India eases visa rules for Thais
INDIA has eased visa requirements for Thai nationals.
A five-year multiple-entry tourist visa has been introduced alongside a five-year multiple-entry business visa. Both visas allow stays of 90 days for each visit.
An express service enables visas to be issued by the next working day.
Separate immigration counters and facilitation desks will be provided for holders of medical visas. This service will initially be available at international airports such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
The minimum salary requirement has been reduced to 910,000 rupees (Bt471,000) a year for employment visas for Thais teaching at some universities and other educational institutes.
Thais teaching at South Asian University and Nalanda University will be exempt from the minimum salary requirement for their work visas.
The Indian Embassy in Bangkok will grant intern visas to Thai nationals taking up internships at Indian companies, educational institutions and non-government organisations, up to a maximum of 50 interns a year.
The embassy will also encourage Thai filmmakers to make use of a film visa for movie shoots.
E-visas expanded
The maximum duration of each stay has been increased from 30 days to 60 days and a single-entry visa has been changed to a double-entry e-tourist visa.
E-tourist visas will also be provided at five Indian ports – Mumbai, Cochin, Goa, Chennai and Mangalore – to help tourists arriving on cruise ships.
E-tourist visas will be changed to an X visa if a Thai national marries an Indian national during his or her stay.
