Planning a trip to India to explore Indian culture, historic monuments, and delicacies? It requires the possession of an Indian tourist visa along with a national passport to enter the country and enjoy the tour. A number of changes have been made in the visa regime as offered by the government of India in 2017 and made it easy for foreigners around the world to apply for an Indian visa except tourists from Bhutan and Nepal under the bilateral agreements who do not need a visa at all. Whereas tourists from the Maldives may be allowed to stay in India without a tourist visa for 90days.
A tourist visa allows a minimum of 6 months to 5years to 10years duration of stay in India which is valid from the date of the issuance of the visa. Furthermore, the duration of stay depends on nationality. Tourists can apply for an Indian tourist visa via both online and offline mode. Indian tourist e-visa service is only available for more than 160 countries, while traditional visa covers all the countries in the world. E-visa permits the stay for 60 days only and is valid from the date of arrival, tourists wanting to stay longer can opt for other option.
A tourist visa is granted only for tourist activities like sightseeing, recreation or casual visits to meet friends and relatives. No other activities which are not for tourism purpose are permitted on a tourist visa and may be considered as a punishable offense. Be aware that one can stay for only 90 days at a time, no matter how long the tourist visa is issued for. There ought to be a gap of 2 months between two visits on a tourist visa.
For obtaining an Indian tourist visa, one has to submit their passport as proof of their nationality along with application with attached documents and fee. The visa service of India requires a specified fee payment by the applicant, failing to which can lead to the blocking of the application id. The fees charged for an Indian tourist visa depends on the nationality based on the arrangement between the governments. In fact, some countries are allowed to pay a little less amount for the services as per a special agreement such as Japan and Mongolia. Tourists from Afghanistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Jamaica, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles (up to three months), South Africa and Uruguay are exempted to pay for the tourist visa.
There are some places, where the visit is prohibited by the government of India on a tourist visa also. To visit those places a tourist needs to possess PAP that means a Protected Area Permit. Such rule has been made for the protection of tourists only and such places include border or area with security concerns. If willing to enter a protected area, PAP can be applied while on the tour or even at the time when you apply for the Indian tourist visa.
Thus, with the considerable changes in Indian tourist visa regime, it has become easy and reliable for foreigners to apply for it and obtain it without any delay.
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