Indian Home Ministry issued more than 1,500,000 visas during January-May 2016

Using IVFRT (Immigration, Visa, Foreigners Registration & Tracking), the Union Home Ministry arrived at the number of visas issued to foreigners at more than 15 lakh between January and May. Only 16,509, at around one percent of the total applications, visas were rejected by the Indian government, an official of the Home ministry said. Travel Biz Monitor quotes Economic Times as reporting that out of the total visas granted, 80% (close to 1,200,000 of them) were given approval by the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) within three days of application. On the other hand, 97% were granted within a week. Satisfied with the rate of clearing, the home ministry is said to be planning on extending the stay duration on tourist visa on arrival to up to three months. Currently, foreign nationals are issued tourist visa on arrival for only 30 days and a normal tourist visa can let them stay for up to 180 days.

Tourist visa on arrival, or eTV, was introduced by the Central Government for 150 countries in November 2014, which is the reason behind the surge in the number of foreigners arriving in India. According to a senior Home Ministry official, about 975,000 e-tourist visas were issued since it was introduced and 87%, or around 850,000, of these were issued within two days of application. Delhi received the highest number of foreign tourists followed by Mumbai and Chennai. If you are planning on traveling abroad, come over to Y-Axis avail one of the best services for visa in India at any one of our 19 offices located across India.