According to TTR Wekly in Bangkok, citizens of another 22 countries are now eligible for a visa on arrival, when ariving at Yangon and Mandalay International Airports. The list of eligible countries now totals 48.

The ruling came into effect on February 1, according to Immigration and National Registration Department Assistant Director, U Than Win. U Than Win wants to encourage more people to use the service. "Citizens of 48 countries are eligible for visa on arrival. This will be useful for eligible travellers, who don’t have time to apply for a visa at an embassy," he said.

There are three types of visa categories: business, tourist entry and transit, costing U$50, US$40 and US$20 (B1,500, B1,200 and B600) respectively.

"The duration of a business visa is 70 days,” U Than Win said, "while tourist entry visas for seminars, meetings and workshops are valid for 28 days."

The list of the 48 countries, whose citizens are now eligible for visa-on-arrival is: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Further on: Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, USA and Viet Nam.

According to the Myanmar Ministry of Immigration and Population Web-site, visa-on-arrival is available at both Mandalay and Yangon Airports.

For more details, please contact Travel Consultant Reinhard Hohler by e-mail.