PremiumIndia is set to resume the e-Visa facility for UK citizens travelling to the country, the High Commissioner of India to the UK, Vikram K Doraiswami announced in a video message on 5 December.
This move comes for the first time since the COVID outbreak in March 2020.
In the video message, Doraiswami said that the service will be made available to the citizens forthwith and the dates will be announced shortly.
The resumption of this facility will enable friends from the UK to travel far more easily to India, he said.
As per the High Commissioner, "We are rolling out e-visas once again and this service will be made available to you forthwith. (Dates will be announced shortly). That should enable friends from the UK far more easily to India. So welcome back, e-visas are up ahead and all of our other services including visas at your doorstep remain available to you. We look forward to a good winter season in which everyone gets to celebrate their festivals in India which is the land of festivals."
The Indian High Commission in London updated in a tweet, "Team @HCI_London is delighted to confirm that the e-Visa facility will again be available for UK nationals travelling to India. System upgrade is underway & the visa website will soon be ready to receive applications from friends in the UK. Here's a video on the subject. @MEAIndia."
Meanwhile, the Indian nationals continued to be the top nationality to be granted 'worker' visas, adding that it accounts for 39% of the total visas issued, the British High Commission to India said on 25 November.
For student visas, there were 127,731 grants to main applicant Indian nationals in the year ending September 2022, an increase of 93,470 ( 273 percent) compared to 2019 (34,261), the Commission had said.
Earlier in August, UK Immigration Statistics said that Indian nationals were issued the largest number of UK study, work and visitor visas.
India has also overtaken China as the largest nationality being issued sponsored study visas in the UK.
India and UK are engaged in negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement. On November 28, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak emphasised the importance of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India.
"By 2050, the Indo-Pacific will deliver over half of global growth compared with just a quarter from Europe and North America combined. That's why we're joining the Trans-Pacific trade deal, the CPTP, delivering a new FTA with India and pursuing one with Indonesia," Sunak said in his address at the Lord Mayor's Banquet at London's Guildhall.
The trade deal which was initially postponed from October to December due to political and economic crisis in the UK is now likely to be closed by March 2023.
(With inputs from ANI)