China Banned visa-free entry for Indians: China has withdrawn the visa-free facility in Hongkong for Indians from now onwards and they will have to fulfill the formality of a pre-arrival registration from January. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China which is known for trade.
The move comes as a huge setback for Indian travelers. China has taken the decision amidst the China’s anti-India and pro-Pakistan stand over NSG bid as well as terrorism.
Hong Kong immigration has been put the information on its official site
The information that China Banned visa-free entry for Indians has been put on the official website of Hong Kong immigration which stated that “ The Pre-arrival Registration for Indian Nationals will be implemented on January 23, 2017. The online service for ‘Pre-arrival Registration for Indian Nationals’ is now opened.”
“Indian nationals must apply for and successfully complete pre-arrival registration online before they can visit or transit the HKSAR visa-free (if seeking to enter the HKSAR during transit). Pre-arrival registration is not required for Indian nationals in direct transit by air and not leaving the airport transit area,” it further read.
With this move, almost half million of Indians will be influenced who usually visit Hong Kong for business, trade and holidays. Hong Kong is also known as shopping destination where Temple Street Night Market, bespoke tailors attract tourist. It is world’s 11 largest trading units, with a total value of imports and exports exceeding its gross domestic product.
Hong Kong is the major financial center in the world
It has a world’s busiest airport for international cargo and its physical location allows the city to establish a transportation and logistics infrastructure that includes the world’s second busiest container port. The country is one of the major financial centers in the world with the highest Financial Development Index score.
Prior this decision, the entry was visa-free for Indians in Hong Kong and they could stay in Hong Kong for 14 days without a visa, however, they necessary to bring a valid passport. The facility to provide Indians has been withdrawn despite representations from India on the ground that the number of Indian asylum seekers was on the rise, official sources told PTI.
Indian officials believe that Hong Kong is using the asylum seekers as the pretext to deny the visa-free entry Indians. According to officials, Hong Kong has become a stunning place for the tourist because it offers several facilities to tourists like food and stays free of cost until their requests are processed.
It is also very unfair for Hong Kong’s own interest to deny visa-free entry for over half million Indians with legal documents to visit every year pointing to few hundred asylum seekers and it would cause loss of revenue, officials said.
