this service will be made available to you forthwith. (Dates will be announced shortly). That should enable friends from the UK far more easily to India. So welcome back, e-visas are up ahead and all of our other services including visas at your doorstep remain available to you. We look forward to a good winter season in which everyone gets to celebrate their festivals in India which is the land of festivals.”
The Indian High Commission in London tweeted, “Team @HCI_London is delighted to confirm that the e-Visa facility will again be available for UK nationals travelling to India. System upgrade is underway & the visa website will soon be ready to receive applications from friends in the UK. Here’s a video on the subject. @MEAIndia.”
Indian citizens continue to be the most common nationality to receive “worker” visas, and they now make up 39% of all visas issued, according to a statement made by the British High Commission in India on November 25.
According to the Commission, there were 127,731 grants for student visas made to main applicants who were citizens of India in the year ending September 2022, an increase of 93,470 (273 per cent) from 2019 (34,261)
Indian people received the most study, work, and visiting visas for the UK in August, according to UK Immigration Statistics. In terms of the number of sponsored student visas granted in the UK, India has surpassed China.
A free trade agreement is being negotiated between India and the UK. The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India was emphasised by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on November 28.
In his speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet in London’s Guildhall, Sunak remarked, “By 2050, the Indo-Pacific will deliver over half of global growth compared with just a quarter from Europe and North America combined. That’s why we’re joining the Trans-Pacific trade deal, the CPTP, delivering a new FTA with India and pursuing one with Indonesia”.
Due to the political and economic crises in the UK, the trade agreement was first delayed from October to December. It is now anticipated to be completed by March 2023. The decision, according to stakeholders in the tourism sector, will increase foot traffic from the UK.
The Goa administration welcomed the reintroduction of electronic visas (e-visas) for UK visitors on Tuesday as it will increase tourism in the coastal state for the first time since the Covid-19 outbreak. Rohan Khaunte, Goa’s tourism minister, tweeted that the revival of e-visas for UK visitors to India was a result of the Goa government’s continuous requests.
