Foreign Tourists Can Now Visit Andaman And Nicobar Directly: Port Blair Becomes Authorised Immigration Check Post

Foreign tourists can now directly visit the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Tribune India reports. The Port Blair airport has become an authorised immigration check-point for entry and exit for tourists with valid travelling documents into India.

A notification from the home ministry said, “In pursuance of sub-rule (b) of rule 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950, the central government hereby designates Port Blair airport of Union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands as an authorised immigration check post for entry into/exit from India with valid travel documents for all classes of passengers”.

Further, the Superintendent of Police, CID, Andaman and Nicobar Police has been appointed as the “civil authority” by the ministry for the immigration check post at the airport, valid from 31 December 2018.

The Andaman and Nicobar islands have become one of the most sought-after tourist destinations in India. The chain of Islands, on an average, receive four lakh tourists annually, of which several thousand are foreigners.

Data for the home ministry reveals that over 16 lakh tourists visited the islands between 2015 and October 2018. Year wise the number of tourists visiting the islands are increasing. In 2016, 4,00,019 tourists, including 15,467 foreigners visited the islands. In 2017, 4,87,229 tourists visited the islands, of which 15,310 were foreigners.

Since Andaman and Nicobar is a union territory, the home ministry has the administrative control of the islands. Until October 2018, the union territory received 4,02,393 tourists, including 11,818 foreigners, the data revealed.