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Lost passport:-
1. Foreigners
should file a report with the local police regarding loss of passport.
2. After
obtaining new travel documents the foreigner should approach for grant of
visa / exit permit with the following details.
(a) Date &
type of visa
(b) Name of
Indian Mission from where visa was granted.
(c) Port of
arrival including flights number / details of vessels.
(d)
Places
visited in India.
3. At least one
week time is required for confirming the details and visa / Exit permit
can be granted after one week.
Place of Application: Ministry of Home affairs, New Delhi
Immigration Passport
Citizens of all
countries, except Nepal and Bhutan, require a national passport or travel documents of and
a visa granted by Indian Missions abroad for entering India. Nepalese or Bhutanese
citizens need no passport or visa but should possess documents for their identification
when proceeding from their countries.
Arrival
Formalities:- If the visa for stay in India is for more than 180 days, a
Registration Certificate and Residential Permit should be obtained from the nearest
Foreigners Regional Registration
Office (FRRO) within 14 days of arrival. All persons, including Indian nationals, are
required to fill in a disembarkation card at the time of arrival.
Four photographs are also
required for registration. Foreigners registered at the FRRO are required to report any
change of their addresses.
Special
Permits:- Some areas in India, usually border
districts, are out of bounds for normal travellers due to political and security reasons.
However, some of these are extremely beautiful and fascinating places, their remoteness
lending them a special quality, and special permits may be procured if one wishes to visit
them.
Permits are
usually provided to groups and for a limited number of days. There is no extra charge for
acquiring the permits and they may be obtained from the Indian Mission abroad or
governmental agencies within India.
Customs on Arrival
There are two
customs clearance channels. The green channel is for travellers carrying no dutiable items
while the red channel is for travellers carrying dutiable items.
Duty - free items:- Duty free items which you may bring to
India include personal effects like clothing and other articles but not if this is
commercial merchandise. All expensive electronic equipments must be declared at the
customs which will be rechecked on departure. Take care to obtain an Export certificate
for these items if you are travelling to neighbouring countries and intend a multiple
entry.
You cannot bring
in gold coins and gold or silver bullions into the country. Weapons brought into the country
should be licensed and declared. Any cash or travellers cheque over US $ 10,000 or
equivalent must be declared. Possession of narcotic drugs is strictly prohibited.
Gifts worth Rs
4,000 for tourists of foreign origin and Rs 12,000 for tourists of Indian origin, 200
cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250 gm of tobacco, 1 litre each of wine and spirit is allowed
free of duty.
Mishandled / Lost Baggage:
If your baggage is mishandled or lost in transit, obtain a certificate to this
effect from the airline and have it countersigned by the customs.
Customs Enquiry / Complaints:
Assistant Collector of Customs at the International Airport OR
Commissioner of Customs, New Customs House, Near IGI Airport, New Delhi 110037 Tel: 5696042
Customs Home Page
: http://konark.ncst.ernet.in/customs/
Customs on Departure
Prohibited
items of export:
Gold Jewellery valued at above
Rs. 6,000.
Animal
skins and skin products.
Antiques (over
100 years old) **
Wild plants,
seeds or parts
**For verification contact: Archeological survey of India,
Janpath, New Delhi. Tel: 301945 / 3018987 / 3019110 or ASI Offices in other states.
Visitors leaving India after less than six months are exempted from Income Tax clearance
procedures, but it is advisable to keep your encashment certificates handy in case of an
enquiry.
A Foreign Travel
Tax must be paid by all tourists on departure, Rs 150 for departures to Afghanistan,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Maldives and Rs 500 for all
other countries.
Health:- If a foreign tourist originates from or has transitted
through endemic yellow fever countries (Africa, South America, Papua New Guinea), he / she
must possess a yellow fever vaccination certificate.
No other
vaccination certificate is mandatory. Precautions can be taken against typhoid, hepatitis,
meningitis, measles, mumps, cholera etc,.
Inland
Air Travel Tax:-
An Inland Air Travel Tax is leviable at 10 percent of
the basic fare, on all passengers embarking on an inland air journey. Passengers paying
their airfare in foreign exchange will be exempted from payment of this tax. In addition,
infants, cancer patients, the blind and invalids (those on stretchers) are exempted after
fulfilling certain conditions in the relevant notifications.
All persons, except nationals of Nepal and Bhutan, leaving by air, road or rail have to
fill in an Embarkation card at the time of departure.
Exit Formalities:-
Every foreigner who is about to depart finally from India shall surrender his
Certificate
of Registration either to the Registration Officer of the place where he is registered or
of the place where he intends to depart or to the Immigration officer at the port /
checkpost of exit from India.
Health:-
Yellow Fever - anyone (except infants up to the age of six months) arriving by air or sea
without a certificate is detained in isolation for up to six days if that person
Arrives within
six days of departure from an infected area, or
Has been in
such an area is transit (excepting those passengers and members of the crew who, while in
transit through an airport situated in an infected area, remained within the airport
premises during the period of their entire stay and the health officer agrees to such
exemption), or
Has come on a ship that started
from or touched at any port in a Yellow Fever infected area up to 30 days before its
arrival in India, unless such a ship has been disinfected in accordance with the procedure
laid down by WHO, or
Has
come by an aircraft which has been in an infected area and has not been disinfected in
accordance with the provisions laid down in the Indian Aircraft Public Health Rules, 1954
or those recommended by WHO
The
following countries and areas are regarded as infected:
(a)
Africa:-
Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo,
Dem. Rep. of Congo, Ivory coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana,
Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome
& Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Tanzania,
Uganda, Zambia.
