New Delhi:
Government has no plans to extend the e-Tourist Visa to Chinese nationals as of now, Rajya Sabha was informed today.
"At present government of India has not planned to extend the e-Tourist Visa (old name Tourist Visa-on-Arrival enabled with Electronic Travel Authorisation) programme to Chinese," Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said replying a written question.
Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma had said recently that government was planning to extend the scheme to a few more countries in phased manner in coming days that include the UK, France, Italy, Spain and China.
Government had launched the scheme on November 27, 2014 to 44 countries at 9 airports to facilitate short of duration international travellers.
The E-Tourist Visa enabled by Electronic Travel Authorisation would enable the prospective visitor to apply for an Indian visa from his or her home country online without visiting the Indian mission and also pay the visa fee online.
Once approved, the applicant will receive an email authorising him or her to travel to India and he or she can travel with a print out of this authorisation. On arrival, the visitor has to present the authorisation to the immigration authorities who would then stamp the entry into the country.