Lok Sabha Question No. 2515 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-01
Subject: Online Visa Facility
Ministry: TOURISM
Asked by: SATISH KUMAR GAUTAM, DHANANJAY BHIMRAO MAHADIK, VIJAYSINH MOHITE PATIL, POONAM  MAHAJAN, SUPRIYA SADANAND SULE, K.R.P. PRABAKARAN, SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE, KONAKALLA NARAYANA RAO, HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT, RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY, DUSHYANT CHAUTALA, RANJANBEN BHATT, MEKAPATI RAJAMOHAN REDDY, V. PANNEER SELVAM, KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH, JAYAKUMAR JAYAVARDHAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TOURISM

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.†2515 ANSWERED ON 01.08.2016

## ONLINE VISA FACILITY

†2515. SHRI SATISH KUMAR GAUTAM: SHRI DHANANJAY MAHADIK: SHIR MOITE PATIL VIJAYSINH SHANKARRAO: SHRIMATI POONAM MAHAJAN: SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE: SHRI K.R.P. PRABAKARAN: DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE: SHRI KONAKALLA NARAYANA RAO: DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT: DR. RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY: SHRI DUSHYANT CHAUTALA: SHRIMATI RANJANBEN BHATT: SHRI M. RAJA MOHAN REDDY: SHRI V. PANNEERSELVAM: SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH: DR. J. JAYAVARDHAN:

Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the number of foreign tourists visiting the country is on a steep rise after the launching of e-tourist visa scheme;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  details  of  countries from  where  maximum  number of  foreign  tourist  visited  on  evisa;
- (c) the  number  of  tourists  who visited  on  e-visa  during  the  last three  years  and  the  current  year,  year-wise  along  with  their favourite port of arrival in the country;
- (d) whether the Government is going to capitalize on this advantage  and  attract  more  tourists  by  extending  e-visa facility to tourists from more countries in the world; and
- (e) whether  the  Government  has  already  sent  a proposal  to  the Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along with  the  names  of  the  countries  to  which  Government  is

## considering to give permission for issuing visa-on-arrival along with the details of present countries? ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR TOURISM (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

(a): Yes,  Madam.

(b) & (c): Government of  India  launched  the  facility  of  Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) enabled Tourist Visa on Arrivals (TVoAs) for  the  nationals  of  43  countries  in  November  2014. Prior  to  this, TVoAs facility was available for citizens of 11 countries. The facility of ETA enabled TVoA has been renamed as e-Tourist Visa (e-TV). At present, the facility of e-TV is available for citizens of 150 countries. Nationality-wise breakup of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) on e-TVs during  2014,  2015  and  Jan-June  2016  is given  in  Annexure-I.  The number  of  FTAs  on  e-TVs  during  2013,  2014,  2015  and  Jan-June 2016  were  20294,  39064,  445300  and  471909,  respectively.  The facility  of  e-TVs  is  available  for  foreign  tourists  arriving  at  16 airports. The port-wise FTAs on e-TVs is given in Annexure-II.

(d): Yes, Madam.

(e): Yes, Madam. Names of countries are as below:

|   Sr. No. | Country Name   |   Sr. No. | Country Name            |
|-----------|----------------|-----------|-------------------------|
|         1 | Italy          |        19 | Uganda                  |
|         2 | Saudi Arabia   |        20 | Tunisia                 |
|         3 | Maldives       |        21 | Turkmenistan            |
|         4 | Nigeria        |        22 | Angola                  |
|         5 | Iran           |        23 | Algeria                 |
|         6 | Turkey         |        24 | Kyrgyzstan              |
|         7 | Yemen          |        25 | Rwanda                  |
|         8 | Egypt          |        26 | Libyan Arab Jamahiriya  |
|         9 | Ethiopia       |        27 | Azerbaijan              |
|        10 | Kazakhstan     |        28 | Niger Republic          |
|        11 | Uzbekistan     |        29 | Cyprus                  |
|        12 | Bahrain        |        30 | Cameroon Union Rep.     |
|        13 | Kuwait         |        31 | Somalia                 |
|        14 | Belarus        |        32 | British Subject & Colo. |
|        15 | Morocco        |        33 | Mali                    |
|        16 | Lebanon        |        34 | Burundi                 |
|        17 | Qatar          |        35 | Congo                   |
|        18 | Slovak Rep.    |        36 | Sierra Leone            |

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ANNEXURE-I

STATEMENT IN REPLY TO PARTS (b) & (c) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.†2515  ANSWERED  ON  01.08.2016  REGARDING  ONLINE VISA FACILITY.

