The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has designated 14 more seaports—half of them in Gujarat—as immigration check posts for foreign nationals who hold e-visas.
Electronic visa facilities have been operational since March 19 at Alang, Bedi Bandar, Bhavnagar, Porbandar, Hazira, Pipavav, and Mandvi seaports in Gujarat; Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, and Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu; Kakinada and Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Paradip and Dhamra in Odisha, an official said.
There are altogether 114 immigration check posts (ICPs) across air, sea, land, rail and river routes, catering to international traffic. At present, there are 37 ICPs at seaports. E-visa holders are allowed to enter India only through the 32 designated airports and 33 seaports.
The e-visa—often confused with visa-on-arrival—is available to citizens of 207 countries, excluding China, Pakistan, Yemen and Iran. The e-visa categories are tourist, business, medical, medical attendant, student, family, transit, miscellaneous and production investment, with validity ranging from a month to five years.
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