On 5th December Monday, the Indian High Commi-ssion in London announced the reinstatement of electronic-visa for UK travellers visiting India. In recent months, there has been a massive rush for travellers to India. In such circumstances, the reinstatement of e-visa is indeed a welcome move.
It has also been anno-unced that the website upgradation process is already underway and pro-spective travellers from the United Kingdom will be able to apply for e-visas online as early as this week before the winter holidays begin.
The reinstatement comes first after the Covid-19 outbreak in March 2020. Travellers would be able to apply through the same Indian visa website for the e-visa.
Announcement on Twitter
Vikram Doriaswamy, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, announced the big news through a video he posted on Twitter. His Twitter announcement said that the “High Commission of India team is delighted to confirm that e-Visa facility will again be available for UK nationals travelling to India. System upgrade is underway & the visa website will soon be ready to receive applications from friends in the UK.” The text announcement accompanied the video announcement by Vikram himself.
As per the High Commissioner, "We are rolling out e-visas once again and this service will be made available to you forthwith. (Dates will be announced shortly). That should enable friends from the UK far more easily to India. So welcome back, e-visas are up ahead and all of our other services including visas at your doorstep remain available to you. We look forward to a good winter season in which everyone gets to celebrate their festivals in India which is the land of festivals."
The news was instantly greeted. People on Twitter dubbed the news as ‘excellent’ and ‘wonderful’. The tweet has so far received hundreds of responses from travellers and future travellers who have described it as a ‘big relief’.
It was reported earlier that many Britons had to cancel or postpone their holiday plans to India after visa agents in the UK received notices that they could no longer apply for tourist visas on behalf of the applicant. There has been a growing backlog recently for Indian visas as applicants lament the lack of open appointments and protracted processing times.
Measures to boost Indian visa processing
The long-awaited move for e-visa follows several measures undertaken to boost Indian visa processing facilities, including a new Indian visa centre in central London and Visa at Your Doorstep (VAYD) service, to address the high post-pandemic travel demand from the UK to India. The new India Visa Application Centre (IVAC) at Marylebone is operated by VFS Global, the outsourcing and technology services provider for governments and diplomatic missions, which has also facilitated a more streamlined process for group tourism or those travelling as a group, typically via a travel agency to the same destination using the same flights.
How to Apply?
As per the Indian government website, e-Visas are admissible under 6 categories: e-Tourist Visa, e-Business Visa, e-Medical Visa, e-Medical Attendant Visa and e-Conference Visa.
To apply for an e-visa, applicants can visit the official website of the government i.e. indianvisaonline.gov.in. Click on ‘Apply here for e-visa’ on the website and fill in the required information and the category of e-visa the applicant wishes to apply for. Upload a Photo and Passport Page.
After this is done, pay the e-Visa fee online using a Credit / Debit card / Payment Wallet. The fees are country specific. Electronic Travel Authorization/ETA will be sent to the provided email. Print ETA and present it at Immigration Check Post where the e-Visa will be stamped on the passport. After the e-Visa application is submitted, the same shall be scrutinized and if any Document/Image is not appropriate, the applicant may be advised on the given email to re-upload the same. To re-upload use the tab at the bottom of the page. Applicants should normally receive this mail within 24 hours.
Time and Fees
The e-Visa application may take 72 hours or more for processing. They will be intimated about their Visa status (Granted or Rejected) on the provided email id provided in the e-Visa application.
The processing fees are country specific. Currently, as per the website, for an e-tourist visa, the fee ranges from $10-$80 depending on the duration of the visa applied. The fee charges for e-Business, e-Medical, e-Medical Attendant and e-Conference Visa ranges from $80-$100. There is no fee other than the processing fee for the e-Visa application and it is non-refundable the website states. It is important to note that only indianvisaonline.gov.in is the official website to apply for e-Visa services.
