The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has come up with some guidelines regarding the tourist visa regulations. The proposals have come after the ministry faced certain opposition regarding the already proposed stringent rules in the tourist visa category. The criticism came from various departments including the tourism industry.

Now the new guidelines state that the tourists can re-enter the nation for three times as far as their approved visa time frame is concerned. However, the restriction of two months cooling-off period is still applicable for an overseas applicant who plans to get a new visa stay. The restriction is not applicable for those overseas students who come on any other visa or have Overseas Citizenship of India cards or the ones having PIO.

It has been known that the Immigration rules were deliberately made tough after the terror attacks from in Mumbai came into consideration. The frequent visits of the terrorist David Coleman Headley made it a necessity to rigidify the rules and regulations, in order to keep a strict check on the undocumented applicants and illegal immigration.

Coming back to the new guidelines, if an overseas applicant having a tourist visa, after entering the country, intends to go to another neighboring nation and later intends to re-enter India within a span of 60 days, before making the ultimate exist, he has the freedom to do so thrice!

Hence, India can be used as a transit point for those overseas travelers who intend to visit various countries using India in between their travels. It is essential for the travelers to show their itinerary along with tickets and other booking details to confirm their plans.