Visa Requirements!

Hi

Guys

Just come back from Indian Consulate, Birmingham, Uk to sort out visa and anyone whos been there before will know what a nightmare it is 2 sort anything out! Firstly the que was like a mile outside and yet they have 2 staff counters?! And its 30 degrees outside and no a/c and no windows open, just a small fan 4 effect and alot of sweaty basts, anyways l digress! basically over the phone l was told it would be no problem to obtain a 2 year student visa even though course was only 8months because l have plans to travel after but it was a different story when l go there! they would only issue a 1 year visa which expires on the 2/07/07 but was planning on staying until around 22/09/07. A couple of people have said its fine to over stay your visa, what can they do deport you, they'll only find out once leaving the airport anyways, is that true? Not sure l want to risk it? Could l extend it in Delhi? Like add on a 6 month tourist visa from there? Another option l've got is to travel to other places like thailand, laos etc can l obtain visas easily enough in delhi? Sorry to bombard you with all these questions!! Would prefer to stay until away from the UK until September at least, it'll be my last chance to travel before my parents have me married off!

Cheers

If you overstay your visa, not only do you risk incurring fines, you also might be barred from obtaining a subsequent visa, so don't take over-staying lightly. People who tell you it's no big deal don't know what they're talking about. There are other threads here that discuss this issue, so I suggest you search the site for the information that already exists here.

No way should you overstay your visa and infact since you will be here for a long period, you will have to register with the foreigner's registration office / police station when you are here. It is not easy to get a visa from here as it is not given to anyone with just a six months visa and even if it is issued as an extension then it is only for a period of about fifteen days just so that you can get the next available flight out of the country as it is only for people who do not have a return ticket confirmed to leave India. So not really worth it for all the expenditure you incur, I would rather suggest you go to Nepal or Sri Lanka for another visa where it will be easier to get one or else you will come back to the UK before you get one again. Sorry that your parent's would want to marry you off but I thought you would have your say too in a place like the UK!!! ;-)) Anyway I hope you get what you want regarding the visas as well as in life!!! Happy and safe journeys wherever you go.

Cheers,
Aadil.

It's worth the (relatively) small additional expense to use a visa agency to sort out your visa. It's just as quick and you don't have to queue. Visa swift provided an excellent service for me and arranged 2-year visas for myself and my wife when we only had the documentation to support a 1 year stay!

As others have said, I don’t recommend overstaying your visa. My experience of Indian bureaucracy to date suggests to me that anyone breaking immigration laws would become quickly knotted in red tape before eventually being permanently kicked out of the country (with a probable note on your passport which could cause immigration problems wherever your travels take you)

As suggested by Aadil: Go to India on your present student visa, then skip to Nepal next June to secure a 6 month tourist visa.

PS> Good luck registering at the FRO when you arrive. I recommend taking a copy of all the items that you used to secure your visa (plus 2 photographs!).

Are they for ordinary people in the UK, or just for business accounts? I had a look at the website but couldn't decide if this would be of interest to a backpacker in a hurry???

Tim in Ireland

Thanks guys!

Will definitely not be overstaying my visa now! Thought it was dodgy but other people (including my dad!) had me convinced it was no problem! Until l then thought about booking into hotels and them checking my passport! Anyway, l have been to Nepal before and wouldn't checking it out again. Is it pretty easy to obtain an Indian Visa from there? Would l have to go through the Indian or British Embassy? Probably a really daft question! Can you obtain a visa for Nepal in India or is it easily sorted once in Nepal (think that was the case the last time l went there). Cheers

Aadil

You would be surprised! I think Indian parents in the UK are more traditional in many ways than those in India as they still have a 1950s/60s mindset. My Mum, Dad & Grandma are expecting me to be hitched with 2 kids in tow to some nice punjabi girl when l arrive back in like 14 months, now thats a big ask!

You will probably need a visa to Nepal before you go there but definitely you will have to go to the Indian Embassy in Nepal to get a Indian visa to re-enter India after your visa expires.

About the Indian parent's mindset it matters not where you stay or what you do but only how you think and that is what matters so I thought if you were old enough to do what you wanted then it also included matters of the heart and life too. Now does it have to be a Punjabi girl only?!!! ;-))

Cheers,
Aadil.

Hey Jaz

Just a side point:
While the visa extension might not be problematic, use *ONLY* the best agents. Or best - do it yourself!

*What follows below is hearsay*
Basically should your passport have visas for countries like the US/Europe then it is often 'lost' and the agent gladly helps you in arranging the new visa, while the old one gets a new pic and a new owner!

Its rare but happens!

They're happy to accept personal requests. Even though my visit is business related I sorted out my visas myself. They send a daily package to the embassy for batch processing and I don't think they care whether they're tourist, business or employment applications - in fact, they probably would prefer tourist apps as these don't require a fraction of the amount of supporting evidence that the other types do.

Hope this helps.

Absolutely. I would never let my passport out of my sight when travelling.

Keep a handful of photocopies spare for anyone who is insistant, otherwise ensure that you accompany your passport to wherever they wish to take it.

Lots of agents will obtain visas for tourists. This is often a sideline of travel agents/tourists.

The agents have a special arrangement: you see them at HCI,London, walking straight in and going to a special counter with piles of passports.

If you have money and you want to avoid the queues, by all means use a visa agent.

They are unlikely to know about anything but tourist visas, whereas the agency that Penri suggests is advertising business services as well.

Whether any of these guys can get you anything (through contacts) that you would not be able to get yourself over the counter is doubtful, I would have thought.

On the other side of the "border"... I was advised by a retired FRRO senior official not to use an agent here in Chennai.

However the agent came with great recommendations, and I did use him. ---to my cost: he messed me around for weeks, then went off in a huff because we complained leaving us to sort it out ourselves anyway. Which took us just a few minutes in London!

hi just to let you know that as long as you can fill in all the parts of the visa form with no problems (i.e. have the correct documentation) the best way to apply for a visa in the UK is through the post. I am going to southern India on the 23rd of July and sent the forms/passports to the London High Commission on June 30th and received them back on July 5th - intact and with required toursit visas. I was very worried tyhat they would get caught up in a backlog but the LHC is extremely efficeint. Beats the 4 hour queue I had to join 3 years ago when I first went to India.

Thanks for all the advice guys, next time it will be via post!

Don't think l'll use any agencies will just do it myself from India.

And yes Punjabi ONLY!

A student visa should indeed be renewable/extendable within India so long as you are still a student, or can at least get the required paperwork to show that your are! With a tourist visa you would have to leave India to apply for a new one.

Hey! Why not get ahead of your parents and marry someone here?

If you are planning on making sufficient trips to India in the future, I would advise you to check out the PIO card. That'll cover you for 15 years, or even Overseas Indian Citizenship, which will cover you for life!