Several groups of people who were scheduled to travel to China from Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Delhi airports were stopped from boarding their planes on October 31, after immigration authorities allegedly deemed their visas invalid without adequate explanation. Some of them were heading to visit the All In Print China 2023, an exhibition held in Shanghai from November 1 to 4. A group from Hyderabad, however, was able to travel to China on October 28 for the same exhibition, with the same type of visa that was issued to those who were stopped from travelling three days later.
Mujeeb Ahmed, a member of the Governing Council of All India Federation of Master Printers (AIFMP) and one of the travellers who were stopped, told TNM that this was a peculiar incident and they were given no notice about why their visa was ‘invalid’. Delegates participating in the exhibition had received a ‘group visa’, similar to a tourist visa but with a few notable differences. A group visa is a single entry visa issued to two or more groups travelling to China for tourism purposes. This visa has been permitted for close to 15 years now, and one of its unique features is that to avail it, the visa seeker need not provide biometrics or visit the Chinese embassy. Some rules to be followed by group visa holders are:
> All members of the group must enter and exit China on the same day.
> Members holding the visa must enter either through Beijing or Shanghai.
> This is a single entry visa for tourist purposes and the stay must not exceed 30 days.
“Two people from my group wanted to extend their stay so they had gotten tourist visas as well and they were allowed to go. Only those who got a group visa were not permitted. There was no prior notice nor is there any information on the website of the Ministry of External Affairs. We have raised a complaint but there has been no response so far,” Mujeeb said, pointing out that this last minute denial of entry is an expensive affair for them.
“Everything was arranged for the trip, the hotels were booked. Each person had spent around Rs 1,60,000 for the trip. We are unsure if we will be able to get refunds at this point. Airlines might not return our money as it would be a case of ‘no show’,” he added.
The AIFMP subsequently filed a complaint with the Bureau of Immigration on October 31, detailing the incident. The letter had also sought permission to travel for the exhibition, but they did not receive a response.
Recounting his experience at the Mumbai airport on October 31, Raveendra Joshi, another traveller who was supposed to leave for China for the exhibition, said it was only during the immigration formalities that a problem with their visa was raised. “We were asked why we did not have ‘stamped visas’. We informed them that the visa we hold is valid, but they refused to let us go. I had asked for a government circular or notification which said group visas are not permitted, but they had nothing to show. They simply said that this was government policy and we could approach the courts if we had an issue.”
Now, Raveendra is worried if the ‘cancelled’ mark on his passport would affect his future visa applications and travel plans. “If I apply for a visa to another country, wouldn’t they ask why this [immigration approval to China] has been cancelled? Will they not become suspicious? I don’t know what the state of my passport is now. I believe that the government must issue a letter to all of us stating there was no fault on the side of the passenger, so it does not affect our future travel plans.”
Raveendra’s fears are echoed by Mujeeb. “We are business owners and we travel overseas often for work and exhibitions. In the future, we will be applying for Schengen visas. But the ‘cancelled’ mark on the passport might not reflect well on us, it may even affect the process,” Mujeeb said.
Tushar Dhote, who was also supposed to travel from the Mumbai airport to China, said he has travelled with a group visa a few times and this is the first time it has been rejected by immigration officers. He was also instructed by these officers to visit the Chinese embassy and get a “proper visa” if he wished to travel to China. “Unless there is a circular from the Union government stating that group visas to China are not permitted, it does not make sense to stop us from travelling. Since we were issued boarding passes, it is understood that even airlines did not have any intimation about group visas not being valid anymore,” he said.
U Tourizmo, a travel agency based out of Noida, had arranged the trip for one of these groups. Kunal Sood, director of U Tourizmo, told TNM that they have been availing group visas for more than 15 years and have never faced issues like this before. Explaining how a group visa is issued, he said, “In a conventional tourist visa, each passport is stamped with a visa but that is not the case with group visas. The physical copies are sent to us by courier and we hand them over to our travellers.We have our vendors in China who get them issued through Chinese immigration authorities.”
Kunal said they preferred group visas because of the convenience. “There were no appointments available in the Chinese embassy. Also, with a group visa, there are chances of a passenger being accommodated even if they apply for it 10 days before the travel date. We checked with some government officials and they also said that there has been no circular or notification issued regarding group visas. We have also not received any response from the immigration officers as to why the passengers were not permitted to travel,” he said.
All three passengers TNM spoke to said the lack of prior information regarding the supposed invalidity of group visas cost them a lot of money. Apart from the personal losses incurred, Tushar pointed out that many business opportunities were also lost, because several people in the printing business could not travel for the exhibition this year. “This is adversely affecting the business community. A similar opportunity will only come again in 2026. Not being able to travel will affect people who had planned on putting up their stalls at the exhibition. It will definitely reduce investments. Ultimately, it has triggered a chain of events that will affect everyone from the manufacturers to the vendors,” he said. He added that the AIFMP has now decided to get regular stamped visas and invitation letters from the organisers, so that such mishaps can be avoided in the future.
Even travel agencies come under large financial liability due to such sudden denial of permission to group visa travels, Kunal said. “We have to seek refunds from airlines and we are unsure if they will provide it,” he added.