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1 Feb, 2012

India Issues 12,761 Visas on Arrival in 2011, New Zealanders Head List

New Delhi, Jan 31, 2012 (Press Information Bureau) – During December 2011, a total of 1640 Visa on Arrival (VoAs) were issued to foreign tourists, up from 1,382 in November. The breakdown was as follows: New Zealand (473), Japan (265), Indonesia (247), Phillippines (173), Singapore (194), Finland (246), Cambodia ( 7), Vietnam (18), Luxemburg (8) Laos (10) and Myanmar (9).

During 2011 , a total number of 12,761 VoAs were issued: New Zealand (2,762), Japan (2,344), Indonesia (2,063), Philippines (1,956), Singapore (1,848), Finland (1,335), Cambodia (149), Vietnam (145), Myanmar (71), Luxemburg (74) and Laos (14). Most of them were issued at Delhi airport ( 7,340), followed by Mumbai (2,816), Chennai (1,948) and Kolkata (657).

As a facilitative measure to attract more foreign tourists to India, the Government launched the Visa on Arrival in January 2010 for citizens of Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore, visiting India for tourism purposes. This scheme was extended to cover six more countries, namely, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Laos and Myanmar from January, 2011. The addition of more countries is under consideration.