Myanmar’s Ministry of Immigration and Population this week began a trial period for an online tourism visa application system that is due to be fully implemented next month, The Irrawaddy reported.
“The online application system for tourist visas will be officially launched on September 1. We are now running the trial process, starting from Sunday, to assure the best result,” an official at the e-visa department under the Ministry of Immigration and Population told The Irrawaddy.
He said the ministry would accept a limited number of applicants while testing for bugs in the online processing system in the coming weeks, as well as soliciting input from users.
During the trial run, applicants are required to fill out an online visa form, verify that all the information entered is correct and make an online credit card payment. Applicants will receive a visa approval letter via email and are then eligible to have their passport stamped upon arrival by presenting a print-out of the electronic approval letter.
Following submission of an application, the approval process will take up to five days and the online visa costs US$50 per applicant. From the date that the approval letter is received, applicants have up to 90 days to enter Myanmar, where they can stay for a maximum of 28 days