Why in News?
The Government of India has notified 11 additional international ports to enable foreign nationals holding an Indian e-Visa to enter the country.
Importance
- Expands the accessibility of India's e-Visa facility for foreign travellers.
- Facilitates entry through land borders, in addition to airports and seaports.
- Supports tourism, business and medical travel by simplifying the visa and entry process.
- Strengthens India's digital visa infrastructure and improves the ease of legitimate international travel.
- Helps integrate more border entry points into India's technology-enabled immigration system.
- Around 95% of e-Visa applications are processed within 72 hours, highlighting the efficiency of the digital visa system.
Key Points
- 11 new international ports have been notified for e-Visa entry.
- These comprise 2 Airports and 9 Land Ports.
The newly added airports are:
- Bhopal
- Tirupati
The newly added land ports are:
- Agartala
- Darranga
- Gede
- Ghojadanga
- Haridaspur
- Jaigaon
- Dawki
- Moreh
- Attari (Road)
The total number of e-Visa-enabled international ports has increased to 88. These comprise:
- 37 Airports
- 38 Seaports
- 13 Land Ports.
About E-Visa
- India's e-Visa facility, supported by Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA), was introduced in 2014.
- It was initially available to nationals of 43 countries.
- The facility is now available to nationals of 172 countries.
- The e-Visa system was introduced to liberalise and simplify India's visa regime, particularly for international travellers.
- It allows eligible foreign nationals to complete the visa application process online before travelling to India.
- India now issues approximately 78% of its visas electronically.
E-Visa Categories
The e-Visa facility is available under 17 sub-categories, including:
- Tourist Visa
- Mountaineering Visa
- Business Visa
- Medical Visa
- Student Visa
- Transit Visa
- X-1 Miscellaneous Visa
- Group Visitor Visa for Cruise passengers
