By SUNIL Sonkar
NEW DELHI, India: The stapled visas of the Chinese embassy and consulates have been declared “invalid” by India. These are the standalone paper visas given to the Indians from Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh by them. The Government of India has also issued a travel advisory to those going to China to make sure that their visas are pasted on the passports and not given in a staple way.
The external affairs ministry while alluding on Thursday to the recent practice of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi and its consulates in Kolkata and Mumbai to issue visas on separate sheet of paper said, “Such paper visas stapled to the passport are not considered valid for travel out of the country.”
New Delhi also slammed the practice of issuing separate visas “to certain categories of Indian nationals on the basis of their domicile, ethnicity and/or place of issue of the passport” weeks before.
India has also taken this matter with China at the highest levels. Even though the practice was not stopped and it provoked New Delhi to issue the travel advisory rendering separate visas as invalid.
According to the external ministry, “All Indian citizens intending to travel to China are advised that before making any travel arrangements they should first ascertain from the Chinese embassy or consulate, whether the visa being issued to them will be affixed to the passport or will be in the nature of a stapled paper visa, so that they are not inconvenienced or put to any financial loss later on this count.”
