Now Reading: India adds 11 ports to e-visa network, entry points now 88
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India adds 11 ports to e-visa network, entry points now 88
The Union home ministry on Monday notified 11 new international ports where foreigners holding an e-visa can enter or exit India. The additions include nine land ports, Attari (Punjab), Moreh (Manipur), Dawki…
The Story in Brief
The Union home ministry on Monday notified 11 new international ports where foreigners holding an e-visa can enter or exit India. The additions include nine land ports, Attari (Punjab), Moreh (Manipur), Dawki (Meghalaya), Jaigaon, Haridaspur, Gede, Ghojadanga (West Bengal), Darranga (Assam) and Agartala (Tripura), and two airports in Bhopal and Tirupati. This takes the total e-visa entry points to 88: 37 airports, 38 seaports and 13 land ports.
The ministry said the move is part of a broader effort to simplify the visa regime and strengthen security under the new Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. India introduced e-visas in 2014 for nationals of 43 countries; the facility now covers 172 nations across 17 categories including tourism and medical travel. Around 95% of e-visa applications are processed within 72 hours, and e-visas now account for about 78% of all Indian visas issued.
The Indian Opinion
The expansion sounds like a straightforward welcome mat, but the nine new land ports, including Attari and Moreh, sit on sensitive borders where cross-movement has often been a political flashpoint. The government sells this as liberalisation, yet the same notification rests on the stricter Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. Will these ports see faster clearances or just more paperwork? The real test is whether e-visa processing times stay under 72 hours as claimed, especially at land checkpoints where digital infrastructure is patchy.
Sources (3): ndtvprofit.com, hindustantimes.com, livemint.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above.
