Hundreds of tourists visit Mandalay on new arrival visa

Published on Sunday, 09 June 2013 10:44

Mandalay Tadaoo International Airport has seen 252 tourists, mostly American citizens; visit the ancient city while purchasing their visas on arrival. Immigration authorities began issuing business, entry and transit visas on arrival in November 2012.
The new arrival visas are expected to help boost tourism to Myanmar. Over 160,000 tourists visited Mandalay in 2012 and more than 78,000 tourists came in the first quarter of this year.
“We only issue visas in accordance with the rules and regulations. According to the rules, children under 7 years olds who are registered on their parents' passports can enter Myanmar for free. One person was deported because he didn’t have the necessary documents,” said Thaung Zaw, Head of the Department of Immigration and National Registration.
Myanmar Immigration authorities collect US$50 for business visas, US$40 for entry visa and US$29 for transit visas. The allowance for stay is 70 days for business visas, 28 days for entry visas and 1 day for a transit visa.
Myanmar currently issues visas on arrival to 26 countries and will be increasing the list of countries eligible to 49 countries starting in March 2013.