Indian visa help/advice needed please

soil_2

Can anyone with recent experience comment on the Indian visa process please?

Do we need to visit the embassy/processing centre, or are postal applications ok?

How long does it take?

Did you need to submit children's birth certificates etc if applying for children?

If you are a non-UK citizen were there any complications?

Bob_the_Saver

Visit the visa company's web-site. http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk/
Read this bit http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk/pdf/Doc_checklist_Tourist%20Visa.pdf
Read every other bit of info several times.
Do EXACTLY as instructed - also see the new photo rules.
Make sure your application signature matches the one in your passport.

For a 'simple' application it usually takes 3-4 working days in you apply in person.

Pollycat

Soil
you particularly need to read this page that tells you what you need to provide for a minor:

http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk/touristvisa_CheckList.html

Under 'Contact Us' on the home page is a list of application centres that accept personal applications.

At some centres, you can go back and collect a few days later, others are just for handing in your application and will return your documents by post.

Also, bear in mind that your visa is valid from the date of issue (not date of travel) so you need to time your application so your visa doesn't expire before or during your trip.

budgetflyer

It is painful.
One of my applications was rejected because the man behind the desk didn't think my signature matched my passport. You also have the non standard 2" X 2" photos to get.
I prefer to go in person as they really are nit picky, and sometimes you can amend small issues there and then.

Mr_Wang

It is a myth that getting an visa for India is difficult. Far from it.

Now they have outsourced their processing to VFS it is actually extremely straightforward and simple. Providing you are applying for the correct visa you will have no trouble.
People here thus far have failed to highlight some potential pitfalls of the application:

References/Referees: Now the visa form must be applied for online you must fill in this part - Previously you could just leave it blank. For the one in India put a hotel, any, it doesnt really matter. And for the UK put your mum or whoever.

Photographs: It is a myth that they are impossibly stringent on photographs and I always print my own at 2 x 2 (50 x 50) as for the children they rules are relaxed and so don't concern yourself too much.

Process: Basically you have 2 options, post or in person. You cannot post it and pick it up, but you can put the application in in person and get it posted back. Fees are ridiculous and so if you live near processing centre its a case of drop it off and pick it up 3 days later (ish).

VFS will send you 3 texts during the application process. The first will tell you that your passport has been sent to the Consulate in London. The second is that your Visa has been approved and the third is to tell you its ready to collect/been posted.

*Remember*
- If you are travelling to places such as Sikkim you are better off filling in the permit form and submitting it with your visa, the permit is free and saves any hassle later.

- You will by default be given a 6 month multiple entry Visa. But you cannot return to India without taking a 2 month break. If you wish to return to India before the 2 months is up then when you apply for your visa you must apply for special permission by providing your itinerary and paying about seven quid iirc. It is easily granted.

The visa system has two purposes and they are first and foremost to protect the country from illegal immigrants and those wishing to exploit the country for whatever reason, and secondly to make money for the government off the back of tourism.
Few countries are in the habit of turning potential tourists away for the laugh and India is exceptionally easy to get a tourist visa for. (unless you are of certain origin, such as Pakistani, then the process becomes slightly more complicated and lengthy)

Pollycat

Mr_Wang wrote: »

It is a myth that getting an visa for India is difficult. Far from it.

Now they have outsourced their processing to VFS it is actually extremely straightforward and simple. Providing you are applying for the correct visa you will have no trouble.
People here thus far have failed to highlight some potential pitfalls of the application:

In my experience of applying for at least 7 Indian visas, I would tend to agree with this but there are many, many people who post on Tripadvisor and Holidaytruths who would violently disagree.
Of the many problems discussed on TA and HT, I've read of only a few cases where there was nothing wrong with the rejected application.
Most cases were as a result of not completing the application form correctly, not sending all the necessary documentation etc.
Budgetflyer has mentioned something that has caught a number of people out in his post.

Mr_Wang wrote: »

Photographs: It is a myth that they are impossibly stringent on photographs and I always print my own at 2 x 2 (50 x 50)

They are strict on photograph sizing.
They changed from the normal passport size (that you can get done in a booth) in November 2010.
If you send the wrong size, your application will get rejected.

Mr_Wang wrote: »

as for the children they rules are relaxed and so don't concern yourself too much.

Read the page in the link I provided.
The rules on children are not relaxed.
Send exactly what they tell you to send - including the consent letter signed by both the parents, even if they are both travelling with the children.