| Nationality-wise e-TVs   | Nationality-wise e-TVs   | Nationality-wise e-TVs   | Nationality-wise e-TVs    | Nationality-wise e-TVs   | Nationality-wise e-TVs          |
|--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|---------------------------|--------------------------|---------------------------------|
| Sl. No.                  | NATIONALITY 2016         | e-Tourist visa 2013      | TVoA (including ETA) 2014 | e-Tourist visa 2015      | e-Tourist visa 2016 (Jan- June) |
| 1                        | Albania                  |                          |                           |                          | 12                              |
| 2                        | Andorra                  |                          |                           | 2                        | 24                              |
| 3                        | Anguilla                 |                          |                           | 0                        | 0                               |
| 4                        | Antigua & Barbuda        |                          |                           | 9                        | 5                               |
| 5                        | Argentina                |                          |                           | 405                      | 1383                            |
| 6                        | Armenia                  |                          |                           | 43                       | 71                              |
| 7                        | Aruba                    |                          |                           | 0                        | 2                               |
| 8                        | Australia                |                          | 1124                      | 30323                    | 20589                           |
| 9                        | Austria                  |                          |                           |                          | 524                             |
| 10                       | Bahamas                  |                          |                           | 26                       | 40                              |
| 11                       | Barbados                 |                          |                           | 34                       | 33                              |
| 12                       | Belgium                  |                          |                           | 1767                     | 2715                            |
| 13                       | Belize                   |                          |                           | 9                        | 11                              |
| 14                       | Bolivia                  |                          |                           | 39                       | 91                              |
| 15                       | Bosnia                   |                          |                           |                          | 33                              |
| 16                       | Botswana                 |                          |                           |                          | 2                               |
| 17                       | Brazil                   |                          | 88                        | 3670                     | 2582                            |
| 18                       | Brunei                   |                          |                           |                          | 19                              |
| 19                       | Bulgaria                 |                          |                           |                          | 154                             |
| 20                       | Cambodia                 | 120                      | 129                       | 58                       | 33                              |
| 21                       | Canada                   |                          |                           | 16239                    | 19103                           |
| 22                       | Cayman Island            |                          |                           | 4                        | 2                               |
| 23                       | Chile                    |                          |                           | 506                      | 695                             |
| 24                       | China                    |                          |                           | 9918                     | 25000                           |
| 25                       | China SAR Macau          |                          |                           | 40                       | 83                              |
| 26                       | China SAR                |                          |                           | 1413                     | 2451                            |
| 27                       | Colombia                 |                          |                           | 367                      | 655                             |
| 28                       | Comoros                  |                          |                           |                          | 51                              |
| 29                       | Cook Island              |                          |                           | 0                        | 0                               |
| 30                       | Costa Rica               |                          |                           | 197                      | 218                             |
| 31                       | Cuba                     |                          |                           | 11                       | 14                              |

|   32 | Czech         |      |      |       |   507 |
|------|---------------|------|------|-------|-------|
|   33 | Denmark       |      |      |       |   581 |
|   34 | Djibouti      |      |      | 49    |    39 |
|   35 | Dominica      |      |      | 17    |    27 |
|   36 | Dominican     |      |      | 65    |    63 |
|   37 | East Timor    |      |      | 3     |     7 |
|   38 | Ecuador       |      |      | 251   |   257 |
|   39 | El Salvador   |      |      | 41    |    49 |
|   40 | Eritrea       |      |      |       |     2 |
|   41 | Estonia       |      |      | 433   |   694 |
|   42 | Fiji          |      | 13   | 411   |   365 |
|   43 | Finland       | 1030 | 1147 | 2147  |  1610 |
|   44 | France        |      |      | 20818 | 31102 |
|   45 | Gabon         |      |      |       |    14 |
|   46 | Gambia        |      |      |       |     8 |
|   47 | Georgia       |      |      | 240   |   482 |
|   48 | Germany       |      | 570  | 32430 | 22142 |
|   49 | Ghana         |      |      |       |   128 |
|   50 | Greece        |      |      |       |   392 |
|   51 | Grenada       |      |      | 2     |     4 |
|   52 | Guatemala     |      |      | 30    |    42 |
|   53 | Guinea        |      |      |       |     6 |
|   54 | Guyana        |      |      | 25    |    18 |
|   55 | Haiti         |      |      | 15    |    16 |
|   56 | Honduras      |      |      | 28    |    72 |
|   57 | Hungary       |      |      | 812   |  1371 |
|   58 | Iceland       |      |      |       |    24 |
|   59 | Indonesia     | 2758 | 3150 | 3499  |  2248 |
|   60 | Ireland       |      |      | 1804  |  3383 |
|   61 | Israel        |      | 122  | 6362  |  5084 |
|   62 | Ivory Cost    |      |      |       |     7 |
|   63 | Jamaica       |      |      | 41    |    74 |
|   64 | Japan         | 6448 | 5288 | 7735  |  5753 |
|   65 | Jordan        |      | 66   | 1070  |   691 |
|   66 | Kenya         |      | 64   | 841   |   775 |
|   67 | Kiribati      |      |      | 16    |    17 |
|   68 | Laos          | 19   | 21   | 31    |    35 |
|   69 | Latvia        |      |      | 477   |   577 |
|   70 | Lesotho       |      |      |       |     1 |
|   71 | Liberia       |      |      |       |     1 |
|   72 | Liechtenstein |      |      | 17    |    16 |

