New visa format to seek foreigners’ criminal past

NEW DELHI: The government is working on a revised visa format to capture a foreign applicant’s criminal history, including in cases of child abuse, the government informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said that at present, there was no provision for declaring record of criminal prosecution in the existing visa form, even though the visa manual clearly states that persons convicted of criminal offences cannot enter India.

“The government has initiated steps to revise visa format to capture the applicant’s crime details including child abuse, ” he said in a written reply. Earlier this year, women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi had written to the external affairs ministry requesting amendment in visa format to restrict the entry of foreign nationals convicted of child abuse into India. “Have requested Smt @SushmaSwaraj ji to revise visa format so foreign nationals with criminal record of child abuse don’t enter India,” she had said in a tweet.