One of the by-products of the lockdown imposed in India in March 2020 has been the standstill in commercial aviation, and the inability to move in and out of the country at will. All Visa’s were suspended, and flights were closed. However, these restrictions were being opened up, one by one. In my last update for who can access India, of August 6, 2020, I covered the situation of who can go in and out of the country, there are new updates that have been rolled out over the weekend. Here is the official Ministry of Home Affairs notification of travel restrictions India being eased.
The notification focusses on countries with which India has made a green-lane sort of pact, which includes the United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany and France. Other countries could be added later.
Accordingly, all Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) Cardholders can now visit India from these countries. Earlier, there was a limitation on who could come into the country, and there had to be a need to travel to India proven to get back to the country. No longer. And while tourism has not opened up to US/UK/Germany and France passport holders, they can enter India now for business, medical and employment purposes by getting the appropriate Visa.
The good news for Indians is, the confusion about travelling to some countries is gone. You can now travel to the UK and countries even on a tourist/visitor visa as long as you are willing to quarantine yourselves if the other country requires you to. For instance, in the USA, you can get off the plane and go about your business, but in the UK, you will have to first isolate for 14 days. What confuses me is still is that India is not on the recommended list of countries to open travel to by the EU, so is it that France and Germany are running counter to EU recommendations and making their own decision? I am working to find out more.
We are not sure at this moment of how this affects the India – UAE arrangement, which is not expressly mentioned in the notification.
Bottomline
We are finally getting closer to a green-lane arrangement with countries in its pure form. Of course, this still does not indicate that regular commercial flights will open anytime soon. Still, it does suggest that the repatriation flights now might have the spare capacity so you can take a vacation or conduct business in the USA if you feel you are ready for it now.
Is anyone ready to make a trip abroad just yet?
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