Category Archives: Visa

With a view to attract Omanis for tourism and business purposes, the Government of India has decided to grant multiple entry tourist and business visas valid for a period of five years. Each visit under Tourist Visa, however, shall not exceed 90 days. Tourist Visa holder will also not be required to register himself/herself. Similarly, multi-entry business visas will also be valid for five years with continuous stay during each visit not to exceed 180 days. The requirement of registration of Business Visa holders has also been done away with. In 2016, the Embassy of India in Muscat issued over 72,000 tourist visas and over 900 business visas. In order to further facilitate Omani patients visiting India for medical treatment, Government has decided to open separate counters at Immigration points for speedy and smooth clearance of Medical Visa holders, initially at six International Airports viz. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Facilitation desks will also be available at these airports, which would have Arabic as well as Russian translators to help patients overcome the language barrier. This facility will be particularly useful for people of Oman visiting India for medical treatment. It may be noted that BLS Oman, which is responsible for accepting visa applications, has already opened a separate counter at their Muscat Centre to facilitate Medical Visa applicants. In 2016, a total of11612 Medical Visas and 8491 Medical Attendant visas were issued by the Embassy. Medical Attendants accompanying patients going to India for medical treatment are granted Medical Attendant Visa under the existing procedure. Source: Indian Emb of Oman

As part of ongoing efforts to streamline, liberalise and ease the process of securing Indian visas, the High Commission of India will allow all Bangladesh travellers with confirmed air, train or bus tickets to submit their tourist visa applications without e-token or prior appointment dates from January 1, 2017. This was informed by the Indian High Commission in Dhaka. It was informed that the date of journey should be after seven days but within one month of submission of the visa application form. The Indian Visa Application Centre in Mirpur will receive walk-in tourist visa applications from confirmed travellers and senior citizens from 1 January instead of the centre in Uttara. Those who already have appointment dates can continue to submit their tourist visa applications in centres at Gulshan, Uttara, Motijheel, Mymensingh, Barisal, Khulna, Jessore, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Chittagong and Sylhet. (Source:Firstpost)

New Delhi-based BLS International Services, a specialist provider for outsourcing of visa, passport and attestation services across the globe was awarded with a 175 million euro contract by the Government of Spain. With this agreement, BLS International will open almost 100 Global Consulate Offices in more than 38 countries for exclusively processing Spanish visas globally. The company expects to process approximately 1.8mn applications every year. Of the total, 53 Spanish Visa Application Centers (VACs) will get operational in December 2016. Shikhar Aggarwal, Joint MD, BLS International Services, said “This year has been phenomenal for BLS International as we have seen exponential growth in our business. The exclusive global agreement with Spanish Government is a testimony to the fact that we have delivered to our promises made to our customers. The contract with Spanish Government will expand our global footprint and help catering to wider range of customers, hence adding to the overall profitability for the company.”

Effective December 17, VFS Global in India and Nepal will no longer accept Schengen visa applications on behalf of the Embassy of Spain or Consulate General of Mumbai in India. Applicants who have confirmed appointments with VFS Global up till December 16, 2016 shall continue to have their applications processed at the VFS Global office in and Nepal. The VFS Global website stated, “For all other queries from 17 December 2016 onwards, please get in touch directly with the Spain Consulate General OR Embassy of Spain in your city. For queries regarding visa applications submitted on/before 16 December 2016, please note, our website, online appointment system, call center line and helpdesk email support will be operational until December 26, 2016. VFS Global will continue to process Schengen visa applications on behalf of the other European member states served by VFS Global.”

India’s e-visa will now have three components — e-tourist visa, e-medical visa, e-buisness visa. Talking about the various changes in e-visa, Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India, says, “For the first time in this country, medical visa is going the electronic way and so is the case with business visa. This has been one of the biggest landmark decisions, and it’s going to catapult Indian tourism into a new orbit. The best thing is that the initial period of application, which used to be 30 days, has been extended to 120 days, which is logical, especially for foreigners who plan their travel much in advance.” Talking about the extension of eTV, Zutshi says, “The validity of eTV was just 30 days and it’s been increased to 60 days now. Also, when tourists come to India, they would like to visit other countries of Southeast Asia and come back. We have made e-tourist visa and e-business visa double entry. For e-medical visa, the government has provided triple entry, which is a redeeming feature. Film visa has also been streamlined and rationalised, which has come at the right time and would encourage filming in India.”

The Tourism Authority of Thailand New Delhi has confirmed the temporary waiver of visa fees for Indian tourists travelling to the Kingdom from Dec 1, 2016, to Feb 28, 2017. The Thai cabinet has also decided to halve the visa-on-arrival fees from 2000 baht to 1000 baht. Along with India, the move applies to 18 other countries including Andorra, Bulgaria, Bhutan, China, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Romania, San Mario, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The three-month tourism promotion measure is aimed at boosting the number of visitors by 350,000 and generating an income of 28 billion baht.

The Royal Thai Embassy New Delhi confirmed the temporary non-issue of visa services from November 21 to 25, according to a spokesperson from the embassy. No reason has so far been stated for the hold in services during the mentioned period. Those who require visas during this period may obtain visa-on-arrival or from Thai Consulates in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

Amidst discussions about VFS Global in India and Nepal to discontinue the processing of Schengen visa applications from October 11, on behalf of Embassy of Spain or Consulate General of Mumbai in India, VFS Global has issued a statement saying, ”At the request of the Government of Spain, VFS Global in India and Nepal will continue to provide Spain visa services until further notice.” VFS Global has served as the visa service provider for the Government of Spain since 2007, in 49 countries, globally.

Indians planning their next vacation in Malaysia will have to pay a total of Rs. 5,600 per person starting Sept 15, 2016. The earlier fee was Rs. 3,500. The Malaysia High Commission has outsourced its visa processing to One Stop Centre Malaysia Visa (OSC) with effect from Sept 15, 2016.  The new visa-processing partner has come with a slight revision in fee. Applicants will now have to bear a total cost of Rs 5,600 (Visa fees: Rs 1000 and Processing fees: Rs 4,600). The processing time of the applications will be 5 working days for all categories. All other mandatory requirements including the three-month bank statement and a valid return ticket remain unchanged. This manual application for Malaysian visa is recommended for travellers seeking multiple entry to Malaysia. The Malaysian Government also recently introduced the Electronic Travel Authorization Visa (e-visa) for a short visit to Malaysia. At this point in time, the e-visa facility is available to Indians residing in India only and is valid for a single journey stay of maximum 30 days in Malaysia for tourism purposes. The e-visa fees would approx up to Rs 2700 (Rs 1050 for visa fees and USD 25 as processing fee) and has a turn round time of about 48 hours.

UAE immigration will remain closed from Sept 9, 2016, till Sept 13, 2016, on the account of Eid Al Adha holidays. Travellers applying for UAE visa during this period must apply in advance to avoid any delays due to the holidays. Also, with immediate effect, Embassy of the Republic of Chile in Delhi will be working from Monday till Thursday. Friday will be non-working day. Applicants applying for a Short Term visa to South Africa from Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Goa and Bangalore must provide the Host’s ID copy, invitation letter, Residential Proof and a copy of the Residential Status of the host duly attested by a Commissioner of Oaths in South Africa. For applicants applying from Delhi, Gurgaon, Kolkata and Jaipur, above documents without attestation are acceptable.