NewsGate Press Network

All well that ends well – well almost.

With COVID19 pandemic on decline the central government has restored the five-year e-tourist visas for people from 156 countries.

This will give a big push to the tourism, a sector hardest hit by the pandemic

Now tourists can apply for fresh e-tourist visas but according to sources in the Tourism ministry, all existing five-year visas will also be honoured now.

Five-year visas allow foreigners multiple entries to India over the period. With tourist visas, foreigners can stay in India for up to 180 days in a year provided one stay is not longer than 90 days.

It may be recalled that India had suspended all visas in March 2020 in the middle of the pandemic wave. With rapid improvement in situation Modi  government has now decided to ease visa rules.

In October 2021, the Centre began issuing visas to all foreigners, including tourists, arriving on chartered flights. This was further relaxed to cover regular flights by November 2021.