India’s Ministry of Home Affairs will begin granting fresh Tourist Visas to foreigners coming to India through chartered flights with effect from October 15.
Foreign tourists travelling to India by flights other than chartered aircraft would be able to do so with effect from November 15, a month after those arriving by chartered flights.
All COVID-19 protocols and norms notified by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to be adhered to by foreign tourists, carriers bringing them into India and other stakeholders at landing stations, according to an MHA media release on Thursday.
The announcement comes one-and-a-half years after India completely suspended tourist visas in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The government announced that the decision was taken after it received representations from several state governments as well as various stakeholders in the tourism sector to start tourist visas and also to allow foreign tourists to come to India.
All visas granted to foreigners were suspended last year because of the pandemic. Various other restrictions were also imposed on international travel by the government to arrest the spread of the pandemic. After considering the changing Covid-19 situation, foreigners were later on allowed to avail any kind of Indian visa other than tourist visa for entry and stay in India.
