Visa on arrival soon for US, UK tourists

In a bid to give tourism a boost, the Centre may roll out Visa on Arrival (VoA) facility for tourists from over three dozen countries including the US and the UK by the year-end. Government sources said the home ministry would be ready with the necessary arrangements within the next two months and the facility could be extended to all countries in phases. A formal decision on the countries which would be granted the facility is yet to be taken. But sources suggest the US and UK could be covered in the first phase. Foreign tourist arrivals from these two countries accounted for a fourth of the 6.9 lakh annual foreign tourist arrivals in India. The first push for the VoA scheme had come during the Manmohan Singh regime last October. But the initial enthusiasm fizzled out and the files started going around in circles when the home ministry asked for over 400 more immigration officers. The change of guard at the Centre helped the plan’s revival. With Modi putting his weight behind the initiative to cut the red-tape in tourism too, the Cabinet quickly cleared the home ministry proposal in early July. Government sources told HT that additional manpower at the Bureau of Immigration would be deployed at additional counters of the nine international airports. Aloke Tikku http://www.hindustantimes.com/Search/search.aspx?q=Aloke%20Tikku&op=auth