Following the press conference held by civil aviation ministry, where the authorities hinted on international operations starting soon, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has requested diplomatic missions in India to resume visa services.
The visa services were suspended since March due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
In a letter to the Indian missions, MEA stated, “The Ministry is receiving a number of requests from Indian nationals, trade bodies and other organisations regarding difficulties being faced by bona fide Indian nationals in obtaining visas of foreign countries due to continued suspension of such services by some diplomatic missions in India.”
The ministry added, “Several of them intend to travel to foreign countries for various reasons including emergency/compelling reasons, to rejoin the family members residing abroad, resumption of education.”
On the other hand, India has also started relaxing travel restrictions for those who wish to visit the country for a certain purpose. Visa and travel restrictions for certain categories of foreigner nationals including businessmen, healthcare professionals and engineers were announced earlier this month.
Furthermore, restrictions on the entry of OCI cardholders have also been relaxed. The revamped rule allows minors who hold OCI Cards and whose parents are Indian nationals; those with family emergencies; married couples, where one spouse is an OCI cardholder and the other is an Indian national and students who are OCI cardholders, where at least one of their parents is an Indian citizen or an OCI cardholder among others to enter India.
