Jul 1, 2014, 06.56 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Tourists from about 40 countries including United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Canada, Germany, France, Malaysia and Australia, may be able to apply for a visa from the comfort of their home from next year. The PMO gave its nod for electronic visa for tourists from about 40 countries by December as part of the first phase of visa reforms.

In a meeting on Monday, principal secretary to PM Nripendra Misra asked the union tourism ministry to prepare a list of countries where the electronic travel authorization (ETA) could be extended.

The countries that are not likely to be on the list will be SAARC and countries that are on “prior reference” list which includes Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Afghanistan.

ETA will allow foreign travelers to apply for a visa and receive an online confirmation in five working days. This is the first time that electronic visas will be implemented in the country. Officials said plans were afoot to include 109 countries once the first phase was successfully implemented.

ETA will be available for a 30-day period from the date of the tourist’s arrival in India. A separate website would be set up for extending the facility to foreigners intending to visit India as tourists. To get visa, they would need to apply in the designated website along the required fees.

The countries for which visa on arrival facility would be extended include the US, UK, Canada, Brazil, Australia, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Poland, Norway and Ireland.

A `visa restriction index’ released by Henley &Partners recently ranks India at 74 out of 93 countries above Pakistan, China, Egypt, Afghanistan and Iran underlining the high number of restrictions that foreign citizens face when choosing to travel to India.

Countries where ETA could be extended:

US, UK, Russia, Canada, Germany, France, Malaysia, Australia, Italy, Spain, South Africa, UAE, Sweden, Switzerland, Israel, Austria, Ukraine, Portugal, Mauritius.

Source : The Times Of India