Mr_Wang wrote: »

Process: Basically you have 2 options, post or in person. You cannot post it and pick it up, but you can put the application in in person and get it posted back. Fees are ridiculous and so if you live near processing centre its a case of drop it off and pick it up 3 days later (ish).

Which fees?
If applying by post, you must send your application by Royal Mail Special Delivery and enclose a pre-paid return RMSDE with your address on for return of the documents.
This used to be £5.05, it may have gone up since.

Mr_Wang wrote: »

You will by default be given a 6 month multiple entry Visa. But you cannot return to India without taking a 2 month break. If you wish to return to India before the 2 months is up then when you apply for your visa you must apply for special permission by providing your itinerary and paying about seven quid iirc. It is easily granted.

This is not necessarily true.
Some people have applied for a 6 month visa and have been given a 3 month one.
Some people have applied for a 3 month visa and have been given a 6 month one.
One couple I read about were given 3 month visas but their 18 month old son was given a 6 month one! Go figure that out!

The 2 month rule mentioned by Mr Wang is correct.

Doshwaster

Yes, the photo size requirement is a new thing. I got a business visa last October and I was fine with a standard passport photo but a colleague applied for one a few weeks later and had it rejected.

We use a specialist visa company as it's quicker than doing it by post and you don't have the hassle/cost of taking a day off work to travel to London. I can thoroughly recommend Travcour (http://www.travcour.com/)

CountryGoose

My life is too short to be standing around in Embassys waiting for Visas. I normally get these guys to do it for me.

Using an agency greatly increases you chance of success, reduces the chance of spurious rejection and give you back at least a day of your life to go and do something more useful instead - ie. earn money for your trip!

TO ADD: Load of useful info and checklists on their site for the documentation required for each country and the possible timescales.

Mr_Wang

Following the post by Pollycat if I may clarify a few points:

- When I said rules on children are relaxed I meant in regards to photographs. Yes the size must be the same, but the stringent criteria set out as in eye line, sitting straight etc... With children this criteria is somewhat more relaxed.

- If you apply in person and wish your passport to be returned via post then you must pay something in the region of £8 per passport for it to be returned.

- In regard to the validity of the visa the vast majority of people will be granted a 6month one. Even those who are going to Goa for a fortnight can in most cases expect a 6 month visa to land on their doormat. Why some people differ from this is one of the mysteries of Indian bureaucracy which is lengendary for its often puzzling and confusing formalities.

- Pollycat mentioned that many people were refused Visas due to not filling out the visa form correctly. VFS have now made sure that all the applicable boxes must be filled in, but it is of course important that the correct information is filled in. That said, I put the point of entry of my last India trip as 'Panitanki' I applied in person and no one had heard of the place. When the Visa came there was no mention of the point of entry.
The checklist for an adult tourist visa is very minimal, yet for children it is slightly different. The advice I can offer there is to treat each passport as a completely seperate application and when it asks for a copy of the parents passports, duplicate this for both passports - Don't assume they will get processed together because once at the visa centre they all go onto a pile with other passports.

All I will add however is that when leaving India it can be an absolute nightmare and be extremely time consuming so arrive early and expect lengthy delays. From experiance the worst airport to leave internationally from that Ive been to in India is Trivandrum.

As for using a visa service I personally don't see the point. All they do is what you can do anyway, and any claims they can increase your chances of getting a visa (provided you have filled in your application correctly etc) is a load of hogwash, that you are paying for. The only time I can think of ever having needed a third party was for the Russian Visa - But that is a whole different nightmare.

Doshwaster

Mr_Wang wrote: »

As for using a visa service I personally don't see the point. All they do is what you can do anyway, and any claims they can increase your chances of getting a visa (provided you have filled in your application correctly etc) is a load of hogwash, that you are paying for. The only time I can think of ever having needed a third party was for the Russian Visa - But that is a whole different nightmare.

My worst airport experience of my life was leaving Mumbai about 5 years ago. The bureaucracy and queues was amazing to behold and I just caught the flight by the skin of my teeth - though I'm told it has improved in recent years. Then again, I flew out of Delhi in November last year and just sailed through the airport. Their new international terminal is fantastic.

realised

Hi all, I'm going to India in August (returning in september) with my mum and brother. My mum already has an Indian passport but my brother and I will need a visa. We are going for 5 weeks and if what Pollycat is saying with regards to the length of visas, do you think I should wait until July before applying?

Also, once the application has been filled in online, is there a way it can be saved before printing out? Unsure of whether to fill out on my laptop or wait until I am on a computer with printer.