Travelling to India - what is the procedure with bloomin' visas?

ahrimaniac

Aaargh. Having a total nightmare with my parents who have informed me they have booked a holiday to India departing in a few weeks and need some help with getting their visa sorted.

They are having a complete faff on with it. Some websites explicitly say you can only use one company, others say other things. Apparently you need to have professional photos taken and passport photos don't count?

There is no clear guidance out there on the procedure unless someone can *please* point me in the right direction which in turn stops them going on and on about it? Thanks in advance!

elsien

You can do it yourself if you are close enough - the confusion may be that the Indian consulate have outsourced to VFS. So you have to go through them, but you don't need to pay extra to one of the British visa companies on top of that.

This is the birmingham link, as that's the one I used, but the basic info should be the same if you're more London based.
http://www.cgibirmingham.org/index.php?option=com_pages&id=12
You do have to apply online though, even if you're going to call in person with the passport to get it sorted.
I went last year and used passport photos, but I did them through a shop where they know the requirements for passport photos (such as not wearing your glasses).

Edit - direct link to VFS. These are the people you need to use, and the site also gives you the new specifications for the photos.
http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk/
http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk/touristvisa_photospecs.html

ahrimaniac

That's the rub - we're in Newcastle, and rather than sending them to Edinburgh, they're going to Manchester!

In terms of completing it online - the website we were looking at http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk - just seems to give you blank forms to fill in and post. I thought it best to complete the forms needed, send it to Hayes with postal order and photos, and cross me fingers?

Thank you for your help

elsien

Maybe phone and check. When I did it last year, I downloaded the form, trundled off to the visa place, and they sent me away to an on-line cafe to submit it. Half an hour later I returned to VFS, they looked at the form online and did the visa!

Edit - if you've got 10 days, the postal route looks fine.
http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk/postalapplication.html
Use special delivery to be on the safe side.

ahrimaniac

shame the closest centre is in Manchester, a 3hr trip on the train, and they're absolutely bloody hopeless with stuff like this!

I'll ask them to call and find out the process. On the application form the first question is "What Indian Mission" - but how on earth would we know :S

elsien

I know what you mean. I only got it right because the bloke in the internet cafe I went to had a steady stream of people doing visa applications, and knew the form inside out.

thatgingerscouser

Please also be aware that even with a MULTIPLE ENTRY visa, they now have to wait 60 days between visits! So no day trips to Kathmandu, I'm afraid. You defo DON'T need professional pics (I printed mine out on a Epsom R200!) and, if I were you, I'd apply online and then go in person.

Oh, and as an aside, the north of India (Delhi/Agra/Varanasi) is a nightmare for tourists. The south is MUCH less annoying!

Hope this helps!!

Pollycat

re the photos:

Passport photos are not now acceptable - they need to be 2" x 2".

You have to complete the forms on-line and print them out.
THEN you can either post to Hayes (nowhere else) or take them to one of the visas centres (your parents' options are Manchester and Birmingham).

You can no longer get visas on the same day - that is since the process was outsourced to VFS in May 2008.

If your parents go to Manchester to hand their documents in, they will be posted back.
If they hand them in at Birmingham they will have the option of collecting them when ready.

Re this question:

On the application form the first question is "What Indian Mission" - but how on earth would we know

I don't remember this question at all - although I did complete my application before they did the changes in November.

Are you absolutely sure you have got the correct application form?

There are LOTS (and I mean LOTS) of threads about Indian visas on Tripadvisor and Holidaytruths - you may find it time well spent checking out what could go wrong with the applications.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g297604-i6045-Goa.html
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=60

Good luck.

alanrowell

ahrimaniac wrote: »

shame the closest centre is in Manchester, a 3hr trip on the train

The GF in Tyneside had to get a business visa at short notice - she had to get up at God-forsaken-O'Clock to get a train to Birmingham in order to get into the queue for the limited number of visas issued by the embassy at that time.

She wasn't lucky and had to stay overnight in Birmingham and had to get a new train ticket. Cost her an additional £150

Just be lucky you don't live in Berwick.

budgetflyer

As its short notice, I wouldnt do the postal application. If you go to VFS in person, they will correct any mistakes there and then. They will still need to allow time for the visas to be processed + posted back to them though.
I know they cant use it, but I have found the VFS Edinburgh office very efficient (compared to the old consulate service which took up a whole day)

Bob_the_Saver

Make sure that when you sign the Indian visa form the signature EXACTLY matches the one in your passport. Applications are often rejected if not!
Happy new year from Bob the saver- in north India