The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday exempted additional categories of foreigners from the existing visa restrictions, allowing them to travel to India.
The fresh categories include “foreign national who are minor children where at least one of their parents is an Indian citizen or OCI card holder; foreign national married to Indian citizens; foreign nationals who are single parents of minor children holding Indian passports or OCI cards; students who are foreign nationals where at least one of their parents is an Indian citizen or OCI card holder; and dependent family member of foreign diplomats/ official service passport holding service staff accredited to foreign diplomatic missions, counsellor offices of accredited international organizations in India.” The foreigners will have to seek fresh visas.
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On May 22, MHA had allowed a limited category of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders, stranded abroad, to come to India.
The life-long visa to OCIs was temporarily suspended in March in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The country was placed first under a lockdown on March 24, which was extended on four occasions.
All visas, OCI cards for foreign nationals outside India remain suspended
The current phase, known as Unlock 1.0, has allowed a range of activities. However, entry of foreigners is still banned.
