Union Government introduced Visa-on-Arrival (VoA) scheme for the nationals of 11 countries including Japan, New Zealand, Luxembourg, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Finland, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. The scheme has worked well in India's favor and have contributed to 59.7% growth compared to August 2013 and August 2014.
The number of VoAs issued during January - August 2013 were 12,176, compared to 17,120 in the same period in 2014, which is an approximate growth of 40.6%.
The highest number of VoAs were issued to nationals of South Korea(876), Japan (566), followed by Singapore, the Philippines, New Zealand, Indonesia, and finally nationals of Laos taking 3 VoAs.
The VoA scheme was introduced in the year 2010 for nationals of only 5 countries, then extended to 6 more countries later. In one of the recent developments related to VoAs, Indian ministry has added South Korean nationals to the list effective from April, 2014.
This news comes as a great boost to the tourism department in India.
Source: Times of India
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