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Indians and Visas

Indian Passport (Source: Wikipedia (Indian Passport))

While the bane of every globe-trotting Indian citizen is the amount of visa related paperwork that needs to be processed prior to travelling overseas, this is not necessarily the norm. A number of countries are either happy to provide free tourist visas to Indians, provide them for a fee, or provide them if an advance application has been made, all upon arrival. Besides the usual suspects such as Nepal and Sri Lanka, they include Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles, Dominica, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Bolivia, Ecuador, Hong Kong, Thailand, Fiji, Vanuatu and many others.

Statistically speaking, Indians are said to have easy international access to only around 50 countries. In comparison, citizens of the United Kingdom have easy access to around 166 countries. This was, however, not always the case. Until the 1980s, Indian citizens and those of other countries as well, could travel to a far greater number of destinations, including those in the developed world, without having to toil for a visa beforehand.