Two thousand four hundred and sixty-odd years ago in Persia, King Artaxerxes granted one of his officials, Nehemiah, leave of absence to travel to Judea. With him, the King sent a letter to the “governors beyond the river” requesting safe passage for his servant as he crossed the Euphrates on his way to Jerusalem. Thus began the story of the passport. Two and a half millennia later, one in three Americans, nine in ten Norwegians and 5% of Chinese have one. The UK prints five million of them a year, or one every 2.5 seconds, at a secret location in the north of England. Three million of them are flying 30,000 feet above you as we speak. Of course, passports have taken on additional functions and evolved in both style and content since the days of Nehemiah, but they still serve the sam...
Read MoreTag: Visa on Arrival
Indians love Thailand and one of the reason has been Visa on Arrival facility. Hence they can just buy the tickets, pick their passport and head to airport for one of their favourite destinations. Its still the same, but it is going to hurt more to your pocket now as Thailand has just doubled the Visa on Arrival fees. The new fees gets effective from 27 September 2016. So, all those who had planned to visit Thailand during this autumn break or puja holidays, will have to shell out some extra money. Ministry of Interior of Thailand vide a order No. 30 B.E. 2559 (2016) dated 1 July B.E. 2559 (2016), has said that it is going to increase its VoA fee from 1,000 to 2,000 THB. The new fees is just about 3850 Indian Rupees (as on today's exchange rate). Tourists from Andorra, Bulgaria, Bhu...
Read MoreIt will soon be an easy and open season for international tourists headed for India. Tourists intending to travel to India from up to 180 countries will not be required to personally visit their local consulates to get visas but will be able to avail of Visa on Arrival facility at a number of international airports in India. Last October, the facility was extended to travellers from about 40 countries but in its bid to make India an attractive and more tourist-friendly place to visit, the government decided to push the initiative further to include more countries. In a significant step towards liberalization of the visa regime, the government of India on Wednesday cleared two initiatives: visa on arrival and electronic travel authorization (ETA) for all countries barring eight "prior r
Read MoreIn a decision that could increase foreign exchange earning from tourism for the country in future, the Planning Commission of India has recommended a comprehensive overhaul in the visa facilitation process for travelers intending to visit India. In a joint meeting of the officials of the related ministries of Home Affairs, External Affairs, Tourism, etc., it was recommended to extend Visa on Arrival (VoA) facilities to citizens of 40 more countries. The Commission also recommended VoA for senior citizens and pensioners from all countries, as well as setting up online visa processing system to enhance smoother facilitation of visas for overseas travelers. The 40 countries which would be included in the list for VoA include the USA, UK, Russia, Germany, France, China, Canada, Brazil, ...
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