India Tightens Visa Rules
US, UK protest India's new tight tourism rules
Britain and the US have lodged a diplomatic protest with India after the government in Delhi introduced rules barring tourists from returning to the country within two months of any visit.
The new visa rules, which also apply to other foreign nationals, are apparently a reaction to the arrest in the US of a Mumbai terror suspect, David Coleman Headley, who had entered India on a multiple-entry visa.
The British high commission in Delhi has urged the Indian government to rethink the policy, which is expected to hit tourists planning to use India as a base for touring the region.
It will also be a blow to thousands of Britons living in India on long-term tourist visas. Many foreigners living in India prefer to use tourist visas rather than go through the complicated process of trying to secure a visa that would grant them the right to residency.
Some apply for six-month tourist visas and then travel to nearby countries, such as Nepal, to renew them. Those on longer-term tourist visas ‑ for five or 10 years ‑ are also required to leave the country every 180 days and tend to fly out for a couple of days before returning. Under the new rules, that would no longer be an option.
Posts on internet travel forums suggest that some British tourists have already fallen foul of the rules and have found themselves stranded and unable to return to India after visiting neighbouring countries.
On the IndiaMike forum one poster, from London, described how he had been renting an apartment in Goa and had travelled to Nepal to apply for a new six-month tourist visa, only to be informed that he would not be allowed back in for two months.
"This is insane," he wrote. "How can you introduce a rule without any prior warning and let ppl [sic] make plans and pay for flights etc and mess everything up for them … I now have no option but to get a transit visa and leg it back to Goa, get my stuff and leave … all this achieves is me and 1000's of others having to cut their plans short and spend none of that cash into the system … Well done!!"
A spokesman for the British high commission said the high commissioner had written to protest. "We have discussed this matter with the government of India. As yet there is no real clarity over the details of the proposals or of how they might be implemented. We understand that the Indian government is reconsidering its plans. We shall keep a close eye on this as it develops because it has the potential to impact on a large number of British nationals."
Details of the plans are yet to be published but reports in India suggested that people of Indian origin living in the UK will also be caught up in the rule change.
Many British passport holders with Indian origins use tourist visas to visit relatives in India rather than tackling the bureaucratic minefield involved in applying for a Person of Indian Origin card, which would allow them entry into the country. They will also be subject to the no return for two months rule.
The Indian government has apparently sought to defuse the row by giving consular officials the power to grant exemptions in exceptional cases, although there is as yet no clarity on how that might be applied.
British diplomatic sources also suggested the changes had alarmed some Indian companies with nationals working overseas, who feared that their business interests might be affected if other countries introduced reciprocal arrangements.
The decision, by India's home ministry, comes after officials reviewed the case of Headley, who is under arrest in the US accused of scouting targets for terrorist attacks, including the Mumbai attacks last year which left 166 people dead.
He was found to have used a multiple entry business visa to make nine trips to India, during which time he is alleged to have visited a number of potential targets.
India has already cracked down on business visas this year, informing thousands of holders that they must return to their home countries and prove that they meet much stricter criteria before new visas will be issued.
Ironically, the clampdown comes as the country attempts to boost its tourism industry. Last week the home minister, P Chidambaram, announced the trial introduction of a visa on arrival scheme for citizens of Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, Luxembourg and Finland and said a country the size of India should be attracting at least 50 million visitors a year. About five million tourists visit India every year, including an estimated three quarters of a million Britons.
A final draft of the visa regulations is expected to be issued next month but in the meantime a number of embassies in India have notified their citizens of the changes. The Indian embassy in Berlin has also posted the rule on its website, noting that "a minimum gap of two months is mandatory between visits as tourists to India".
The introduction of the new system coincides with a visit to India by the business secretary, Lord Mandelson, who has been trying to calm Indian concerns over changes to Britain's immigration rules.
Comments
Why on earth any person from a Western country would want to spend their lives in a slum like India is not understandable. India might attract pensioners without enough pension to live on in the West, who think that their pittance will allow them to be princes among paupers. Indians are lined up thousands deep trying to get exit visas. I really believe that Indian immigration will ruin the West. Indians might flash degrees, but they are work shy, cant communicate and are corrupt, always looking for the easy way. This will limit them and their usefulness. They are waiting to be found out.
Indian emigration has been a blight to the world. They come from a slum country, they export crime, filth, and corruption. They moan and groan about visa controls around the world, yet seem able to take advantage of any chink in the immigration policies of Western countries. I think we should ban all Indian Immigrants, let them live in the sewer they have created. As for their tightening of visa rules, why a westerner would want to go to India for more than site seeing is a mystery. I suppose to take advantage of the low cost of living, but living in a slum in a Western country is cheap also, just not so popular as in India.
