The Consul General of India in Sydney, Mr. SunjaySudhir briefed the media on the Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVOA) scheme, at the India Tourism office in Sydney on December 04, 2014.

Referring to the public address by the Prime Minister of India at Sydney on November 17, 2014 where he had announced the Tourist Visa on Arrival for the Australian Citizens, he mentioned that in accordance with the announcement, the Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVOA) enabled with Electroic Travel Authorization (ETA) Scheme, has been launched by Government of India on November 27, 2014. This facility is in addition to the existing Visa services.

The TVoA enabled with ETA Scheme will facilitate nationals of 43 countries, including Australia, to travel to India for tourism for a short stay of 30 days. TVoA is allowed for a maximum of two visits in a calendar year.

It would enable the prospective visitor to apply for an Indian Visa from his/her home country online and pay the visa fee online without visiting the Indian Mission. Once approved, the applicant will receive the confirmation email authorising him/her to travel to India.  The visitor can travel with a print out of this authorization. On arrival, the visitor has to present this authorisation to the immigration authorities at the airport, who would then stamp the entry into the country. Biometric details of the applicant will be mandatorily captured at Immigration on arrival in India.  Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) is valid for entry through 9 designated Airports i.e. Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai & Trivandrum.

The visa is intended for the international travellers whose sole objective of visiting India is recreation, sightseeing, casual visit to meet friends or relatives, short duration medical treatment or casual business visit.  The visitor should have passport with atleast six months validity and return ticket or onward journey ticket, with sufficient money to spend during his/her stay in India. The necessary instruction for filing the online application is given at https://indianvisaonline.gov.in. Applicants can track the status of their application online by clicking visa status.

The Consul General further informed that during Indian PM’s visit to Australia, several MoU’s were signed between the two countries, including one in field of Tourism to promote people-to-people contacts. The MoU will encourage cooperation in tourism policy, information exchange, interaction between tourism stakeholders, training and investments in hospitality sector and promote the importance of the tourism sector in economic development and employment generation. He has also informed that India will hold a Tourism Week in Australia in 2015. Carrying forward the Prime Minister’s Mission, the Indian Ministry of Tourism has embarked on the ‘Swachh Bharat, SwachhSmarak’ (Clean India, Clean Monuments) campaign, which would further promote the tourism in India.

Assistant Director Indiatourism, Sydney, Mr. Vibhava Tripathi, has mentioned that Australia is one the most important source market for India and numbers from this market are on steady growth.

The numbers of tourist visiting India are likely to increase more after this TVoA facility. Indiatourism Sydney, in addition of advertising, promotes tourism to India by way of various activities such as participating in important travel trade and consumer shows, organizing Know India Seminars, Road Shows, extending marketing support to travel trade, and extending hospitality to Travel Media/Opinion Makers/ Tour Operators and Travel agents.