India extends visa-on-arrival facility to 180 countries

[Known_Unknown]

@Known_Unknown and @atheisthindu,

This VISA-on-arrival is a short term 30 day and non-renewable VISA. PIO cards will always be important.

India has a non-existent immigration enforcement system, hence we have >20m illegal Bangladeshis living there for generations. What stops Afghan, Iraqi, African and other refugees from all over the world from utilizing the VoA system to get in and never leave? Remember, unlike embassy-issued visas which go through a strict check of documents, background information, ties to the home country etc, the immigration desks at the airport have neither the time nor the means to verify all the information provided by an applicant on arrival. Are we going to make the tourists wait in an airport lounge for days on end until all their information is verified and they are finally granted entry? Of course not.

So what does this mean? The quality of immigration checks will go down drastically, leading to all kinds of undesirables from drug peddlers to refugees to terrorists entering India on fake documentation, passports etc.

This will be an utter nightmare, and whoever thought this moronic plan up should be sent visa-free with a one way ticket to Antarctica.

 

[PredictablyMalicious]

India has a non-existent immigration enforcement system, hence we have >20m illegal Bangladeshis living there for generations. What stops Afghan, Iraqi, African and other refugees from all over the world from utilizing the VoA system to get in and never leave? Remember, unlike embassy-issued visas which go through a strict check of documents, background information, ties to the home country etc, the immigration desks at the airport have neither the time nor the means to verify all the information provided by an applicant on arrival. Are we going to make the tourists wait in an airport lounge for days on end until all their information is verified and they are finally granted entry? Of course not.

So what does this mean? The quality of immigration checks will go down drastically, leading to all kinds of undesirables from drug peddlers to refugees to terrorists entering India on fake documentation, passports etc.

This will be an utter nightmare, and whoever thought this moronic plan up should be sent visa-free with a one way ticket to Antarctica.

I could not agree more. Instead of this, they should have proposed visa-on-arrival facility for nations that are either important to India and/or have a higher per capita income. Also, India should seek reciprocity. It is an embarrassment that most of these countries who stand to gain from this do not reciprocate and probably are befuddled by the unprecedented move.

 

[pmaitra]

I could not agree more. Instead of this, they should have proposed visa-on-arrival facility for nations that are either important to India and/or have a higher per capita income. Also, India should seek reciprocity. It is an embarrassment that most of these countries who stand to gain from this do not reciprocate and probably are befuddled by the unprecedented move.

I think they are doing it to save money and reduce staff in different countries. They will also go through a biometric registration. If they were to come via the conventional route, India would have to have biometric systems installed at every embassy and consulate, which is a big financial burden. In the absence of this, having a VISA stamped at the source country or having it stamped on arrival makes no difference.

 

[PredictablyMalicious]

GOI must think that all the white people will suddenly come to India in droves, settle there, mix with the undesirables like the adivasis and what have you, which would improve the genetic pool. @Known_Unknown is this plausible?

 

[Known_Unknown]

GOI must think that all the white people will suddenly come to India in droves, settle there, mix with the undesirables like the adivasis and what have you, which would improve the genetic pool. @Known_Unknown is this plausible?

Or maybe some pervert in the Home Ministry was having wet dreams about all the exotic women that might visit from all over the world.

 

[kseeker]

As @Known_Unknown mentioned, if tourists come over here and disappear, who will be responsible for tracking them? Do we have enough tracking facilities? If at all they are tracked, who will be responsible for deporting them from India and who will bear that cost, GOI?

IMO, extending visa-on-arrival facility is an yet another absurd move by GOI.

Welldone Congress :thumb: you have punched one more hole in our already fragile internal security system :clap:

Mera Bharat Mahaan, Jai Hind.

 

[PredictablyMalicious]

Or maybe some pervert in the Home Ministry was having wet dreams about all the exotic women that might visit from all over the world.

I guess they all the lawmakers had different preferences so they decided to extend visa-on-arrival to every single country they could think of. Don't want to leave out those sexy somali or rwandan chicks eh

 

[Yusuf]

Stupid move. 180 countries means just about the whole world. Inviting illegal migration, terrorists etc.

 

[tramp]

Hope the govt strengthens mechanisms to identify overstayers and deport them. The law and order machinery as of now is grossly inadequate to handle such a task.

The police force at least in the bigger cities will have to be made sensitive to immigration laws and possible violations.

 

[cw2005]

I think the move was in the correct direction. However, the implementation was arguable. This VOA should be offered to a few countries first and eventually applied to all 180 countries. This would provide chance to test the idea and time for the immigration staff to practice at the airport.

The first country qualifies for this should be Hong Kong as Hong Kong allows 14 day visa free for Indians and visa requirement for Pakistan passport holders.