Indians have ruined those communities around the world that they have been able to slither their way into. Canada, USA, Australia, UAE and there are many more countries, where the local population simply dont want them. The first few wave fake degrees, calls themselves doctor, by cheap used Mercedes and try to pass for well to do business people when really they are a standing joke. Their relatives join them, then the welfare roles rise, the housing becomes a slum, crime rises and the cry of racism is raised whenever they are criticised. Indians should keep India, stay in India, and if they are so bright and hard working, transform it from the sewer that the world knows it is.
I have been from abroad..came here worked in 2 indiancompanies..Both companies have
been misusing employees..
Second company is a big foreign company which tied up with a crook indian consultancy..Now this consutlancy imagine really tries to rob indian employees salary...the rules are so bad that an indian employee cannot do anything it is made for crooks, Politicians them self are crook..YOu become a politician if you want to make money (This is how it is in this part of world)..So i plan to lave again for abroad..and will very happily give my fkall indian citizen ship
Had too much of it ..Roads filled with filth and shit, People shitting on road, Thre are good things here but fkit pal..the people how the employers fool the employees it is so sad..The goverment is so greedy for money fkit. I will also make a blog later exposing all this crooked indian companies..I cant do it now since i am in india
I feel pity on you Raj, to use such rubbish words for your own mother (country). What you people (so called NRI's) are there in countries like UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Just couple of years back, when u people were beaten up badly, commented on ur race ( about ur origin ) in those countries, coz u are Indian. Where were u that time?. Why u people go to foreign countries everybody knows. We Indians strongly object ur comments on Indians and our mother (country) India. Next time u visit India to see ur relatives or next to kin, inform us in advance we will welcome u whole heartedly why? coz, this is India. We are taught this way.
To "World Tourist" + anyone who thinks your money or demographics is everything, you should know just how badly most of the world thinks of Indians. Closing your doors to the outside world is not helping. Wake up or get left behind. China is a superpower for sure. India - no chance! You demand political correctness in Europe but you insult and rip off us goras at every chance. Good luck being respected in the wider world and I for one will never queue up to have the dubious honour of being given an Indian visa in my British Passport :) I can think of pretty much anywhere else on earth I'd rather visit! Give me Made In China over Made In India anyday and you can take your innit cousins working as customs officers at Heathrow back with you on the way out...
All the countries, UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many more that have allowed Indians to colonize them will soon realize that the first Indian immigrant was one to many. Our grandchildren will hate us for turning over our cultures to these corrupt, scammers with their begging bowls. If they are so well educated, so hard working, so honest etc. how come India is just one big slum with a billion people, most trying to escape. I dont understand why a westerner would want to live in a land of open sewers, corruption and general filth. Lets work a deal, we wont go there, they dont leave. The immigration policies of western countries are changeing because of the swarms of these people coming in, but most governments dont have the guts to say we dont want them.
To start with...nothing about india surprises me...a country run by a bunch criminals really cannot expect to get too far...
Whether you are a millionaire, billionaire or a common man, you get treated like garbage in your own country, so it is just natural for ither countries to do the same...I was born an Indian and gladly gave up my indian citizenship. There is no life India can offer that is better than one available in UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand,
You could be a billion ppeople, I'm sure I can still buy each one of you for less than a thousand euros!!!
With this policy, the government of India has only glorified its peoples insecurities...Good Luck being an Indian...you can keep your country!!!!cfr
I am so glad that India has passed this law - finally India has done something good to earn respect. To all the Brits - screaming against this rule and crying over the lost £££ u had to spend to go in and out of India - have you ever thought for even a SECOND as to how your country treats Indians and just about every other visa holder?? Do you u have any clue what we have to go through and that we have to waste 100 times more £££ to apply for your visas and get to the UK and then be refused entry upon arrival over ridiculous reasons or harassed and humiliated by your visa officers??
Sorry - but for us it is much much much worse to go to your country - even if we are Indian millionaires we are treated like garbage just because we are Indians - now its our turn to extend the same courtesies that you have extended to us over the past 400 years...and continue to do so.
By the way - India is more self-sufficient than UK today - and if you do not come here - we don't really care.. our economy is not so dependant on "tourism" as yours is.... we have 1.2 billion people and we produce everything we need as well as export it and import much more now... your tiny "racist" country will be in big trouble if foreigners stop going there and doing any business there.. oh and India is the 2nd largest foreign investor in UK - Gordon Brown himself admitted in an interview once that Britain needs India much more than India needs Britain now. Remember we are a billion people... if all of us gave £10 a day we could buy your country....LOL.
British are the most racist people on this planet - they are evil and disgusting to the core and insult Indians at every step - they come to India for free sex and cheap drugs and misuse everything here - so many of them get arrested and rot in Indian jails... and UK's immigration / visa laws are only aimed at exploiting people nothing else - its high time they got a taste of their own BLOODY medicine.
