Travel advisory India: Re-entry on Tourist Visas
MHA( Ministry of Home Affairs) have come up with the two months gap rule for the holders of long term tourist visas to India. There is yet no public notification by the MHA for the general public in this regard. So it’s not clear whether the rule applies to short term( i.e. six months or less) tourist visa holders. The recent travelers checking at POEs at New Delhi and Bangalore have reported that it’s being applied to all tourist visa holders. MHA might come up with a final public notification with details sometime next month.
As of now, all tourists are required to procure a special “re-entry exemption letter” from the Indian Embassy abroad in case they wish to re-enter India within a period of two months since the last date of departure from India. Besides, in case of re-entry with the exemption letter, they are required to register themselves at the local FRO( foreigner registration office) within 14 days of arrival. The Immigration officials are also placing stamps in the passports of departing tourists stating something like “Re-entry into India not allowed for 2 months from the date of departure”. Again, the practice of putting this stamp is not uniform across all POEs.
