India Visa requirements for US nationals relaxed

US nationals intending to visit India will not have to produce their birth certificates when applying for an India Visa, a move which is expected to further increase tourism.

Some 827,140 US tourists visited India in 2009 – placing the US as the number one tourist market for India. In 2008, India drew as many as 804,933 tourists from the US.

The travel trade sector has been requesting for quite some time for the India visa application process to be simplified to allow further tourism growth.

The Indian External Affairs Ministry has issued a direction to the Indian consulates in the US to waiving the provision related to submission of birth certificates for the US nationals at the time of applying for a visa.

The Worldwide Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in India visa and immigration information.