It Began With The Misionary (Visa) Position

machadinha

True, very true. I think Kristin had cautioned against this earlier too. To be the target of some anti-Christian action wouldn't be my idea of fun

I think I'd apply (or would have to) for it if I were an ordained priest specifically going to work in an Indian church or something (or someone in a similar position in any other religion, presumably), and under no other circumstances.

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Nick-H

Then that is what is known as an "Entry" visa. I don't think you'll find the word "settlement" on the official sites (maybe I should be using words like "usually" here!).

Try hard to renew it and keep this status!

You must have registered with your local FRO/FRRO. How is your relationship with them?

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poipleshadow

I was on the uk high commission site last night and there was "settlement" and "entry" visas... So, I thought I had gone for the settlement, I will try my hardest to get it again, but things from the UK side are getting more difficult by the day I think. The local FRO is good, no problems there, but I think they get loads of people coming and going as it's Goa...

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Rob
Trying to make the world a better place is really hard...

Nick-H

Hmmm... Yes, confusing!

GoanCanuck

The "settlement" visa also known as "Long term" visa on certain Indian embassies websites is supposed to be issued only to people of Indian origin. It is basically only meant for those people who are eligible for PIO status but who have not bothered to get a PIO card.

crvlvr

With 3% (35 million) of the Indian population being christian The govt can hardly "ban conversion" by preventing foreigners from doing so. Even if 1% of the indegenous christian population were involved in missionary work that would amount to 300,000 people, a number far greater than the number who would be applying missionary visas.

mazha

Sure, but the indigenous Christian population is not that interested in converting people. Most of the new ones are reluctant Christians in the first place, enticed by offers of money, jobs and food.

I have no idea why the big churches don't follow the corporations' standard outsourcing strategy for conversion, they seem to prefer to send in their own reps. I guess conversion is one of those businesses you can't offshore easily, hence the visting folks, and the need for the missionary visa.

It could also be the case that outsourcing is not getting enough lambs for their bucks! I've heard stories about local Indian pastors taking foreign money and sending in pictures of people attending political rallies, claiming that they are all newly-minted Christians.

The visa also helps the govt wash its hands of instances where missionaries get the rough treatment while on a visit visa. The insinuation would be that they were breaking the law in the first place, so they deserved the treatment. That tones down the usual media hoopla a lot.

grikoo

My understanding concerning the term-type visas, like missionary, journalist, research, employment, etc. is that they are all very difficult to get. I have some experience trying to get a research visa, and was basically told not to bother trying by the consulate.

You will definitely need to be directly attached to an organisation of some sort. (for research visas, you basically MUST be attached to a university or other scientific institution. For a journalist visa you usually MUST be attached to a press organisation).

I would be wary carrying a missionary visa if you plan to travel around. If you're going to be in Goa the whole time, no problem, but there are plenty of areas who are very unfriendly to missionaries. I personally despise them, and would spit on the prosyletizing type. I can only guess how Indians feel about it. Nothing like being told you're going to burn for eternity to ruin your day.

If you've been working with a charity for a long time, you might consider having them get you an employment visa. That's probably the easiest of the bunch, depending on your qualifications and the 'job' description. For those, all you have to show is that, within reason, you're the best man for the job. The simple fact that you've been doing it this long may be proof enough of that.

I personally have some experience with this, but for a scientific position, and it ended up being such a pain that we just gave up eventually. They wanted letters from all sorts of irrelevant local scientific agencies and such, US references, journal articles, etc. Simply wasn't worth the trouble to 'prove' myself.

