India News

Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi international airports in Kerala are offering Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVoA) enabled with ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation) to citizens of 43 countries, with effect from November 27, 2014. With the facility, tourists can apply and pay the fee for the visa online, without having to travel to the Indian missions in their home countries. Applicants who are approved will receive the official travel authorisation via e-mail and they only need to present a printed copy of this to the immigration authorities upon their arrival in India, as per a release.

Kerala is the only state to have two airports where the service has been introduced and the Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi airports are among only nine in the country to offer this facility. Discussions are currently underway to introduce it at the Kozhikode airport as well. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Goa are the other airports that currently offer the TVoA enabled with ETA service.

The TVoA enabled with ETA is being implemented in phases and has been made available initially to citizens of 43 countries, including 12 that were previously eligible for a TVoA. The countries are Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Djibouti, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kingdom of Tongo, Laos, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Mexico, Myanmar, New Zealand, Niue, Norway, Oman, Palestine, Papua & New Guinea, the Philippines, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea , Republic of Marshall Islands, Republic of Nauru, Republic of Palau, Russia, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Tuvalu, the UAE, Ukraine, the USA, Vietnam, and Vanuatu.