Tourist Group Visa on Arrival

(1) Foreign tourists in groups of four or more, arriving by air or sea, sponsored by Indian Travel Agencies approved by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and with a pre-drawn itinerary may be granted collective landing permit for a period not exceeding 60 days, with multiple-entry facility to enable them to visit a neighbouring country. In order to avail of this facility, the tourist or travel agency concerned shall mandatorily fill in the applications online on website www.indianvisaonline.gov.in. A complete list of group members along with printed visa applications and their itinerary should be submitted by the tourist or travel agency to the FRRO/ FRO concerned, 72 hours in advance. The tourist or travel agency shall also give an undertaking to conduct the group as per the itinerary and extend a further assurance that no individual would be allowed to drop out from the group at any place.

(2) Passengers on cruise ships may be granted a collective landing permit. However, in case a cruise ship visits more than one port in India, and does not visit ports of any other country, a collective landing permit may be issued at the first port of entry into India. There will be no need to issue a collective landing permit at each port of visit included in the itinerary. For example, for the passengers who have been granted collective landing permit at Chennai port, which may be the first port of entry in India, there will be no need to issue collective landing permit in subsequent ports e.g. Kochi, Mumbai, Goa, etc. Immigration authorities may allow entry on the basis of the collective landing permit issued to the passengers at the first port of entry in India if the stipulated period for which the collective landing permit has been issued is valid. However, the Master of the vessel shall provide a copy of the collective landing permit containing the names and passports details of the passengers to the Immigration Authorities at each port and ensure that no passenger (other than the passengers who have been granted collective landing permit) has been added to the list of passengers.

(3) Further, whenever required, Immigration officials may be sent to the previous port, at the request of the travel agency, so that they can screen all the travel documents / passports while the ship is cruising to clear the passengers at the port of arrival without any delay. The cost of travel and insurance during the travel of the Immigration officials shall be borne by the travel agency concerned.

(4) A fee of US $ 40/- or equivalent amount in Indian rupees per passenger, including children, will be charged from each foreigner for the grant of a landing permit. The fee shall be collected in a manner similar to the collection of visa fee i.e. by converting US dollars into Indian rupees at the commercial/Bank exchange rate.