# Visa on Arrival for India



## Jager (May 26, 2012)

There was a lot of discussion back in October that India would launch a 'Visa on Arrival' system for nationals of approx 40 countries to boost tourist numbers.

India opens up visa on arrival to 40 countries to promote tourism | The National

a) Does anyone know if the 'Visa-on-Arrival' system has been implemented, and 
b) Can it be used for business travel as well as tourist travel,
c) Does anyone have first hand experience with this.

I can just imagine arriving at Mumbai at 1am in the morning then standing in line for 2 hours to get a Visa !


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## saraswat (Apr 28, 2012)

Don't think it's been implemented yet, could be wrong though.


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## indoMLA (Feb 6, 2011)

Not been implemented - I asked some airport people when I was there in November and they didn't even know about it. I did speak to someone that can be considered 'official' and he said that the idea was publicized but a timeline has not been agreed to. 

Also, most people don't know if the system will be implemented since the Indian government makes a lot of money on the visas and also on non-resident Indians from outside the country (UK, US, Australia, etc.).

Seems to be the problem with India.... grand ideas, zero execution. Sometimes I prefer that to the the system here where they have grand ideas but haphazard execution.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi,
It has been implemented - but for a smaller number of countries like New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Philippines, Finland, Luxembourg, Cambodia, Laos & Vietnam.
I get the impression these are countries with fewer visitors - so that they can try out the system before they roll it out to likes of UK, Australia & USA.
Luckily I have a PIO card - so don't need a visa for India!

Cheers
Steve


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## Jager (May 26, 2012)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> It has been implemented - but for a smaller number of countries like New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Philippines, Finland, Luxembourg, Cambodia, Laos & Vietnam.
> I get the impression these are countries with fewer visitors - so that they can try out the system before they roll it out to likes of UK, Australia & USA.
> Luckily I have a PIO card - so don't need a visa for India!
> ...


Steve, the Visa-on-Arrival system for the above countries was in place long before the October announcement on the wider program of residents of the UK, US, EU and Australia (and others).

I've subsequently found out a little more on the system. Firstly, it's only available at Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata, so doesn't cover the Tier 2 cities like Ahmedabad, Hyderbad etc that you can fly to directly from Dubai.

Secondly, it's only applicable to 2 visits a year, so if you're a frequent business visitor, it appears you'll still have to get a Business Visa in the usual way.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Jager said:


> Steve, the Visa-on-Arrival system for the above countries was in place long before the October announcement on the wider program of residents of the UK, US, EU and Australia (and others).
> 
> I've subsequently found out a little more on the system. Firstly, it's only available at Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata, so doesn't cover the Tier 2 cities like Ahmedabad, Hyderbad etc that you can fly to directly from Dubai.
> 
> Secondly, it's only applicable to 2 visits a year, so if you're a frequent business visitor, it appears you'll still have to get a Business Visa in the usual way.


Hi,
Yes - but the visa on arrival was never designed for business visitors - it was intended to boost tourism.
Many UK tourists want to visit Goa, for instance, not realising that they need a visa. The old visa system in UK was dreadful with queues right round the building at 6.00am - as they only processed a certain number of visas per day.
They really had a knack of pi**ing off tourists - who would spend a lot of money in the country!!
Cheers
Steve


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## Jager (May 26, 2012)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> They really had a knack of pi**ing off tourists - who would spend a lot of money in the country!!
> Cheers
> Steve


Yes.... and they have a knack of pi**ing of business people who will invest 100 times what the tourists spend. 

They really don''t see the big picture do they :frusty:


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Jager said:


> Yes.... and they have a knack of pi**ing of business people who will invest 100 times what the tourists spend.
> 
> They really don''t see the big picture do they :frusty:


Hi,
You, of course, are absolutely right!
Cheers
Steve


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## truck1 (Nov 27, 2011)

is there any more news about visas to Goa we booked flights for 22 February it looks as though its expensive 191 Euros+ i carnt figger out when we should apply any help out there


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## g_n_a (Oct 1, 2010)

truck1 said:


> is there any more news about visas to Goa we booked flights for 22 February it looks as though its expensive 191 Euros+ i carnt figger out when we should apply any help out there



Hi, 

You can now apply for the Indian e_visa online.

the details are here

https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html

Update: Sorry, it doesn't seem to be available for UK nationals.


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## mehranR (Jul 27, 2013)

Here is the info that I got from the website and BLS center.
You apply for EVisa, however you will have to go to BLS center where you submit all documents and pay fees. It roughly takes about 7-10 business days to recurve visa. 
The charges can range anywhere from 400-850 depending on which BLS service center and if you want to get an urgent visa.
If you are flying to Goa in Feb 2016, then you should apply for your visa end of January or beginning of February since the visas are only valid for a month.


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