NEW DELHI: A total of 18.78 lakh foreigners visited India on e-visa within the first 10 months his year, setting a record. Last year, 17 lakh foreigners had visited India on e-visa or electronic-visa while the number is over four times higher than the 4.47 lakh-figure registered in 2015.
The home ministry cited liberalisation of the visa regime as a reason for the spike in figures.
The top five countries whose nationals availed the e-visa facility are the UK (2,921,432), the US (2,213,393), China(1,270,224), France (1,071,855) and Germany (89,863).Ministry officials said the facility now covers 166 countries. Foreigners can arrive at any of the designated 26 airports and five seaports in India without interacting with any official before checking-in at the immigration counter.
The ministry said e-visa can now be availed three times in a year and the local Foreigner Regional Registration Office has been empowered to extend the visa duration up to 90 days. Foreign nationals who fall sick during their stay in India can now avail medical treatment without converting their visa into medical visa.