RANGOON
— Burma plans to launch an online
application system for tourist visas later this year, according to the Ministry
of Immigration and Population, which announced on Friday that it was opening a
tender for the project.
As
tourist arrivals in Burma continue to grow, the ministry has received
complaints about the difficulties and delays in applying for visas at
embassies, according to Maung Maung Than, director-general of the Department of
Immigration and National Registration.
“We’re
considering the process of online visa applications, and we’re confident we can
get it operating by September,” Maung Maung Than told The Irrawaddy, adding
that non-tourist visas would not be available through the new system.
Visa
fees will be paid online, he said, adding that the fees would be determined
later by the operating company and the government.
According
to a statement in state-run media, information and technology companies can
submit proposals for the project until July 16.
Currently,
tourists must apply for visas at embassies in their home countries. More
processing time is required if an applicant lives in a country without a
Burmese embassy. Long wait times are also common at the embassies in Thailand
and China, which neighbor Burma and see a high number of applicants.
Tourists
can stay in Burma for 28 days on a single visa. According to figures from the
Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, more than 2 million tourists came to the
country in 2013. The ministry expects more than 3 million tourists this year.
Burma’s
tourism sector saw the highest relative growth in Southeast Asia last year,
with the number of foreign arrivals spiking 52 percent, according to a report
by the UN World Tourism Organization. Despite the surging growth, Burma remains
one of the region’s least-visited countries after decades of military rule and
poor development.
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