New Delhi
24 December 2009
The US and UK successfully hustled the Indian Government into relaxing the
norms on re-entry into India for foreigners holding multiple-entry five- or 10-year Indian
tourist visa. Now, foreigners holding long-term tourist visas, who after arriving here plan
to visit another country and re-enter India before finally exiting, "may" be permitted more
than one entry, subject to certain conditions.
However, the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is in the process of re-writing the Visa
Manual, has indicated that is in no mood to do away with or dilute the provision of
allowing foreign visitors, on a multiple-entry visa, to re-enter the country only after 60
days. "We don't think there is any need for protest by foreign nationals. There are rarely
any cases when a foreign visitor would come back to India within two months of leaving
the country. The 60 days (two months) gap could remain between each visit," said a
senior Home Ministry official.
The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday announced the amendment to the rules, in
spite of misuse of multiple-entry tourist visas by foreigners living in India, who apply for
long-term tourist visa instead of opting for residency in the country. The amendment
followed complaints of inconsistent implementation of rules, causing inconvenience to
foreign tourists.
MEA Spokesman Vishnu Prakash said that foreigners holding tourist visas, who after
initial entry into India plan to visit another country and re-enter India before finally
exiting, "may" be permitted "two or three entries" by the Indian embassy, high
commission or consulate, provided they submit a detailed itinerary and supporting
documentation such as ticket bookings.
"The Immigration authorities in all the Immigration Check Posts in India have also been
authorised to allow tourists to make two or three entries, as the case may be, based on
production of an itinerary and documentation (ticket bookings) substantiating the need for
tourism related travel," Prakash said.
The amendment makes it possible for visitors to return to India within this cooling-off
period of two months on certain conditions. Under the new rules, the visitors have to
obtain a special permission from the head of the Indian mission in their country. The
final decision will rest with the head of Indian mission, who will decide on the merits in
consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Home Ministry official maintained that there are a large number of cases when
foreign visitors holding a long-term multiple entry visa, come to India and then visit
neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bhutan and come back into India. Following the
controversy over issuing visas to the US-based LeT operative of Pakistani origin David
Coleman Headley and his Canadian accomplice Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the Ministry
has put into motion the process of rewriting the Visa Manual. The final draft of the visa
manual would come out by January 2010. India is planning to make it compulsory to
route visa applications of Pakistan-born US citizens through New Delhi instead of being
processed and cleared by its missions in America. Similar steps are expected to be
taken in the case of American citizens born in Afghanistan and Iran.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said that there are ''gaps'' in the existing
visa system in the country. "The gaps in the visa system have been exposed in a
number of cases, the most notable among them being the case of David Coleman
Headley," Mr Chidambaram said while addressing the officers and personnel of the
Intelligence Bureau and top brass of para-military forces. The Home Ministry has
launched a Mission Mode Project on Immigration, Visa and Foreigners' Registration and
Tracking, estimated to cost Rs 1011 crore and will be implemented over a period of four
and a half years. It will network 169 missions, 77 Integrated Check Posts, five Foreigners
Regional Registration Offices (FRROs) and over 600 Foreigners Registration Offices
(FROs) with the Central Foreigners Bureau.
According to the new guidelines issued on 4 November, a two-month gap between two
visits is mandatory for foreigners holding long-term multi entry tourist visas.
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