Kamal Ghorui
Planning a vacation to China? Your journey might not be as smooth! More and more Indians are looking to travel the south Asian country, thanks to rising aviation capacity, competitive hotel rates and social media buzz. However, travel industry executives have warned that this surge might be dampened due to tight visa procedures and longer processing timelines. Tour operators and travel agents told ET that rejection rates have risen and visa processing is taking longer since new rules were introduced last December. The updated system mandates applicants to first submit documents online and secure approval from the Chinese embassy or consulates before completing physical submission at the visa application centre.
What are the revised rules ?
Under the revised rules, visa applicants must fill an online application form and upload documents such as passports, photographs and other supporting paperwork. They must also provide a printout of the payment confirmation email. After this, applicants wait for preliminary verification and online approval. In some cases, authorities may email requests for additional documents or corrections. Applications can also be marked as ‘rejected’, requiring candidates to modify and resubmit their forms.Once cleared, applicants will receive a confirmation email and the status will change to ‘online review completed’. They can then visit the application centre with printouts of the ‘visa application certificate’ and the remaining required documents for physical submission.Mohak Nahta, founder and CEO of visa services firm Atlys, said that the industry saw rejection levels spike sharply in December. “We have seen both longer timelines and higher rejection rates recently. There is also additional scrutiny, particularly around financials,” Nahta told ET.Further more, travel companies have also flagged that financial statements are now being scrutinised more closely. “Applicants are now expected to show a minimum balance for ‘1 lakh maintained consistently over the past three months. Further, the new online pre-approval stage itself is taking longer, which has extended overall processing timelines,” he added.Ajay Prakash, founder of Nomad Travels and former president of the Travel Agents Federation of India, said that the introduction of the new process has led to delays in approvals. “A lot of times, the approvals are not coming. I think travel is fully resuming after five years with the direct flights and so are the applications, so everybody is testing the waters on this,” he added.Even as travellers navigate the tighter visa process, interest in China is spreading beyond its traditional tourism belt. Earlier, leisure travel was largely centred on Beijing, Shanghai and Xi’an, but current demand covers a broader set of destinations, said Neeraj Singh Dev, executive vice president and head of e-commerce and domestic and short haul holidays at Thomas Cook (India).According to Dev, Indian tourists are now looking at options including Chengdu, Chongqing, Zhangjiajie, Yichang and the Yangtze river cruise circuit. He also highlighted that improved connectivity is giving travellers more entry points and cost-effective routes, with IndiGo operating low-cost flights to Guangzhou, Air India flying from Delhi and China Eastern reinstating routes.