(b) America:-
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname,
Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela.
Note: When a case of Yellow Fever is reported from any country,
that country is regarded by the government of India as infected with the Yellow Fever and
is added to the above list.
Vaccination centres For Yellow Fever
For International Travellers
Delhi:
Health Organization, Palam Airport. (Tue. and Thursday 1400 - 1600 hrs) Tel. 3295507.
Public Health
Laboratory, Municipal Corporation, Town Hall, Alipur Road, Mon & Fri 1000 - 1200 hrs. Tel. 252 2058
Dr. Ram Manohar
Lolia Hospital (Wed & Sat 1100 to 1300 hrs) Tel: 3365525 / 3735337
International Inoculation Centre, Mandir Marg, New Delhi - 110001
Mumbai:
Health Office, Mumbai Airport.
Port Health Organisation, Seamens Medical Examination Organization, Nav Bhawan
Calcutta:
All India
Institute of Hygiene and Public Health.
Health
Organization, Dum Dum Airport.
Port Health
Organization.
Cochin: Port Health Organization
Goa: Urban Health Organization, Panaji.
Hyderabad: Institute of Preventive Medicine
Jamnagar:
Irwin Hospital
Kandla: Port Health Organization.
Kasauli: Central Research Institute
Lucknow: Balrampur Hospital
Chennai: King Institute of Preventive
Medicine, Guindy.
Port Health
Officer / Assistant Port Health Officer / Assistant Airport Health
Officer, Port Health Organization.
Marmugao: Port Health Organization
Porbandar: Office of the Civil Surgeon
Pune: Department of Preventive & Social
Medicine, BJ Medical College
Vishakhapatamam: Port Heath Organization.
Help
Addresses:
Government
of
India Tourist office (GTI) 88 Janpath, New Delhi 110001, India. Tel: 332 0005 / 0008 /
3320342, Fax: 332 0109
Money currency:-The Indian currency is the Rupee and it is
a fully convertible currency. The Rupee notes are available in denominations of 500, 100,
50, 20, 10, 5, 2,1. Coins are available in the denominations of 5,2,1 (rupee) and 50 and
25 paise.
Foreign Exchange:- Foreign exchange / currency brought into
India must be declared at customs where the value of foreign currency notes exceed US $
2500 or the aggregate value of the foreign exchange including currency notes exceeds US $
10,000 or equivalent. You can exchange money at international airports where 24 hour
exchange facilities are available through banks and approved money changers. You can also
change money from nationalized banks and other banks in the country.
Usual
banking
hours are 10 am to 2 pm on week days and 10 am to 12 noon on Saturdays. However, not all
banks will exchange foreign currency or travellers cheques particularly in small towns.
Most recognized hotels will exchange foreign currency 24 hours but a substantial service
charge may be levied here.
Well-known
credit cards are widely accepted in India. These may include Diners,
Masters, Visa and
American Express credit cards. They are handy not only in paying your hotel bills and airfares,
but also in buying souvenirs in small boutiques in way-off towns. Indian Railways also
accepts bookings with credit cards in metros.
Electricity:- Usually 220 volts AC, 50
Hz. Some areas have a DC
supply. Plugs used are of the round 2 and 3 pin type.
Climate:- During the hot season, temperatures in the north
can reach 104ºF. The monsoon breaks in June and peters out in September or October. In
the cool season, average temperatures are 50ºF - 59ºF in the north and the weather is
mainly dry. However, the south has a less variable climate. Madras is always hot. Average
temperatures range from 75ºF in January to 90ºF in May and June.
Aviation:-
There are five designated international airports in India - at Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai and Trivandrum.
Of these, the first two are the most used. Limited international flights are also operated from
Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Goa, Calicut, Cochin, Amritsar, Varanasi, Lucknow,
Guwahati, Tiruchirapalli, Agra and Jaipur. These are designated as ‘customs
airports’ and allow landing of tourist charter flights and international flights by
the national carriers of India.
The
international
airports at the four major metros have a fairly comprehensive range of facilities. These
may include duty - free shops, restaurants, business centres, restrooms for the disabled
as well as telephone booth, travel assistance counters, hotel booking counters, airline
booking counters, foreign exchange counters, mobile phone rentals and so on. Check out
individual city sections for details of facilities in respective cities.
India has a total
number of 115 domestic airports. Many of these have been significantly
upgraded of
late. Beginning with Delhi - the capital - the brand new Indian Airlines terminal is
comfortable and comprehensive. Technology-wise also, the airport has been substantially
upgraded.
There are new
terminal buildings at Agra, Cochin, Raipur, Bhubaneswar, Bangalore, Hyderabad and
Ahmedabad featuring contemporary design and facilities.
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