India restores 5-year e-tourist visas with immediate effect

Narendra Modi led government has restored 5-year e-tourist visa, suspended since March 2020, to nationals of 156 countries with immediate effect, news agency PTI reported quoting officials. The government also stated that it has restored old, long terms regular (paper) tourist visa with 5-year validity which is issued to nationals of all countries.

Furthermore, the government informed that long duration (10 years) regular tourist visa is restored for USA, Japan nationals. The 5-year visit visa is a tourist visa granted to foreign nationals who wish to visit India for continuous trips, and is valid for 5 years. The maximum number of days that a foreign national can stay in India is 90 days per visit. However, the applicant bearing the 5-year visa can make multiple entries in India. The E-tourist visa was suspended since March 2020. The government instructions will not be applicable to Afghanistan nationals who will continue to be governed by the separate instructions issued by the Union Home Ministry regarding grant of -e-Emergency X-Misc visa.