Stage set for launch of e-tourist visa at airport

All information technology-related infrastructure and other facilities have been put in place for the launch of e-tourist visa facility meant for foreign travellers at the international airport here.

With electronic gadgets required for the implementation of the facility having been installed and connectivity provided, authorities are awaiting orders from New Delhi for the launch of e-tourist visa at Tiruchi airport.

All the four dedicated counters exclusively put up in the first floor of the new terminal building in connection with the introduction of the e-tourist visa facility are equipped with computers, passport reading machines, bio-metric capture machines, web cameras, ultra violent lights and seals.

Infrastructure works related to the facility were completed in July-end with the Bureau of Immigration, Airports Authority of India and the National Informatics Centre jointly involved in this task.

Airport sources said software had been installed in all computers and trials were to be done to be in a state of preparedness for the launch of the facility any time.

The nearly 50-odd immigration personnel serving at the Tiruchi airport and working in three shifts had undergone theoretical and practical training at Chennai.

The sources are of the view there could be simultaneous launch of the facility in all seven airports including Tiruchi where e-tourism visa had been extended by the Central government.

Tiruchi is one among the non-metro airports where e-tourist visa facility has been extended with the others being Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Lucknow, Varanasi and Gaya. Necessary IT-related facilities were being put in place at six other airports prior to its launch.

The introduction of e-tourist visa in seven more airports is aimed at giving a fillip to tourism in the country. The fast growing Tiruchi airport witnessed a spike in overseas passengers’ movement which exceeded the one-million mark in 2014-15 fiscal.

The facility is essentially meant for foreign travellers of 76 countries that include United Kingdom, Malaysia, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Uruguay, Venezuela, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania and Belgium.

Foreign tourists would have to apply online to avail the facility four days before their departure. After receiving the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) online, the travellers would have to carry a print out of the document along with other travel documents and display them to the immigration personnel upon landing.

The visa stamping would be done in their passport for specific time duration thereafter and they would have to return before the expiry period.

Foreign tourists could avail this facility twice in a year, the sources said.