India to launch e-visa facility for over 40 countries by November 27

New Delhi: In a step that will ease visa processing and help increase inflow of tourists in India, the Union government is all set to launch electronic visa facility this month for about 40 countries, including US, Japan, Germany, Russia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines among others.

The government is also likely to extend Visa on Arrival (VoA) facility to Spain, Italy and France by early next year. Recently, the facility has been extended to US, Australia and Fiji. While, the original plan was to extend the e-visa facility to most countries — barring five to six nations including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Somalia — it was later decided to start the facility in a phase-wise manner.

The tourism ministry along with the MHA will launch the facility on November 27. The countries which are currently having VOI facility in India will also be covered under the new scheme.