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India has decided to allow extension of business visa for up to 15 years and conversion of a regular visa into medical category in an emergency, for a foreigner.
Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba said on Tuesday, 4 December, that the number of e-Visas issued has seen a tremendous growth during the last four years from 5.17 lakh in 2015 to 21 lakh till 30 November this year.
Later, another official said the business visa can be extended up to 15 years, for a period of five years at a time.
The Union Home Secretary, who was addressing the conference – 'Streamlining of India's Visa regime' – said the government's objective is to create a simple and hassle-free visa regime to facilitate arrival and stay of foreign travellers into the country.
Emphasising that India has the potential to become a global hub for education and tourism, Gauba called for a change in the mindset at the field level to make foreigners feel welcome in the country.
"A friendly visa regime is also a part of 'ease of doing business'", he said.
At the same time, the home secretary said, security should also be strengthened using technology.
Citing the recently launched e-FRRO module which provides 27 visa related services to foreigners, he said it has been very successful and has obviated the need for foreigners to visit Foreigner Regional Registration Offices (FRRO) Offices for extending their stay, change of visa status etc.
The facility of e-visa now covers 166 countries and foreigners can obtain online visa within 72 hours for travel related to tourism, business, health, medical and conference purposes, he said.
"Our e-Visa regime is one of the best in the world," he said.
Gauba said suggestions made at the conference will provide inputs for further reforms in the visa regime which is an ongoing process.
The conference was attended by senior officers from the ministries of home, civil aviation, tourism and information and broadcasting, security agencies and state governments as well as industry representatives.
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