P.S. - Americans aren't so bad... they are down to earth and friendly overall... they should be given visa upon arrival in India... god bless America for taking care of the world.... and go to hell Britain....lying filthy dishonest scum.
I think this law is an absurd one. If we really need to protect our country its more important to seal our borders from illegal immigrants- easily getting through the borders at the cost of just 100 bucks. Rules like this one is nothing more than an eyewahs... and a rather painful one to the many visitors to our country. Tourism is an important business and this is sure to hamper it...
and Mr Vatsal Shah- this rule will effect every foreign tourists not only american so your statements here are anything but justified.
I strictly protest to this absurd rule and hope our govt take up some REAL initiatives to protect our country.
I think this was a good law to pass. After the disgrace suffered by many Indians applying for work visas in the US, this move is just the right one. If USA causes us trouble, then we are not allowed to speak and let them do their own thing, but if India tries to get rid of its illegal immigrants, then everyone gets rallied up. People who work and live there on tourist visas pay no taxes of any kind but still enjoy everything of there. How is that OK?
US allows millions of illegal immigrants to come to its country but slows down the process of legal immigration targeted especially towards East-Indians. How is that fair? If we take you jobs, thats because you are not good at doing them. Stop sulking and learn some before you start working.
US wants to grant amnesty to illegals lodged in the country but at the same time rid the country of Indian immigrants, legal or not.
This law that India would pass would hurt a lot of American companies that the repercussions will be that they will have to ease their immigration laws to let more Indians into the country without much trouble.
Indians, as a group, have been nothing but docile and hard-working and we still get treated like shit as compared to the millions of unskilled illegals and hundreds of terrorists that enter the country every year.
American better get its shi# together before all of us Indians rally up and stop working your tech companies. Whatever you say about us, we get the job done unlike any other.
I have lived in US for almost 5 years now and have seen my college graduated parents work their butts off after earning years of experience in India. They still cant get the same level of job that an American citizen would get. Forget the talk about GC altogether. Because of that, I am ineligible to apply for grants and scholarships and restricted to learn as much as I want to in college. I go to UCI, which recently had a 32% fee hike. Unlike most students though, I do not receive any grants and parents have to shell out that extra 32%. How is that fair as compared to students who get grants and scholarships even though they fair lower than me in academic terms?
We are NOT asking to make us citizens, we are simply asking to give us the respect we deserve for working so hard in your country and try to recognize us as part of yOUR country. Unless you do that, India, like China which has already done so with the end of internet capitalism there, and many others will step up to stop US and other western countries from growing by restricting its talent to itself. This will turn out to be bad for all us as talent will be suppressed where unwanted and unavailable where it is in high demand.
Since the Indian tourist law doesn't affect me much as unlike other people, my family has Indian citizenship and a legal status there in case we want to visit or move there any time. We pay a fixed tax there as well as the main tax in America. My concern is with the discrimination against people of Indian origin by refusing them entry into the country over other groups of citizens with a lower level of talent and education and also the problem with giving other immigrant groups in America a higher priority over well-educated and well-settled Indian-Americans.
We talk about affirmative action for African-Americans because of what they suffered. Thats the most sensible thing the country has done in years. Now its time to extend that to other minorities too or we will protest. You leave us with no other option. We want our rights to be a citizen of the country too. After all this is a country of immigrants, not just white immigrants but all immigrants and for the betterment of the country, we should allow the most respected and talented people from all areas of the world without a second look at them and skip over those that possess a lower level of skill, especially illegals from anywhere in the world as they not only don't help us, but they hurt those that are legally here.
Sooo, JOHN, sorry to burst your tourist bubble there, but we have bigger and better problems to focus at than to worry about you visiting Indian every month for your work-related entertainment visits. You better so-called your country and we'll accept you into our country legally on the same basis too. We hate illegals as much as you do and if you work in India on a tourist visa, guess what, you are an Illegal!
have a 6 month visa double entry. arrived second time in india within a month, got deported like a common crim. if this is the way you treat people who come to spend money in your country then you can kiss my tourist dollars GOODBYE. next time im off to thailand a very friendly and laid back place, and one thing remember its easy to drive us all away but it will be hell to get us to come back.
India has the right to enact such law, and make sure to adhere to it with its tooth and nails. Yes, others dealing with India will need to re-link and realign the ways they do business with India. May be instead of sending their chosen (mostly non-indian) reps, these companies hire and promote expats from their own companies to send people to India for their businesses. I see floods of whites visiting India for three days on company visits, and then go home, and come back to visit again. May be India does not benefit from their visits so much.
