Travel Guides & Articles
Trump’s new visa rule to make travel to US nearly impossible, Indians may have to pay in lakhs just to enter US, visa bond policy to roll out soon

The new visa bond policy will apply to travelers from countries identified as high-risk for visa overstays, a longstanding concern flagged by U.S. immigration authorities.
Donald Trump’s administration has proposed new changes to the U.S. visa rules this week. If these new rules are approved, people from certain countries may have to pay a large amount of money as a security bond to enter the U.S., no matter why they are visiting, whether for business or tourism. As per a report by Reuters news agency, the U.S. State Department is planning to launch a pilot program where visa applicants will need to deposit a bond ranging from USD 5,000 to USD 15,000. In Indian currency, this would be around Rs. 4.2 lakh to Rs. 12.5 lakh. This rule could apply to people traveling for work, business, or even just for holidays.
The main purpose of this bond is to act as a financial guarantee which is to make sure that people who come to the U.S. return to their home country on time. It is meant to prevent visitors from staying in the U.S. illegally after their visa expires. In simple words, visa holders must leave the U.S. before their allowed time ends and should not try to seek asylum or stay there without permission.
U.S. State Department officials were informed about this plan on August 4, and the official notification has already been sent to the Federal Register. The final version of the new rule is expected to be made public by Tuesday, and this new program might start from August 20.
Few countries to be part this pilot project
Trump’s administration has said that this new visa rule will first be tested as a pilot project. But what’s surprising is that it will apply only to a few selected developing countries and India is likely to be one of them.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio said that the State Department is planning to start a 12-month pilot program. Under this, adults applying for a U.S. visa may need to pay a bond of USD 10,000, and for children, the bond could be USD 5,000. If the traveler leaves the U.S. on time, they might get their money back.
Once the visa is approved, travelers will be required to enter the U.S. within 30 days, and they must also leave the country before their visa expires.
Trump’s new visa policy may create problems for India
If India is included in this list, Indian citizens, no matter why they are visiting the U.S., may have to pay over Rs. 12 lakh just as a bond before even stepping into the country. This proposal has already started facing criticism. Experts believe that such a high bond amount will make it nearly impossible for people from developing countries to travel to the U.S.
This could lead to a sharp decline in the number of tourists and business travelers going to the US. And this isn’t the first time the Trump administration has suggested such a move. A similar limited pilot program was proposed back in 2020 as well, but it was never implemented by the Biden administration.
Travel Guides & Articles
Ebix Travel unveils e-Visa platform

Ebix Travel, operating through Via.com (online) and Mercury Travels (offline), has launched its comprehensive Via e-Visa platform, designed to revolutionise the traditionally complex visa application process for travel partners and corporate clients across India.
The new platform at Via.com addresses critical pain points in the B2B travel industry by offering a centralised visa solution that eliminates physical paperwork and enables travel partners to manage visa applications from anywhere to deliver faster & more reliable services to their customers.
The Via e-Visa platform equips travel partners, and corporate clients with a streamlined solution to manage visa applications. By simplifying documentation, removing intermediaries, and enabling direct submissions to embassies and consulates, the platform not only reduces costs but also enhances speed, transparency, and customer trust—giving partners a stronger competitive edge.
The Via e-Visa platform covers visa applications for over 40 destinations spanning Asia, Africa, Europe, and beyond, including key markets such as Australia, Japan, the UAE, Russia, Kenya, Malaysia, Morocco, and Thailand. This extensive coverage has been carefully curated to meet the immediate needs of Indian travellers, with plans already underway to expand to more destinations based on market demand and evolving travel patterns.
Commenting on the launch, Ankur Sharmaa, Chief Business Officer, Via.com (Ebix Travel) said, The introduction of the Via e-Visa platform is a milestone moment for Ebix Travel and for the travel industry in India. By combining technology with our deep-rooted partner network, we are creating a scalable, transparent, and highly reliable solution that directly addresses one of the biggest pain points in international travel. This innovation is central to our vision of empowering our travel partners and corporate clients while making global mobility more accessible and efficient for millions of Indians.”
Travel Guides & Articles
Caravan 2025 Expands with AI-Powered Tri-City Showcase

