India now has a new Visa on Arrival Scheme and it seems that the Indian government has decided to expand the number of countries from 11 to I believe around 150 which can now receive a Visa on Arrival when coming to India. However, this new program does not become effective until later in October 2014 if that remains the case as per the report. Please read this news article and I also suggest that you read the comments as well.
This seems on the face of it, to be a good thing but after reading the comments and considering the issues I have always encountered when arriving in India, I believe that this scheme may not be as good as it would seem. India is known for being very slow to process paper work and if you use this new system, it could be you find yourself stuck in a massive cue waiting for your visa to be processed.
Another issue is the type of visa this scheme will allow a person to receive. The costs for the visa are unknown as well even though the official web sites list the visa costs for persons traveling on a passport from specific countries.
I have traveled to India many times, usually out of Thailand and I understand well in advance the difficulties and complications with obtaining a simple tourist visa through their visa processing centers. This is a complicated process where the slightest error can result in rejection of the application and these errors can be from the incorrect photo size to a typographical mistake when making the application on their online systems, how to translate that experience to a visa on arrival scheme is difficult to understand and I personally do not wish to find out the hard way by attempting the visa on arrival until the system is well in place and there is more information from actual people who have gone through this new scheme.
This seems on the face of it, to be a good thing but after reading the comments and considering the issues I have always encountered when arriving in India, I believe that this scheme may not be as good as it would seem. India is known for being very slow to process paper work and if you use this new system, it could be you find yourself stuck in a massive cue waiting for your visa to be processed.
Another issue is the type of visa this scheme will allow a person to receive. The costs for the visa are unknown as well even though the official web sites list the visa costs for persons traveling on a passport from specific countries.
I have traveled to India many times, usually out of Thailand and I understand well in advance the difficulties and complications with obtaining a simple tourist visa through their visa processing centers. This is a complicated process where the slightest error can result in rejection of the application and these errors can be from the incorrect photo size to a typographical mistake when making the application on their online systems, how to translate that experience to a visa on arrival scheme is difficult to understand and I personally do not wish to find out the hard way by attempting the visa on arrival until the system is well in place and there is more information from actual people who have gone through this new scheme.
I will be interested in how well this program works, what the costs for the visa will be based on the nationality of the passport you are traveling on and other factors.
One thing I do know, the Indian government is very good at making new rules and regulations and then do away with them.
Travel Safe, Travel Happy