The Hindu : National : Single Russian women denied visas to India?

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Wednesday, Dec 31, 2008
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Single Russian women denied visas to India?

Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW: The Indian embassy is denying visas to single Russian women travelling to India for New Year holidays, Russian agents said.

Tour operators have been lively discussing the problem at their professional online forum, tourdom.ru, even though they are reluctant to draw the media into the controversy at this stage.

A leading Russian company, Sunrise Tours, has posted the following letter on the website they claimed had come from the Indian mission in Moscow:

“This is to inform that starting December 19, 2008, the Indian embassy will not accept applications from single unmarried women aged below 45 who travel unaccompanied by relatives (husbands, parents, brothers or sisters).

“In case a woman is travelling with a partner he must provide a letter pledging to take responsibility for her. The letter does not guarantee that the papers will be accepted by the embassy, as each case will be treated on its merits.”

The Indian embassy has flatly denied any such restrictions on Russian tourists.

Dr. Ramesh Chandra, Counsellor (Information), described the reports as “inaccurate and incorrect.”

“We have no discriminatory policies on issuing visas,” he told The Hindu. “However, there are procedures to be followed in applying for a visa.”

Other operators, however, confirmed they had also been notified of the new rules either by letter or by phone. Some agents complained that visa applications for their women tourists had been rejected without prior notice.

Viktor Chekalin of the Goa Tour suggested that restrictions were prompted by “unethnical behaviour” of some women tourists. Problems are likely to be faced by those single women who just pay for visa and air travel but have no hotel bookings.

However, an agent at the Russian Express company said two single women travelling to Goa on a $17,000 tour package were denied visas. Indian consular officials demanded that a male tourist be included in the package. It was too late to do that, but the problem was eventually solved, the agent said.

One way of getting around the curbs, operators said, is to get a visa-less entry on arrival at Dabolim Airport in Goa. In recent years, Goa has emerged as a favoured destination for thousands of Russian tourists, with Russian airlines flying direct charter flights from Moscow to Goa.

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