Following Sri Lanka, Thailand Opens Doors to Indian Tourists with Visa-Free Entry: Find out 60 countries who offer free Visa to Indians

Not only is this the most delightful time of year to visit Sri Lanka, but Indian passport holders no longer need a visa to enter the country, thus now is the ideal time to plan a trip there. The Ministry of Tourism in Sri Lanka recently said that visitors from seven nations—China, India, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand—can now enter the country without a visa. The FREE VISA TO INDIAN Citizens project, which is a trial program, will run until March 31, 2024.

Traveling to Sri Lanka will be easy thanks to this program. Previously, Indian nationals visiting Sri Lanka had to have an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) document with them. It was necessary for travelers to show this document when they arrived. The travelers had to pay INR 2080 for this Electronic Travel Authorization document, which had a 30-day validity period.

Free VISA to Indian citizens will bolster the Lankan Economy

The stunning island nation of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean is becoming a more and more well-liked vacation spot for travelers from over the globe. Its friendly visa-free policy for holders of Indian passports has attracted even more attention in recent years, especially from Indian tourists. In addition to strengthening the cultural relations between the two countries, this kind policy has created a wealth of opportunities for tourists looking for varied experiences, historical significance, and unspoiled landscapes.

India and Sri Lanka have strong historical and cultural ties, which is why Indian nationals are allowed entry into the country without a visa. The connections between India and Sri Lanka have endured for millennia due to their common religion, history, and trade. The permanent relationship between these two countries is demonstrated by the visa-free policy.

Thailand will provide free visa to Indian tourists from 10th of November

In an uplifting news for explorers, Thailand will permit without visa section for sightseers from India and Taiwan for a time of a half year from November 10 to May 10, 2024. The choice has been taken with a target to attract more vacationers as the travel industry season draws near, a Thai government official told news organization Reuters.

Those showing up from India and Taiwan can enter Thailand for 30 days, as indicated by Thai government representative Chai Wacharonke. He added the specialists trusted that the plan would draw in 1.4 an additional million sightseers, creating extra 55 billion baht or $1.5 billion in income.

Indian Passport ranked 80 among the Henley Passport Index

According to the most recent Henley and Partners research, the strength of the Indian passport increased from 87th rank in 2022 to 80th place in 2023, granting its holders visa-free entry to 57 countries.

Based in large part on information from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Henley Passport Index ranks passport holders according to the number of places they can visit without a prior visa. Senegal and Togo are the other two nations, ranking 80th, along India.

As for the Henley Passport Index, Japan has fallen to third place as Singapore overtook it for the first time in five years, according to the study released on Tuesday.

With its citizens being able to visit 192 out of 227 countries worldwide without a visa, Singapore is officially the passport with the most power in the world.

With visa-free travel to 190 places, Germany, Italy, and Spain have risen to the top spot. Japanese passport holders now rank third with visa-free travel to 189 destinations, behind only Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea, and Sweden.

After a six-year downward trend, the UK has finally turned the curve, moving up two spots to fourth place in the most recent ranking—a spot it had held since 2017.

Conversely, the US has been declining down the index over the past ten years, falling two more spots to eighth rank, where it can travel to up to 184 countries without a visa. In 2014, the US and the UK jointly held the top spot on the index, but since then, their rankings have declined.

Out of all the nations ranked in the “Top 10,” the United States has had the least improvement in its Henley Passport Index score in the last ten years, gaining entry without a visa to just 12 new places between 2013 and 2023.

Afghanistan has the lowest visa-free entry index score of any country in the world, at 27, followed by Iraq (29), Syria (30), and Afghanistan (27).

Indian passport holders have varying degrees of visa-free access, visa-on-arrival, or eVisa options in several countries around the world. Here’s a list of 60 countries and territories that generally offer visa-free or simplified entry for Indian citizens:

Visa-Free Access:

1. Bhutan
2. Nepal
3. Maldives

Visa-on-Arrival or eVisa:

5. Indonesia
6. Sri Lanka
7. Mauritius
8. Seychelles
9. Jordan
10. Kenya
11. Tanzania
12. Rwanda
13. Uganda
14. Fiji
15. Zimbabwe
16. Guyana
17. Jamaica
18. Trinidad and Tobago
19. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
20. Saint Kitts and Nevis
21. Dominica
22. Grenada
23. Saint Lucia
24. Suriname
25. Mongolia
26. Cambodia
27. Laos
28. Vietnam
29. Kyrgyzstan
30. Tajikistan
31. Armenia
32. Belarus
33. Ukraine
34. Serbia
35. Bosnia and Herzegovina
36. North Macedonia
37. Albania
38. Montenegro
39. Kosovo
40. Moldova
41. Georgia
42. Kazakhstan
43. Uzbekistan
44. Turkmenistan
45. Azerbaijan
46. Bahrain
47. Iran
48. Iraq
49. Oman
50. Qatar
51. Kuwait
52. Saudi Arabia
53. United Arab Emirates
54. Lebanon
55. Israel
56. Egypt
57. Morocco
58. Tunisia
59. Turkey
60. Sudan
61. Thailand