India's Ministry of Tourism has announced that foreign tourists visiting India on the e-Tourist Visa (eTV) will now be entitled to stay in the country for up to two months and enjoy double-entry benefits.
Rolled out by the government beginning 1 April 2017, the new e-Visa guidelines will permit a traveller to stay in the country for up to 60 days, with double entry for those holding valid business and tourist e-Visas, and triple entry for those holding medical e-Visas. This entitles visitors to explore neighbouring countries before returning to India within a specified time. What is more, the window for application to the e-Visa scheme has increased from 30 days to 120 days.
The eTV was introduced in August 2015 and thanks to the successful promotional efforts of India Tourism Office London, 90,000 e-Tourist Visas were issued within the scheme's first year. This accounted for nearly a quarter of all e-Visas issued worldwide and more applications were made by UK citizens for an eTV to India than any other nation.
The e-Visa for India has been sub-divided into three categories: e-Tourist Visa, e-Business Visa and e-Medical Visa. On arrival, the visitor must present the authorisation to immigration officials, in order to enter the country.
