Visas / Land Permit Facility / Currency Regulations / Customs formalities and Regulations / Immigration / Income Tax Clearance / Foreign Travel Tax / Inland Air Travel tax / Guides / Health Regulations / International Airport Facilities / Inland Travels / Restricted and Protected areas / Photography Restrictions / Export of Antiquities / Restrictions Pertaining to Export of Articles made from Animals / Climate
Requirement of Visa
Foreigners desirous of visiting India can do so after obtaining a visa from the Indian Mission in the country of their residence. They should posses a valid National passport - except in the case of nationals of Bhutan and Nepal, who may carry only suitable means of identification.
Transit Visas
Transit visa are granted by Indian Missions abroad for a maximum period of 3 days.
Exemption from Registration
Foreigners coming to India on tourist visas for 180 days or a shorter period are not required to register themselves with any authority in India. They can move about freely in the country, except to restricted/protected areas and prohibited places.
Individuals without nationality or of undetermined nationality (stateless person; IRO refugees, persons receiving legal or political protection, holder of Nansen passport etc.) should have valid passport, identity documents or sworn affidavit with visa for which they should apply at least two months in advance.
Tourists may note that no Landing Permit Facility is available to any foreign tourist landing without a visa. A limited facility exists only for group tours consisting of 4 or more members and sponsored by a travel agency recognized by the Government of India.
Children below the age of 12 years of foreigners of Indian origin may be granted a landing permit by the Immigration authorities up to a period of 90 days to see their relatives, in case they happen to come without a visa.
Tourist Group
A tourist group arriving by air, ship or by a chartered or scheduled flight may be granted a collective landing permit for a period upto 30 days by the Immigration authorities on landing, provided the group is sponsored by a recognized travel agency, a predrawn itinerary is presented along with details of passport etc. of the members, and the travel agency gives an undertaking to conduct the group together.
Extension of Visa
Facility exists for an extension of tourist visa beyond six months. In such a case, however, the foreigners' Registration Officer throughout the country and obtain an extension of visa from him. All formalities of registration under the law would have to be fulfilled.
Other Types of Visas
If a foreigner wishes to come to India for a purpose other than tourism, he should come after obtaining an appropriate visit out of the following:
1. Business Visa: A foreigner can obtain from an Indian Embassy abroad a multiple entry business visa valid for one year or five year but with a cumulative stay in India of not more than 180 days, provide he wishes to come for some business.
2. Student Visa: A student visa can be obtained from the Indian Embassy on the production of proof of administration and means of sustenance while in India, etc. The visa is valid for one year but is extended in India for the duration of the course.
3. Conference Visa: Delegates coming to attend International Conferences in India can be granted "Conference Visas" to cover the conference as well as tourism in India. Delegates are advised to apply to the Indian Embassies well in advance.
4. Foreigners wishing to undertake trekking, botanical expeditions, mountaineering expeditions, canoe-rafting, etc., in a team may be granted visas for the required duration on presentation of full details of he touring members, nature of the event, area to be visited and any other tourist information that may be asked for by the Indian Embassy.
5. Sports teams or individual sportsmen wishing to participate in international sports events being held in India may apply to an Indian Embassy/Mission for the grant of visa for the necessary duration. Requests for such visas may be made well in advance.
6. Foreign journalists, media men, documentary and feature filmmakers may obtain necessary visas after due formalities from the Indian Embassy.
7. Yoga: Visa for study of Yoga, Vedic Culture, dance, music etc. Foreigners wishing to come to India to study these subjects are required to apply well in advance with all necessary particulars. The Indian Embassies may grant visas for a period of one year which may be extended on an annual basis in India.
There are no restrictions on the amount of foreign currency or travellers' cheques a tourist may bring into India provided he makes a declaration in the Currency Declaration Form given to him on arrival. This will enable him not only to exchange the currency brought in but also to take the unspent currency out of India on departure. Cash, bank notes and travellers' cheques up to U.S.$10,000 or equivalent need not be declared at the time of entry.
Any money in form of travellers' cheque, draft, bills, cheques, etc. in convertible currencies which tourists wish to convert into Indian currency should be exchanged only through authorized money changers and banks who will issue an encashment certificate. This certificate is required at the time of re-conversion of any unspent money into foreign currency. Tourists are warned that changing money through unauthorized persons is not only illegal but also an offence under Foreign Exchange Regulations Act 1973.It also involves the risk of receiving counterfeit currency.
CUSTOMS FORMALITIES AND REGULATIONS
The usual duty free regulations apply for India.
Alcoholic liquor and wine upto 1 litre each.
