India’s Visa on Arrival (VoA) program for citizens of Japan, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates from 2016 to 2024

In 2016, India’s VoA facility was exclusively available to Japanese nationals, with 6,803 such visas granted. This exclusivity continued into 2017, when the number of Japanese visitors utilizing this facility nearly doubled to 12,002, indicating growing awareness and popularity of the program among Japanese travellers. A significant expansion occurred in 2018 when South Korea was added to the VoA program and contributed 7,695 arrivals, while Japanese numbers continued to climb to 13,022. This resulted in a combined total of 20,717 visas on arrival—representing a 72.6% increase from the previous year. In 2019, South Korean arrivals more than tripled to 28,118, while Japanese arrivals continued their steady growth to 13,805. The UAE’s initial contribution was modest at 431 visas. The combined total of 42,354 VoAs granted to South Korean, Japanese and UAE nationals represents the peak year, suggesting the program had gained substantial traction.

However, 2020 witnessed a precipitous decline across all nationalities when the total number of visas plummeted to 6,669—an 84.3% decrease from 2019. This dramatic reduction almost certainly reflects the global travel restrictions implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Japanese visas fell by 83.4%, South Korea by 85.6%, and UAE by 21.1%. The data shows a complete absence for 2021, likely indicating a total suspension of the VoA program during the height of the pandemic. By 2022, numbers had fallen even further to just 849 total visas across all three nationalities, representing only 2% of the 2019 peak. This suggests severe ongoing travel restrictions or hesitancy among international travellers.

A substantial recovery began in 2023 when the total VoA availed by South Korean, Japanese and UAE nationals reached to 10,804 visas—approximately 25.5% of the pre-pandemic peak. This recovery further accelerated in 2024, with 14,667 total visas granted, showing continued upward momentum but still only reaching about 34.6% of the 2019 levels. Throughout the last eight years, South Korea has emerged as one of the dominant users of India’s VoA facility since its inclusion, consistently surpassing Japan’s numbers from 2019 onward despite Japan’s more extended participation in this program. The UAE’s utilization has remained comparatively modest throughout the period, never exceeding 500 visas in any given year.

Overall, this data reflects not only the evolution of India’s visa policies and international relations but also the profound impact of global events—particularly the COVID-19 pandemic—on international travel patterns. The ongoing recovery trend suggests a gradual return to pre-pandemic mobility, though the relatively slow pace of this recovery indicates that the effects of the pandemic on international travel behaviours may be longer-lasting than initially anticipated.