|   73 | Lithuania                 |      |      | 548   |   921 |
|------|---------------------------|------|------|-------|-------|
|   74 | Luxembourg                | 145  | 151  | 280   |   174 |
|   75 | Macedonia                 |      |      | 57    |    84 |
|   76 | Madagascar                |      |      |       |     7 |
|   77 | Malawi                    |      |      |       |     6 |
|   78 | Malaysia                  |      |      | 2993  |  6772 |
|   79 | Malta                     |      |      | 56    |   142 |
|   80 | Marshall Islands          |      |      | 0     |     0 |
|   81 | Mauritius                 |      | 28   | 979   |  5379 |
|   82 | Mexico                    |      | 152  | 6891  |  3767 |
|   83 | Micronesia                |      |      | 9     |     4 |
|   84 | Moldova                   |      |      |       |    40 |
|   85 | Monaco                    |      |      | 15    |     8 |
|   86 | Mongolia                  |      |      | 11    |    53 |
|   87 | Montenegro                |      |      | 24    |    17 |
|   88 | Montserrat                |      |      | 0     |     1 |
|   89 | Mozambique                |      |      | 30    |   186 |
|   90 | Myanmar                   | 148  | 453  | 686   |   590 |
|   91 | Namibia                   |      |      |       |     3 |
|   92 | Nauru                     |      |      | 4     |     1 |
|   93 | Netherlands               |      |      | 4269  |  7472 |
|   94 | New Zealand               | 3968 | 4405 | 7065  |  4080 |
|   95 | Nicaragua                 |      |      | 19    |    35 |
|   96 | Niue Islands              |      |      | 0     |     0 |
|   97 | Norway                    |      | 47   | 3420  |  3065 |
|   98 | Oman                      |      | 52   | 1247  |  1327 |
|   99 | Palau                     |      |      | 2     |     0 |
|  100 | Palestine                 |      | 3    | 149   |   135 |
|  101 | Panama                    |      |      | 38    |    51 |
|  102 | Papua New Guinea          |      |      | 32    |    13 |
|  103 | Paraguay                  |      |      | 36    |    52 |
|  104 | Peru                      |      |      | 182   |   269 |
|  105 | Philippines               | 2967 | 3783 | 5373  |  3651 |
|  106 | Poland                    |      |      | 2035  |  4413 |
|  107 | Portugal                  |      |      | 1379  |  2163 |
|  108 | Rep of Crotia             |      |      |       |    80 |
|  109 | Rep of Korea              |      | 6631 | 17606 |  9814 |
|  110 | Romania                   |      |      |       |   395 |
|  111 | Russia                    |      | 2121 | 34763 | 31228 |
|  112 | Saint Christopher & Nevis |      |      | 35    |    37 |
|  113 | Saint Lucia               |      |      | 5     |     3 |

