Japan to ease requirements for multiple-entry visas to Indians

Japan today said it will ease requirements for issuing multiple-entry visas to short-term Indian travellers from January 11, days after India announced 'visa on arrival' to all Japanese citizens from March 1.
Under the new visa system, the maximum period of stay will be extended to 30 days from the current 15, with visas valid for five years, up from three years, the Japanese Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by The Japan Times.
The move came after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi agreed on Saturday to promote people-to-people exchanges, the paper said.
Modi had last week announced that India will extend 'visa on arrival' to all Japanese citizens from March 1, 2016.

The foreign ministry also disclosed a plan to extend at an early stage the validity of multiple-entry visas for Indians visiting Japan for commercial purposes to 10 years instead of the current five.
The government began issuing multiple-entry visas to Indians in July 2014, allowing them to enter and leave Japan as many times as desired.
Abe travelled to India last week on a three-day visit for annual summit talks with Modi during which the two sides sealed a Rs 98,000 crore deal for India's first bullet train track and inked civil nuclear pact.