All Afghans must travel to India on e-Visa, says Home Ministry

The Home Ministry on Wednesday said that all Afghan nationals must travel to India only on e-Visa. The ministry said that the measure is being taken owing to the prevailing situation in Afghanistan.

"Owing to the prevailing security situation in Afghanistan and streamlining of the visa process by introduction of the e-Emergency X-Misc visa, it has been decided that all Afghan nationals henceforth must travel to India only on e-Visa," said the Home Ministry.

The ministry said that previously issued visas to all Afghan nationals, who are presently not in India, stand invalidated with immediate effect. Officials said since Indian missions in Afghanistan are shut, the applications will be examined and processed in New Delhi.

The "e-Emergency X-Misc visa" will initially be valid for six months, they said. All Afghans, irrespective of their religion, can apply for the travel document. Thousands of Afghans rushed into Kabul's main airport after the fall of the city to the Taliban, some so desperate to escape the insurgents that they held onto a US military plane as it took off and plunged to their deaths.

India has evacuated all its embassy staff and several hundred Indians staying in Afghanistan. New Delhi has also evacuated many Afghans, including two MPs, Hindus and Sikhs who faced threats from the Taliban. The Taliban have already enforced their rule over the capital of 5 million people after a lightning advance across the country that took just over a week to dethrone the country's Western-backed government in mid-August.