I don't think you'll have problems like that though. You can just imagine the reluctance of an Indian scientific agency to admit that there was no one better qualified for the position in India. Yours is not the same type of situation, so I'd think it fairly easy, especially if you doing any sort of administrative work.

crvlvr

so, explain to me again why the govt should be handing out missionary visas?

poipleshadow

AAARRGGGHHHH! - ) -Things are never easy are they? The fall back position is an employment visa, although these are usually only 1 year, which I guess is OK, although I prefer the idea of worrying about it every 5 years compared to every 1 year.... The charity will be more than happy to supply any requirements I need so that's not a problem at all. I can also bring lots of info from the charity also to back up my claims.. Including government inspection reports etc... I've been involved for 4 years now so I guess that would make it at least possible.... Even got a picture of Shilpa Shetti holding one of our leaflets... Do you think that will help??? (it's on website.. ) - Probably not really...

dzibead

But, as far as I know, renewable annually for as long as the employment lasts.

I hate to break this to you, but I think you may have been given your 5-year "x" visa by mistake (I actually had thought you were on tourist visa and had left periodically to go back to the UK and do fundraising - my misunderstanding). We know from the "foreigners buying property in Goa" thread that for a while, staff in the Indian High Commission in London were issuing long-term entry visas to people who claimed "residency" in India by virtue of having bought (or thinking they bought) property there (all in Goa, it seems), but non-PIOs aren't actually eligible for such visas and now that they've figured out the regulations, they've stopped issuing them. I suspect an employment visa may be your best option for staying long term (unless you marry an Indian citizen and become a PIO yourself!)

federica

I remember clearly that in Germany no restrictions like "only for PIOs" were written in the application form for X visas. It was the visa type "for all other purposes". I applied for it as my intention was to volunteer (no tourist, no employment), but I fell under the category "technical expert", so finally I was offered a business visa.

The most important thing is that after you got your visa the FRO is willing to register you under this visa and not send you back as you "got the wrong visa type" (according to their opinion).

Why not bring a printed version of your website or a flyer of your organization when you apply for the visa, as a documentation that you are not another Brit who is just looking to stay for fun in Goa.

Good luck!

mazha

Um, the explanation is already there, if you wanna see it. They don't hand it out actually. You may need to have a bureaucratic mind to see how it works!

dzibead

For UK citizens, here is what the Indian High Commission's website says about eligibility for a business visa:
"Business Visas are normally granted for three or six months. However, multiple-entry Business Visas for up to two years validity may be granted to technicians/experts going to India in pursuance of bilateral agreements or joint venture projects having government approval."

And here is what it says about entry visas:

"Entry Visas are issued to persons of Indian origin for duration of up to five years. These can be obtained, depending on the purpose of visit and eligibility, on a case-by-case basis.
Please note that persons holding long-term visas (having validity exceeding six months) are normally not expected to stay in India more than six months during each visit. Please refer to the link further down for requirement to register with the Foreigners Registration Office (FRO)/Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO)."

The link re: regitration with the FRO/FRRO says:

"Persons of Indian origin holding multiple entry X-visas, visiting India to meet relatives or for social purposes, are required to register with the FRO/FRRO within 14 days of first arrival only if they intend to stay continuously for more than six months. This registration is required during the first visit after the visa is issued. Subsequent travels using the same visa do not require registration. Children below the age of 16 years are exempt from this requirement. All other visitors to India, including those of Indian origin, holding any other category of visa valid for more than six months should register with the FRO/FRRO within 14 days of arrival in India."

Here's what the site says about fees for long-term visas:

"Entry Visa*
Fee £90.00, valid for 5 years is issued to people of Indian origin only.

Long Term Visa*
Fee £90.00, valid for 5 years. This is a settlement visa for the people of Indian origin."

You said that in Germany, the visa application form did not state any restrictions like "for PIOs only" for an x visa. But the application form for UK residents expressly states: "Entryvisa*/Longterm visa : Fee £90.00, valid for 5 years issued to people of Indian origin only."

I think they make it pretty plain in the UK that five-year entry/settlement visas are issued only to PIOs.

federica

In the German form it says that "Entry visas will be granted depending on the purpose of visit and eligibility, on a case by case basis" (Source: Homepage of the Indian Embassy, Berlin)

So it is really different to UK.

In general, legal certainty is not as it is in Europe (and even here it is not always there). The website doesn't mention a missionary visa, although it seems to exist. Maybe there is a "charity visa", too at least they could start one for all the volunteers!