Long-term visas for foreign CEOs likely

Economic Times
Decks have been cleared for granting long-term visas to professionals and visa-on-arrival to tourists. While foreign CEOs and business travellers from 18 countries may avail of the multiple-entry visa with five-to-10-year validity, tourists from these nations may be able to enjoy visa-on-arrival facilities at major Indian airports. The home ministry has finally agreed to the tourism ministry’s proposal for relaxing visa norms. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has already given in-principle support to the proposal. It is learnt that the issue of visa-on-arrival came up at a recent review meeting of tourism infrastructure, chaired by the prime minister. While the home ministry has agreed to consider implementation of the visa-on-arrival scheme, it has said the scheme could not be extended to all categories of travellers and countries due to security reasons. Earlier, the ministry was against the very idea of visa on arrival. more...