200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250 gms. of tobacco.
Visitors are generally required to make oral baggage declaration in respect of baggage and foreign currency in their possession. Visitors in possession of more than US$ 10,000 or equivalent thereof in the shape of travellers' cheque, bank notes currency notes are required to obtain a Currency declaration Form before leaving Customs. They should fill in the Disembarkation Card handed over to them by the airlines during the course of the flight There are two channels for Custom clearance:Green Channel: for passengers not having any dutiable articles or unaccompanied baggage.
Red Channel: for passengers having dutiable articles or unaccompanied baggage or high value articles to be entered on Tourist Baggage RE-Export Form.
Passport: citizen of all countries require a valid national passport or valid travel documents and valid visa granted by Indian Mission abroad for entering India Except Nepalese or Bhutanese citizens who when proceedings from their respective countries need no passport or visa should possess suitable documents for their identification.
Arrival Formalities
If the visa for stay in India is more than 180 days, registration Certificate and Residential Permit should be obtained from the nearest Foreigners' Registration Office within 7 days of arrival. Personal appearance is absolutely necessary at the time of registration, extension or exit as required by the Law of the Land. Four photographs/pictures are also required for registration. The foreigners are registered at Foreigners' Registration. The foreigners registered at Foreigner's Registration Office are required to report change of their addresses. Departure from India All persons except nationals of Nepal and Bhutan leaving by roads or rail have to fill an Embarkation Card at the time of departure. All tourist visitors holding Registration Certificate are endorsed by the appropriate registration authorities before departure. Registration Certificates and Residential permits are to be surrendered at the Registration Office.
Exit Formalities
For holders of Tourist and Transit Visas: None for holders of Entry Visas (Except tourist/Transit Visa Holders). All visitors holding Registration Certificate have to obtain, before departure, exit endorsement from the Registration Officer of the district in which they were registered
If a person not domiciled in India intends to stay in the country for more than 120 days, an Income Tax Clearance' certificate is required in order to leave the country. This document will prove that the person's stay in India was financed by his own money and not by working or selling his goods.
The foreign section of the Income Tax Department at Delhi, Calcutta, Madras and Bombay issues these certificates on being shown the person's passport, visa extension form and the currency exchange receipts, which have been used by the person.
Passenger embarking on journey to any place outside India from a Customs airport/seaport will have to pay a Foreign Travel Tax (FTT) of Rs. 500 and Rs. 250 on journeys to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. No tax is payable on journeys performed by ship from Rameshwaram to Talaimanar and in case of transit passenger, provided they do not leave the Customs barrier. Transit passenger travelling by air who have to leave the airport on account of mechanical trouble provided they continue their journey by the same aircraft and the same flight number by which they arrive are also exempted from FTT. Transit sea passenger leaving the ship for sightseeing, shopping etc, during the ship's call at any of the Indian ports will not be required to pay FTT.
An Inland Air Travel Tax is leviable at 10 percent of the basic fare on all passengers paying their airfare in foreign exchange will be exempted from payment of this tax. In addition infants, cancer patients, blind persons and invalids (those on stretchers) are also exempted from this tax after fulfilling certain conditions stipulated in the relevant notifications.
Trained English speaking guides are available at fixed charges at all important tourist centres. The Government of India Tourist Offices can be contacted by tourists for these. French, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian and Japanese speaking guides are available at some cities. Please consult the nearest Government of India Tourist Office.
Unapproved guides are not permitted to enter protected monuments and tourists are, therefore, advised to ask for the services of guides who carry a certificate issued by the Department of Tourism/Archaeological Survey of India.
Foreign tourists should be in possession of Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate conforming to International Health Regulations, if they are originating or transitting through Yellow Fever endemic countries (Africa and South America).
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FACILITIES
The international airports offer a range of services ensuring that the traveller on business can continue working while waiting to catch an international connection, or when transferring between international flights. These include gourmet restaurants, business centres and are equipped with state of the art equipment including word processors and telefax. Airports also provide the tourist with such facilities for leisure as duty-free and handicrafts shopping, informal snack bars, nursery and baby care rooms, and even an art gallery. Duty-free prices in the airport shops are very competitive, offering you bargains on international merchandise.
Indian Airlines
Ranked as the world's second largest domestic IATA airlines outside USA, Indian Airlines commands a large and modern fleet of A300, A320 and B737 aircraft.
Indian Airlines (IC) network, spanning the country's 3,000 km from Leh in the north to Thiruvananthapuram in the south, and about the same from east to west, covers all important places of tourist interest linking 55 cities in India and 17 in fourteen neighbouring countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Also included is Kuwait and Kuala Lumpur.
