The Home Ministry of India has brought about much needed changes in India’s visa rules, which will make things easier for foreign nationals coming to India for treatment, tourism, official visits etc.
To simplify things, main visa categories have been reduced to 21 from 26. Medical Attendant & Medical Visas have been combined, which shows the priority the govt places on the sector, a sure welcome step.
The other categories to be merged are project and employment visas, internship and research with student visas and sports with business visas. Similarly, the number of visa subcategories have been reduced from 104 to 65, as reported by Economic Times.
In a letter, home ministry has stated that amendments have been made in specific provisions in the visa manual to facilitate the entry and stay of legitimate visitors from overseas.
“These include permitting a foreign national on tourist visa to attend an international conference and expanding other activities permitted under tourist and e-tourist visas, permitting a person of Indian origin or spouse/children of an Indian citizen to undertake employment or business or studies or research without converting the visa to the appropriate category and bringing the requirements for a film visa at par with the business visa,” the letter said.
The new measures are sure to help in boosting tourism in sectors like Medical Tourism where complex visa process often deterred patients from considering treatment in India. This is going to change.
The Government of India also needs to reduce the visa fees especially for developing countries of SAARC and Africa. E-visa process should also be extended and personal interviews should be minimized to the least possible.
Ginger Healthcare hopes to see more positive developments on the visa front in near future.