Only home ministry to clear conference visas from 8 nations

The security clearance for conference visa seekers from eight countries, including Pakistan and China, besides that for foreigners of Pakistani-origin and stateless persons will only be given by the home ministry from now on.

As per revised guidelines for granting visa to foreigners coming to India for attending international conferences, seminars and workshops, people from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Sudan and people of Pakistani origin and stateless persons will be getting clearance from the home ministry, an official statement said.

The home ministry has written to all ministries, departments and state governments to "strictly" adhere to the revised procedure for grant of conference visa.

The instruction comes against the backdrop of reports that some departments were not adhering to these guidelines, official sources said.

"These instructions have been issued so as to ensure that all organisers of such international events strictly adhere to the time line for submitting their proposals to this ministry at least six weeks before the commencement of the event. This would ensure that security clearance for the event and for the participants could be suitably assessed," the  statement said.

"The issuance of these instructions had also become necessary because security vetting is a time-consuming process and most of the organisers of international events were not strictly adhering to the time schedules prescribed," the statement said.

As per the revised procedure, while the home ministry (foreigners division) grants in-principle approval for holding the event, security clearance for grant of conference visa is required from this ministry only in respect of participants from the eight countries and in respect of foreigners of Pakistani-origin and stateless persons (those without any citizenship or nationality).

The participants from other countries can obtain conference visa from the Indian Mission concerned on production of invitation letter from the organiser, event clearance from the ministry of home affairs, administrative approval of the nodal ministry, political clearance from the ministry of external affairs and clearance from the state government and Union Territories concerned.