Fares: IC offers a variety of special fares aimed at encouraging tourist travel within the country. These include:Discover India, US$750, permits unlimited travel within India for 21 days.
India Wonderfares, US$300, permits unlimited travel within India for 21 days.
South India Excursion, 30 per cent discount on US$ tariff for travel on specific South Indian Sectors.
Youth Fare, 25 per cent off on US$ tariff for all tourists between the ages of 12 and 30.Reservations: Reservations on IC can be made from any where abroad in a matter of minutes through the SITA Airlines Communications System which is linked to the airline's Real Time Computer Reservation System.
IC has inter-line agreements with over 120 airlines worldwide and the offices of any of these airlines or their agents have been enabled to issue tickets on IC flights.
To facilitate group tourists in obtaining reservations, IC is guaranteeing confirmed seats to all foreign tour groups of 10 or more passengers provided booking is requested more than four months in advance on all Airbus and selected B737 tourist services.
Private Airlines
Jet Airways and Sahara Airlines are two major private carriers. They operate metro routes, tourist circuits and also offer special fares to discover India. Smaller airlines like Archana and Jagsons in the north and Gujarat Airways in the west provided feeder services to smaller towns. Jet and Sahara have either their own offices or representative offices in major countries abroad.
Railways
The Indian Railways system is the largest in Asia and the second largest it the world among systems under a single management. Daily, ore than 11 million people - or more than 1.4 percent of India's population - board the trains.
Everybody more than 1 million tonnes of freight traffic are lifted by Indian Railways.
Nearly 11,000 trains crisis-cross about 62,500 kilometers of rail route, connecting 7,084 railway stations scattered over the far-flung parts of the vast country.
Indrail Pass
Indian Railways have introduced the facility of Indrail Passes which offer all budget visitors the facility to travel as they like over the entire Indian railway system without any route restriction and within the period of validity of he ticket. Indrail passes are sold only to foreign nationals and Indians residing abroad holding valid passports. Payment is accepted only in US Dollars and Pound Sterling. A tourist travelling on Indrail pass is exempt from paying reservation fees, sleeper charges and extra supplementary charges for travelling by Superfast trains which are otherwise chargeable in the case of ordinary tickets.
RESTRICTED AND PROTECTED AREAS
Military installations and areas, defence organisations and research organisations are considered protected areas, where permits are generally not given to foreigners.
Photography is prohibited in places of military importance, railway stations, bridges, airports and other military installations.
Antiquities include sculpture, painting or other works of art and craftsmanship, illustrative of science, art, crafts, religion of bygone ages and of historical interest which have been in existence for not less than one hundred years.
Also manuscripts, or other documents of scientific, historical, literary or aesthetic value in existence for not less than seventy five years — art - treasures — not necessarily antiquities but having regard to the artistic and aesthetic value cannot be exported out of India.
For farther clarification on the antiquity of an artefact, the tourists can contact the authorities and get information on the Acts and Rules governing Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972.
RESTRICTIONS PERTAINING TO EXPORT OF ARTICLES MADE FROM ANIMALS ETC.
Govt. of India is concerned about the conservation of its endangered and rare fauna. With this view, export of all wild animals indigenous to the country and articles made from such listed animals like skin, pelts, furs, ivory, rhino horns, trophies etc have been totally banned.
Tourists are also advised to acquaint themselves with the provisions of Convention on International Trade of endangered species of wild fauna and flora. All the member countries of the convention allow import of the articles covered by convention on the strength of a certificate of export from the country of origin.
India has three major seasons: winter, summer and the monsoon.
The winter months (November-March) are pleasant throughout India with bright sunny days. In the northern plains, the minimum temperature may vary between 4 to 10 degree Celsius and there is snowfall in the hills. In the west, south and the east, however, December and January are pleasantly cool, never really cold.
The summer months (April-June) are hot in most parts of India, and it is during this season that hill resorts such as Shimla, Musoorie, Nainital, Kullu and the Kashmir valley, Darjeeling, Shillong, Octacamund, Kodaikanal, Pachmarhi and Mount Abu provide cool retreats.
The south-west monsoon usually breaks about the beginning of June on the west coast and reaches elsewhere later. With the exception of the south-eastern areas, India receives the major share of its rainfall from the north-east monsoon between mid-October and December-end. Traditionally, India had been popular in the winter months. However, with easy availability of air-conditioned hotels, transport and leisure facilities (such as dining and shopping), the summer months too have become popular, and India has become a year-round tourist destination.