Japan announces new visa rules for Indians; multiple-entry visa period to be doubled to 10 years

In December last year, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe had visited India, and along with a long list of announcements was the relaxation of visa norms for Indians, which is amongst the first ones to have been delivered.

From February 15 this year, Japanese Visa rules would be eased, which would initially benefit businessmen, academics and artists from these two countries, as stated by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.

The Japanese foreign ministry also stated that the move was part of the Japanese government's drive to increase the number of foreign tourists to Japan, while also increasing people-to-people contacts. Since both Delhi and Tokyo have identified people-to-people contacts as one of the areas for increasing cooperation, this move will only be bringing these two countries closer.

The period for multiple-entry visa period would also be doubled from 5 to 10 years, the longest issued by the Japanese government so far.
These multiple-entry visas will increase business and academic exchange purposes amongst the nations, as visa holders will be able to subsequently enter Japan for tourism or meeting friends and families.

"We hope that the relaxing of visa will increase repeat visits to Japan and enhance convenience in businesses," Kishida said on Tuesday in Tokyo.