<!-- image -->

| 114   | Saint Marino                   |       |       |        |      1 |
|-------|--------------------------------|-------|-------|--------|--------|
| 115   | Saint Vincent & the Grenadines |       |       | 0      |      5 |
| 116   | Samoa                          |       |       | 17     |     11 |
| 117   | Senegal                        |       |       |        |     15 |
| 118   | Serbia                         |       |       |        |     72 |
| 119   | Seychelles                     |       |       | 8      |     11 |
| 120   | Singapore                      | 2486  | 4095  | 6691   |   5973 |
| 121   | Slovak Rep                     |       |       |        |    237 |
| 122   | Slovenia                       |       |       | 370    |    575 |
| 123   | Solomon Islands                |       |       | 6      |      5 |
| 124   | South Africa                   |       |       |        |   2712 |
| 125   | Spain                          |       |       | 4509   |   7341 |
| 126   | Sri Lanka                      |       |       | 2067   |   1983 |
| 127   | Suriname                       |       |       | 11     |     15 |
| 128   | Swaziland                      |       |       |        |      3 |
| 129   | Sweden                         |       |       | 3341   |   4669 |
| 130   | Switzerland                    |       |       |        |    968 |
| 131   | Taiwan                         |       |       | 1098   |   1805 |
| 132   | Tanzania                       |       |       | 269    |    373 |
| 133   | Tajikistan                     |       |       |        |     16 |
| 134   | Thailand                       |       | 124   | 5098   |   4395 |
| 135   | Tonga                          |       | 1     | 6      |      6 |
| 136   | Trinidad & Tobago              |       |       |        |     26 |
| 137   | Turks & Caicos Island          |       |       | 2      |      2 |
| 138   | Tuvalu                         |       |       | 1      |      3 |
| 139   | UAE                            |       | 361   | 9745   |   5684 |
| 140   | UK                             |       |       | 60663  | 112380 |
| 141   | Ukraine                        |       | 1149  | 12370  |   8411 |
| 142   | Uruguay                        |       |       | 69     |    140 |
| 143   | USA                            |       | 3416  | 103092 |  71695 |
| 144   | Vanuatu                        |       |       | 8      |      4 |
| 145   | Vatican City Holy See          |       |       | 1      |      0 |
| 146   | Venezuela                      |       |       | 124    |    203 |
| 147   | Vietnam                        | 205   | 292   | 706    |    409 |
| 148   | Zambia                         |       |       |        |     18 |
| 149   | Zimbabwe                       |       |       |        |     26 |
| Total |                                | 20294 | 39046 | 445300 | 471909 |

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ANNEXURE-II

STATEMENT IN REPLY  TO PARTS (b) & (c) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.†2515 ANSWERED ON 01.08.2016 REGARDING ONLINE VISA FACILITY.

| Portwise e-TVs for 2013,2014,2015 and January-June 2016   | Portwise e-TVs for 2013,2014,2015 and January-June 2016   | Portwise e-TVs for 2013,2014,2015 and January-June 2016   | Portwise e-TVs for 2013,2014,2015 and January-June 2016   | Portwise e-TVs for 2013,2014,2015 and January-June 2016   | Portwise e-TVs for 2013,2014,2015 and January-June 2016   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|
| Sl. No                                                    | Airport                                                   | 2013                                                      | 2014                                                      | 2015                                                      | 2016                                                      |
|                                                           |                                                           |                                                           |                                                           |                                                           | (Jan-June)                                                |
| 1                                                         | New Delhi Airport                                         | 11046                                                     | 16618                                                     | 193414                                                    | 199276                                                    |
| 2                                                         | Mumbai Airport                                            | 4206                                                      | 7861                                                      | 90692                                                     | 95921                                                     |
| 3                                                         | Bengaluru Airport                                         | 380                                                       | 2509                                                      | 29699                                                     | 29051                                                     |
| 4                                                         | Chennai Airport                                           | 2815                                                      | 4522                                                      | 26781                                                     | 30223                                                     |
| 5                                                         | Hyderabad Airport                                         | 165                                                       | 1041                                                      | 13049                                                     | 10606                                                     |
| 6                                                         | Kochi Airport                                             | 229                                                       | 1478                                                      | 17525                                                     | 16008                                                     |
| 7                                                         | Kolkata Airport                                           | 1351                                                      | 1931                                                      | 12064                                                     | 12233                                                     |
| 8                                                         | Ahmedabad Airport                                         |                                                           |                                                           | 3417                                                      | 6533                                                      |
| 9                                                         | Tiruchirapalli Airport                                    |                                                           |                                                           | 847                                                       | 2043                                                      |
| 10                                                        | Trivandrum Airport                                        | 102                                                       | 517                                                       | 7650                                                      | 7789                                                      |
| 11                                                        | Amritsar Airport                                          |                                                           |                                                           | 2435                                                      | 6341                                                      |
| 12                                                        | Dabolim (Goa) Airport                                     |                                                           | 2569                                                      | 46484                                                     | 53874                                                     |
| 13                                                        | Jaipur Airport                                            |                                                           |                                                           | 726                                                       | 1261                                                      |
| 14                                                        | Lucknow Airport                                           |                                                           |                                                           | 156                                                       | 233                                                       |
| 15                                                        | Varanasi Airport                                          |                                                           |                                                           | 74                                                        | 45                                                        |
| 16                                                        | Gaya Airport                                              |                                                           |                                                           | 287                                                       | 472                                                       |
| Total                                                     | Total                                                     | 20294                                                     | 39046                                                     | 445300                                                    | 471909                                                    |

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