E-tourist Visa Scheme

VFS Global renews pact with Norway to offer visa, residence permit services

VFS Global on Friday said it has renewed contract with the Norway government to provide services related to visa and residence permit applications for the northern European country in India and abroad. As per the agreement, VFS Global will continue to operate on behalf of the Norway government in all regions worldwide -- Americas, Australasia, China and Hong Kong, Europe and CIS, India, Middle East and North Africa, Russia, Belarus and Armenia, and South Asia, the company said in a statement. VFS Global has worked with the Norway government since 2014 and handled nearly 1.5 million applications on its behalf. "We are delighted that we will continue to serve the Norway government as their sole service provider. We have enjoyed a strong partnership and welcome the opportunity to renew our services in the existing locations where we operate. "We look forward to offering best-in-class visa solutions, and a seamless application process across all regions globally with an annual estimate

Want visa system to be simple, swift: MEA on 1,000-day US visa wait

Amid reports that people in India seeking a tourist or business visa for the US may have to wait for three years to get one, the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said it has not raised the matter with the country, but expects the visa system of a country to be predictable and less time taking. According to media reports, those planning to visit the United States on visitor visas - B1 (business) and B2 (tourist) - will have to wait for nearly three years and the waiting time for applicants in India is close to 1,000 days. Asked if the matter had been taken up with the US, MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "We want that when people want to go somewhere, the visa system should be simple. This is our expectation." He said it had not been taken up formally because "we would not want someone commenting on our system." "But we would want the system to be predictable, simple and does not take much time. We have seen the (US) embassy here has said that they are taking steps to .

Govt restores valid e-visa to 156 countries; regular visas to all

India has restored all currently valid five year e-tourist visa given to citizens of 156 countries and regular paper visa to nationals of all countries with immediate effect

IATO urges govt to announce dates for restoration of e-visa, tourist visas

This will also give some encouragement to the pandemic-hit industry, which has had almost zero earnings and no meaningful help from the government, it added

E-tourist visa to 37 more countries from tomorrow

New 37 countries included in e-Tourist visa scheme are Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana among others