By IANS,
New Delhi : Since the beginning of this month, the Malaysian High Commission in New Delhi is taking visa applications online only, after Kuala Lumpur abolished the visa on arrival facility for Indians.
Officials in the Malaysian government have been quoted in local newspapers as saying the decision is designed to streamline procedures and to curb the prevalent practice of illegal overstay.
The number of tourists and business visitors from India to Malaysia has gone up in recent years, as also flights operated by Indian and Malaysian airlines.
Malaysia had introduced the visa on arrival (VOA) scheme in September 2006 to attract an estimated 21 million tourists, a bulk of them from South Asia, during the Visit Malaysia Campaign of 2007.
Up to Nov 6, 2007, over 14,500 visitors had applied for the VOA, of which more than 10,000 were from India. The others were from China (1,634), Sri Lanka (980), Bangladesh (862) and Pakistan (796).
Malaysian government records show 2,789 Indian tourists had overstayed, followed by 355 from China, Kuala Lumpur newspapers report.
Besides New Delhi, Malaysian’s Assistant High Commission in Chennai also processes visa applications from Indian visitors.
Apart from the visa process going online, the High Commission website says anyone seeking an employment visa will have to go through a medical examination.