DHAKA: India is going to introduce electronic or e-visas for Bangladeshi tourists. Within four days of online application, travelers will get the on arrival visa to visit India.

During his upcoming visit to Dhaka, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to announce the new visa scheme for Bangladeshis.

The e-Tourist Visa (eTV) facility will allow Bangladeshis speedy, easy and hassle-free entry into India.

According to a competent source in New Delhi, India has already decided to introduce electronic tourist visas to Bangladesh nationals.

Narendra Modi will announce the introduction of e-visa facility for Bangladeshis in a program at Dhaka University in first week of June.

India has already launched E-Visa facility for 76 countries. Modi, in his China tour on May 15, announced the same facility for Chinese tourists. 

In November last year, India announced the facility of e-Visas gift for the citizens of 45 countries, including Brazil, Russia, the UAE, Thailand, Ukraine, Jordan, Norway and Mauritius.

For applying for an e-Visa, one has to submit the required fees and necessary details on the designated website. Within 4 days, the system will generate the electronic version of the visa.

As per sources, the required arrangements have been done and the system is planned to function at nine airports – Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Goa. Union home minister with tourism minister Mahesh Sharma will introduce the e-Visa facility.

According to the website of Indian e-Tourist Visa, applicants of the eligible countries may apply online minimum 4 days in advance of the date of arrival with a window of 30 days.

e-Tourist Visa (eTV) fee is US$ 60/- per passenger excluding interchange charge for credit/debit cards. The fee must be paid at least 4 days before the expected date of travel filled by you otherwise application will not be processed.

The validity of visa will be 30 days from the date of arrival in India.

However, Narendra Modi is set to visit Bangladesh for two days from June 6.

The upcoming tour will be his first visit in Bangladesh since his oath as India premier in May last year.

Several deals are expected to be singed during Modi’s Bangladesh tour.

Kolkata-Dhaka-Tripura and Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati bus service expected to be flagged off by Hasina-Modi.

BDST: 1201 HRS, MAY 25, 2015
RS/SMS