I have the clarification and FAQ on the current status/Govt Of India clarification if any one is interested......... please let me know and I can e-mail it!!!
Sam, I dont think you understand the intent of the UK and US Govts.'s protest as well as the point of the article. they are squealing in the main about the people who "live and work" in India on tourist visas. The Indian Govt has already clarified that people using the country as a true vacation base will be exempted on a case by case basis. Please read again that the article mainly refers to people who are using the tourist visa to circumvent the need/process to get the correct visa. Even Singapore and Malaysia apply quick and seemingly arbit changes to rules when the illegal aliens of Indian origin get too much to handle. Check it out!!!!!!!
I read with interest your comment, and i dont think you understand the implications of the changes many tourist come to india and then use india as a base then to travel to singapore, sri lanka, nepal etc, this is effecting them and i know people who have travelled for christmas and are due to come back to india to complete their holiday and cant come back in.. how is this abusing the tourist visa. if you apply for a 6 month multiple entry visa and are granted one then are you stupid to think you can use India as a base to travel this hemosphere?
By this new immg rule certainly tourism will be affected very basdly and the people who flies frequently of other nationality for business concern will also be get affected.
i am so shoked about this decision. I got my 5 years visa on august witout any problem and i discover now that not only i have to make a leave any 90 days but also stay for 2 months away from India. How is it possible to expect that terrorism will be knocked down if people has no possibility than to stay more than 90 days in India ? This is really stupid, terribly stupid. Everyone knows that nothing like this will be able to fight against terrorism if it is this fact which had provoked this new rule.
When i got my 5 years visa, I paid a good price for it and now, with no information at all, new rules are coming on !!!
And what about the people we are employing for our house, will they have to loose their job ?
IF India is fed up with so many people working with a tourist visa, black work, the why don't they allow us, retired people with true income to stay here as it is possible in Thailand ?
I do expect that this rule is going to be abolished soon as it is a real burden for those, like me, who had decides to end their life on the Holy soil of our Mother India.
I have clients in India with US passports and multiple entry tourist visa. They are scheduled for vacation starting Jan 5th to Singapore,Malaysia,Bali and then go back to India for 2 more months. I need to know immediately if they will have problem reentering visa after their vacation of 2 weeks. Who should my clients contact in India and what should they do. Time is critical now because they stand to loose a lot of money. Please advise/help.
Dont worry, knee jerk reactions have a habit of not lasting long.
When I met the Indian Minister of Tourism in London at WTM, she assured us that India is doing everything possible to promote new angles and new areas to enhance convenience for the tourists.
It is incredible that the Indian Government takes a step back and attack well wishers of India in this competitive world.
The new policy is without doubt a suicidal attempt for the new Indian tourism promotion initiatives announced at various travel shows.
I quote from another article on your site....
TITLE: Tough new visa regulations for visitors to the UK
QUOTE "The Home Office said the changes will help create a fairer Britain with fair treatment for those who play by the rules, but tough action against those who break the law. " UNQUOTE
Now please juxtapose this against your article above. Fair is fair, play by the rules.... DO NOT USE YOUR TOURIST VISA TO WORK OR CONDUCT BUSINESS in India. DO NOT BREAK THE LAW, and all will be OK!
QUOTE" alarmed some Indian companies with nationals working overseas, who feared that their business interests might be affected if other countries introduced reciprocal arrangements." UNQUOTE
I dont understand....... neither US nor UK, nor any other country for that matter allow Indian companies to have their people work in the respective countries on TOURIST VISAS anyway. All Indian companies are required to and in fact do obtain business visas for their people travelling on business. As a travel professional of 25 years I know this to be a general fact. The companies that evade or dis-respect this requirement, deserve no sympathy anyway.
QUOTE" rather than tackling the bureaucratic minefield involved in applying for a Person of Indian Origin card," UNQUOTE
Again untrue, the Person of Indian Origin Card takes no more than 4 working days at the High Commission in London.
I am married to a Swedish National and she being eligible for this card, got it at the Embassy in Stockholm in less than a week. My son got it in a week and a half....... so I speak from personal experience........
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING!!!!!!!1
quote"It will also be a blow to thousands of Britons living in India on long-term tourist visas. Many foreigners living in India prefer to use tourist visas rather than go through the complicated process of trying to secure a visa that would grant them the right to residency."
Please pray tell which country (least of all US and UK) allows anyone to misuse the terms of a Tourist Visa by staying in the country illegally. If you are not in the country as a tourist, you have no right to be there on a tourist visa. Furthermore, India has one of the most liberal residency visa regimes anywhere in the world. Please do not mislead your readers into believing that the Indian Residency Visa has a more complicated process than the UK or US. Please talk with anyone who has attempted to obtain a Residency Visa for UK and US and the truth will emerge.
Post new comment