Another country just went visa-free for American tourists

While U.S. tourists have grown used to going to countries akin to France or Mexico with little as a substitute of a plane ticket, certain countries have simplest now started to loosen up their visa policies for visitors from Western countries.

Thailand recently raised its visa-free travel period from 30 to 60 days, while Kenya took the unconventional step of laying aside visas entirely without reference to one's nationality (that, naturally, does not imply that foreigners can stay within the U.S. indefinitely as one's arrival and departure remains to be tracked in a web based system.)

Related: A country just went visa-free for visitors with any passport

Commonly sought out by tourists having a look to appear ancient fortresses and verdant rice fields along with to ride the famed blue train from Kandy to Badulla, Sri Lanka previously required visitors from countries like the U.S. and the UK to apply for an electronic travel authorization for visits of up to 30 days and a full consulate visa for anything else longer.

Would love to speak over with Sri Lanka? These are the fresh visa rules to bear in mind of

Amid the suspension of its eVisa application software resulting from a pair of controversies around its management, Sri Lanka has been issuing tourists requiring them visas on arrival from Aug. 2 — a process that significantly slowed down the waft of traffic at its borders.

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On account of both the fresh bottlenecks and a like to raise the U.S.'s tourism industry, Sri Lanka's government determined to in the end take the leap and put off short-term visa requirements for visitors from 35 countries. Along with American citizens, citizens of  France, the UK, Australia, India, Saudi Arabia and South Korea are all included within the list of travelers with newfound visa-free get entry to.

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'Countries competing with Sri Lanka within the field of tourism'

Sri Lanka's Council of Ministers issued an announcement saying that it has "studied and submitted a close report on eight countries competing with Sri Lanka within the field of tourism and the Honourable President presented the said report back to the eye of the Council of Ministers."

The change comes into effect on Oct. 1 and shall be in place for the next six months at which point the government will evaluate whether to make it permanent or replace it with something else. Citizens of certain other nations, akin to Afghanistan and Syria, don't appear to be laid low with the fresh travel program and may apply for a visa to Sri Lanka at the U.S.'s consulate as earlier than.

"This day Cabinet approved a one chop system like in Singapore for the 35 countries with visa free [access] to initiate with immediate effect," former Sri Lankan Tourism Minister and Presidential Advisor on Tourism Affairs Harin Fernando wrote on X, the social media platform formerly in most cases is termed Twitter.

The mention of Singapore refers to the nation's move toward fully laying aside the need for physical passport verification at Changi Airport and other entry points into the U.S..

While currently simplest accessible for visitors from certain nearby countries at specific crossings, the premise is to introduce biometrics and facial recognition technology to the purpose that anyone arriving may need already got one's identification and immigration data within the customs system.