Reacting to Indian content creator Sachin Awasthi’s experience of being detained on Jeju Island, visa specialist Priyesh Sharma said that the Indian passport is not the best and even Shah Rukh Khan had been detained in the past, and host countries don’t care if you are a celebrity or have a lot of followers on social media. “You can be a big shot in India and have millions of followers, they (host country immigration) won’t care, remember people like Shahrukh Khan have been detained, so who are people like you and me? Unless the MEA contact person is on your speed dial, please be careful with the Indian passport,” Sharma said, adding that Indians should avoid traveling to special status areas which may be “visa-free, but can be very brutal for Indians”.
What happened to Sachin Awasthi on Jeju Island?
Indian content creator Sachin Awasthi said he was detained for 38 hours on Jeju island after he and his wife were denied entry. They were kept in a detention center that Awasthi said was similar to a prison with no sunlight and no access to the outside. They were not told what exactly happened and were forced to book an expensive return ticket. “I’m not sharing this out of sympathy or drama. Immigration decisions are their authority. But they had no right to treat us like CRIMINALS,” Awasthu posted.
Where is Jeju Island? What are the visa requirements for indians ?
Jeju Island is in South Korea. But it is one of the three autonomous provinces of South Korea. This island has a special visa-free entry program different from the rest of South Korea. Indians can enter Jeju Island without a visa, but to do so they have to come directly from a foreign country and not through any mainland South Korean airport, simply because then they would need a visa for South Korea.
