New rules for medical and health tourism E-visas to India

Indian national government has amended the e-visa rules for 150 countries on health and medical tourism. Visa procurement to India will become easier.

The Indian national government has amended the e-visa rules for 150 countries on health and medical tourism that makes visa procurement to India easy.

The number of tourists visiting India for alternative medicine has gone up in recent years, particularly for traditional Indian treatments. With the revised e-tourist visas for foreigners seeking treatment by Indian medicine, the healthcare industry is optimistic that the thriving wellness tourism in the south will benefit.

The national government has amended the e-visa rules to include short-term treatment under traditional medicine including ayurveda, siddha and unani, as an activity allowed through e-tourist visa.

The average stay of an international tourist for ayurveda treatment in the country is six days. The new initiative will benefit Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand, which are the hub for ayurveda treatment. India is attracting people from Russia and Europe, with Germans being particularly interested.

For medical tourism, the new process will make it easier for people to go to India as medical tourists.

Acquiring a visa to India has been a tiresome procedure for medical tourists. Patients applying for a visa to India had to wait for a number of weeks to gain the required certificates from hospitals located in India. For the visa to be granted, these medical certificates are necessary. The applicant had to wait for several more weeks while the visa application was being processed. The wait was tediously long,

Now, all the documents relating to the visa application can be submitted online. These include scanned copies of medical reports, tests, and prescriptions that can be sent to the embassy via the online portal. The biometric details can now be taken on arrival in India. The procedure allows for the application to be filled at home.

The government has set a target of 10% growth of medical tourism for 2016 and is finally helping to promote the country.