From Flyr’s launch to curated networking, TravClan’s boutique platform redefines the future of travel trade across Kolkata, Chennai, and Bengaluru.
Caravan 2025, the flagship B2B initiative by TravClan, has further solidified its position as India’s leading travel trade platform with a successful tri-city run across Kolkata, Chennai, and Bengaluru this September. Following its inaugural edition earlier in April, Caravan’s return in the second half of the year drew over 600 travel agents and 25+ top brands, signaling strong momentum for curated, tech-forward B2B engagement in the Indian travel ecosystem.
Held on 8th, 10th, and 12th September respectively, the three-city tour embraced the theme “Travel Meets the Future: Powered by AI, Driven by You,” anchoring discussions and product showcases around the role of technology in reshaping the way agents sell travel. A standout announcement during the event was the launch of Flyr, TravClan’s AI-driven tool that allows agents to instantly generate professional-grade marketing creatives, complete with itineraries and pricing. The solution is designed to bridge a major operational gap for small and mid-sized agents enabling faster client turnaround and better branding without heavy design support.
In addition to Flyr, Caravan spotlighted enhancements in AI-driven instant quoting tools and automation-led efficiency upgrades across TravClan’s platform positioning itself not just as a networking event, but a product-led innovation hub.
The boutique format of the event allowed brands to engage in deeper, one-on-one conversations with agents, collect live feedback, and introduce experiential segments such as wellness tourism and digital detox packages. For agents, particularly from non-metro and Tier 2 regions, Caravan offered critical access to trending global destinations like Dubai, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Bali, along with the confidence and content needed to convert those opportunities into bookings.
Chirag Agrawal, Co-founder of TravClan, noted, “Caravan is not about footfall; it’s about impact. Every session, every connection is intentional aimed at making the travel trade smarter, faster, and future-proof.”
With its latest edition marking its second successful outing in 2025, Caravan is poised to enter more regional markets over the coming months, reinforcing its role as the country’s most scalable and agile B2B travel ecosystem.
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Travel Guides & Articles
Thales signs maintenance contract with IndiGo

Thales and IndiGo, India’s largest airline, have signed a strategic maintenance contract for the airline’s current fleet of 430 Airbus A320 aircraft and future order of over 800 A32X aircraft.
As part of this 11-year contract, Thales will provide IndiGo with expert repair services for avionics components, coupled with Thales’s ‘Avionics-By-The-Hour’ (ABTH) programme – a comprehensive spares management solution that ensures the availability of critical components to minimise aircraft downtime. This, together with Thales’s ‘Repair-By-The-Hour’ (RBTH), guarantees timely maintenance for avionics, allowing IndiGo to increase the availability of its fleet and expedite repairs.
Repairs will be managed notably at Thales’s new state-of-the-art avionics MRO facility in Gurugram, India, located near the Delhi airport, which is designed to handle the increasing demand for avionics support, featuring advanced technology to streamline repair processes and ensure high levels of fleet availability. Thales’s skilled technicians specialise in maintaining complex avionics systems with repairs that meet stringent safety and regulatory standards.
IndiGo has also extended a 5-year contract with AvioBook, a Thales company, for AvioBook Flight —the only Electronic Flight Bag solution currently authorised for paperless operations by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). In use across the entire IndiGo fleet for over a year, AvioBook Flight has already helped significantly reduce consumption of paper usage annually thereby advancing environmental sustainability goals and streamlining flight operations on over 2,000 flights every day.
“We are pleased to partner with Thales, a leading aerospace company trusted worldwide for its expertise in avionics support, to augment IndiGo’s maintenance and repairs capabilities. With IndiGo’s growing scale and fleet, this association aligns with our commitment to offer a hassle-free and safe flying experience to our customers, while ensuring operational excellence and reliability,” Parichay Datta, Senior Vice-President, Engineering, IndiGo.
“This strategic partnership with IndiGo underscores our commitment to delivering airline world-class avionics support and services. Our new MRO facility in India increases Thales’s ability to provide a swift, reliable service, backed by the power of our global organisation, to meet the evolving demands of the Indian aviation industry,” added Thomas Got, Vice President, Aviation Global Services, Thales.
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