 

[Free Karma]

I have always batted for MMS over the years as he was one of the few people I really liked, but if what you are saying is true (provide a link if you can), then I think I would rather have Modi in his place, but even he could turn out to be another MMS, who knows?

A lot of my understanding actually came from the articles posted in the DK threads here and other places.
South Block watch - The New Indian Express
Manmohan Singh's Foreign Policy Legacy
'PM isolated on Pakistan' - The Hindu
Good Governance and Foreign Policy » Indian Defence Review
I admire the BJP's approach towards national security: Hardeep Singh Puri | Business Standard

There was an article that made specific references to certain incidents during visits between Pak officials, where the pmo directly intervened and took over ifs officer positions, was buried somewhere in the br forum, and it's hard to find given the keywords are way too common.

Quite a few people allude to the him taking control of things, right from upa-1, while in internal matters, he seems to be incredibly silent(2g..coal blocks and so on). While it has been mentioned that this has been the case with foreign policy since Nehru, I think a lot of people agree that the state of things now is pretty bad.

I dont agree with all the views in these articles, but the role of mms seems to be a universal acknowledgement. also check the thread where mms claims he was on the verge of a "big breakthrough in Kashmir", the break through itself seemed pretty bad.

WRT Modi, nothing is known about him, he is said to be a "man of action", but in which way, we dont know, There has not been much said about foreign policy as such. Hardeep Singh Puri recently joined BJP (last article,interview after he joined), so maybe looking at some of his interviews might give an indication of what their view is, but we'll never know as this is election time.

@Free Karma : I think China should be extended this offer too. I mean, they are gonna harbor ulfa guys anyway, so why not extract moneys from Chinese tourists.

Problem with china is they are not just involved in harbouring extremists, they also promote naxals in the region, also the destabilizing of the Ne is in their best interests, they are not dissimilar to Pakistan in that respect, as people have mentioned I wonder if our security machinery can take care of all of this.
Another reason for not giving China such privileges is this:
'India has to live with China's stapled visas' - The Hindu
Arunachal archers with stapled visas prevented from leaving for China - The Hindu

Money might be one thing...but they do these sort of things, and we gift then with nice things like visa on arrival?

 

[freakinghell]

I agree with Known_Unknown, this is a bad move. negatives outweigh positives, I'm skeptical on how much this will actually benefit the tourism industry. unless we develop and have better infrastructure, tourism industry won't reach it's full potential.

GOI must think that all the white people will suddenly come to India in droves, settle there, mix with the undesirables like the adivasis and what have you, which would improve the genetic pool. @Known_Unknown is this plausible?

Or maybe some pervert in the Home Ministry was having wet dreams about all the exotic women that might visit from all over the world.

Let's avoid trolling, your comment may be sarcastic/light hearted it's still disrespectful to the adivasis.

 

[pmaitra]

@Free Karma, Why don't you open a thread jotting down the points where MMS allegedly intervened causing harm to our foreign policy?

 

[AVERAGE INDIAN]

As of now: Visa requirements for Indian citizens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

only 45 countries and 80% of them usless and rest are some disputed territories and islands

 

[PredictablyMalicious]

I agree with Known_Unknown, this is a bad move. negatives outweigh positives, I'm skeptical on how much this will actually benefit the tourism industry. unless we develop and have better infrastructure, tourism industry won't reach it's full potential.






Let's avoid trolling, your comment may be sarcastic/light hearted it's still disrespectful to the adivasis.

Yes, you're right. I shouldn't have said that.

 

[Blackwater]

'visa on arrival from 180 countries. its a suiside for india. india and indian police dont have infrastructure to look for over stayers

i dont understand what people from uganada,sierra-leon,mangolia,angola,Botswana,mali,papua new guinea has to do with tourism with india

 

[Blackwater]

Terrible move. In one swoop, they made the OCI/PIO pretty much meaningless. As for reciprocity, why would the US or UK etc want to open their gates to an immigrant flood from India? Similarly, India will be now saddled with millions of refugees from even poorer countries (Somalia, Bangladesh, et al).

A historic move or a hysterical one?

visa on arrival is for 30 days where as PIO and OCI longer without police registration

 

[feathers]

Majority of manufacturing units and industries are there in the 9 Indians cities which are having infrastructure and system to accommodate foreigners.

Africans are seeing towards India because Indian companies are offering them everything in all the sectors . Indian medicine are cheaper compare to other countries and Africans can access heavy and small machinery in affordable prices. Africans are trying to get both Chinese and Indian technologies in all the sectors to develop their nations.

 

[pmaitra]

Poll added at the request of @kseeker.

 

[kseeker]

On one hand GOI relaxes the Visa norms on the other hand faces threat by goras...

Here's an example

India warns US of consequences on visa reform - The Times of India