Visa Discrimination
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An advantage of being a citizen of a Western power like the USA is that you can visit most countries as a tourist without needing a visa. Not so for us Indian citizens.
Indians need visas to go to most countries in the world. This is understandable. What surprises me is the dramatic difference in the visa fees charged upon us by various countries. For instance, Belize, a tiny country in Central America, charges $250 for a tourist visa and Uruguay, nothing. Both these countries specifically point out India in their requirements.
Trying to find out why this is so, I put this question to a journalist friend of mine whose father was once in the Indian Foreign Service. He didn’t know either and has forwarded my question to some diplomatic types who will hopefully get back to me.
Apart from recovering the processing fees, and having a record of who visits your country, the main reason these fees are imposed is to prevent people from becoming “illegal aliens” (in US-speak). But why would an Indian citizen want to travel across the seven seas and settle down in Belize, great diving notwithstanding? This baffles me.
Every once in a while though, you come across a country such as Jamaica, for which you don’t even need a visa. (Jamaica doesn’t require visas of citizens of the former British Commonwealth.) Recently, I was also told Thailand is another country where we can get visas stamped at the port of entry. (This wasn’t the case three years ago when I went there.) The tides, they are a-changing.
Aren’t some of these fees at least due to India charging those countries’ citizens the same amount? Or is it the other way around?
That’s likely the case though I don’t know who charges whom first. The reason Indians don’t need to pay anything for the Uruguayan visa is definitely due to some bilateral agreement. I know because I asked the consulate folks here.
I have also noticed significant differences in the way the consulates treat you when you apply for a visa. Once a very rude person at the Taiwanese office of cultural affairs in San Francisco (for obvious reasons, it’s not called a consulate) almost shouted at me wondering why she should give me a visa when India does not recognize Taiwan. I restrained myself and calmly told her that I am not running my country’s government (I did get the visa). By far, the friendliest consulates were those of Argentina (L.A.) and South Korea (SF).
You should’ve asked the dumbass whether her country recognizes Kashmir. But I guess she wasn’t about to visit Kashmir.
Yes, the Argentinian consulate in NYC was very friendly, too, or was it the Brazilian one, I don’t remember anymore.
I don’t think that’s completely true. For a person who can afford the airfare to get there, and who has the means to organize all the supporting documents (bank statements etc.), an additional $100 or so will not be a significant deterrent, especially if said person is planning to settle there illegally.
I think the visa fees just reflect existing economic and political power equations between countries. Everyone want Americans to visit their country, because of the strength of the dollar and the purchasing power of the average American tourist. Hence they don’t need a visa for most countries. In contrast, the average Indian tourist is perceived as the poor cousin whom no one wants to host, hence the barrier to entry in the form of a high visa fee. As the Indian economy continues to grow, and the purchasing power of the Indian tourist grows with it, we will see the visa requirements change (as has happened already with Thailand.)
Other than political and administration issues, I agree with Papi’s points.
For Taiwanese, we can go to many Asian countries without visa, or get the visa at the airports of the visiting countries. Taiwan is a small country and is not recognized by many many countries. However, the power of computer/manfacturing industries put Taiwan on the world map.
Recently Japan has waived its visa requirement for Taiwanese. Thus, the numbers of people and tours going to Japan have increased dramatically.
Last week, my sister and I went to China without getting visa in advance. We arrived in Shanghai and we got our visa at Shanghai airport. Tourism can enhance the economy of a country. I believe that Chinese and Indians will be able to travel easily soon due to the future promising economic power.
what are the requirement for Belize visa for Indian passport holders and immigration airport entry