e-tourist visa facility at Tiruchi airport likely by August

Tourism in the central region is set to get a big push with the e-tourist visa facility meant for foreign travellers arriving at the Tiruchi International Airport poised for implementation soon.

Works connected with putting in place the facility were apace at the Tiruchi airport, which witnessed a quantum jump in the movement of overseas travellers’ last fiscal.

The Bureau of Immigration (BoI), coming under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Airports Authority of India (AAI), and the National Informatics Centre (NIC), are actively involved in the implementation of the e-tourist visa, essentially “tourist visa on arrival” at the Tiruchi airport.

The AAI for its part has set up four dedicated counters in the first floor of the new terminal building at the airport which would be manned by immigration personnel to examine the travel documents of overseas travellers landing in Tiruchi.

Cabling works for installing electronic gadgets at the designated counters have been carried out. IT-related infrastructure would be put in place by the NIC which has been steering e-governance applications in government ministries and departments.

Sources said the immigration counters had been established as per the local requirements and designs given by the BoI at the airport.

The counters would be equipped with computers, scanners, electronic passport readers, and cameras.

A senior Bureau of Immigration official said a team of immigration personnel have been trained in Chennai in e-tourist visa formalities prior to launching the facility at Tiruchi airport – a fast-growing one in the country.

The official said works connected with the facility was going on swiftly and expected to be completed by mid-July.

A final round of inspection would be done upon putting in place the required infrastructure followed by dry runs and the facility was likely to be implemented in July end or August, the official said.

Tiruchi is one of the seven non-metro international airports in the country identified by the Centre for implementation of the e-tourist visa facility to promote tourism in the country.

The other airports are Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Lucknow, Varanasi, and Gaya. The official said under the e-tourist visa, foreign tourists would have to apply online prior to their departure.

After receiving approval online, the applicant could travel with the printout of the authorisation.

Upon landing at Tiruchi airport, the tourist would have to submit the authorisation to the immigration personnel and a visa on arrival would be issued to the traveller thereafter.

Once implemented, the e-tourist visa would definitely give a big push to Tiruchi region, says the official and added that the facility was meant for foreigners of 76 countries.

The Tiruchi international airport from where various foreign airlines operate flights to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, and Colombo every day witnessed movement of over 10 lakh overseas’ travellers in 2014-15 fiscal.