Cheapest way to renew visa from Goa

By the way visa rules are often reciprocal between countries. India issues 10 year multiple entry visas to US citizens as US issues similar 10 year visas to Indian citizens. Of course there is no denying the "luck" part in visas - but that is true for all countries

Well, its for another purpose altogether so the bottom line is no aside from an emergengency extension up to 15 days..

Not if they have a tourist visa, no.

There have been reports of some offices allowing tourists to register, but even if they did, that does not enable them to stay longer than 180 days.

What, if I may ask, is that purpose? I too have a 10-year visa and have considered approaching an FRO rather than leaving and reentering the country.

The purpose is to keep track of forens running amok on longer visas in the country. I was told and didn't even want to verify it that this was a British institution to control foreign Indian Independence sympathizers. In my case since I had a long term (1 year plus) visa and even had it extended and the topic was considered sensitive at one time I was supposed to register so they could keep track of me. Bureaucracy being what it is, one place didn't have the forms and another said my work was boring and chased me away. Slightly bruised ego aside, and not having the advantage of Indiamike I failed to register over several years and nobody noticed. I don't recommend this as computerization may have added teeth to the process, Kaliyug.

The FRO can give short extensions up to 15 days but the experience has been quite mixed from severe hassle, refusals, or up to no problems at all.

The cheapest way to get a tenner extended and I am edging to the site limitations here is to go the border with Nepal, chat amiably over tea with the India border guards, and have them mark you as having left & returned. This is not a confession but a revelation from a long time friend & India traveller..

cheapest solution IMHO is Colombo, bumped into many people who fly out and take the flight back from Chennai for this same reason, the OP would have have to hike it to Chennai and take IX 671 and IX 672 back (Air India Express) it's the early morning flight. cost of the return airfare is 4731 rs. the last time i checked.

www.airindiaexpress.in

Nepal is a million light years from Goa... and this is much nearer for people in the south.

the reason why you can't stay on any duration of tourist visa for more than 180 days is due to residency and taxation issues; if you stay longer you must get a tax clearance to leave the country. only those who have X visas or other longer term visas can stay after registration at the FRO/FRRO (that is why they exist, not to extend visas or stay durations).

note: the upto 15 day extension is only in the case of contingency/emergencies and is at the discretion of the respective office - not a matter of simply showing up and requesting such an extension, it is only given in the case of geniune necessity, say if the applicant was incapacitated and unable to fly etc.

i hope you find this information useful.

all the best.

No; the reason is that you are simply not allowed to! It is immigration control, plain and simple, and the other matters are ancilliary.

I'm sure that a lot of countries impose a limit on non-settlement visa holders, sometimes arbitrarily. I recall seeing an Indian couple at Heathrow being told by the official they could stay for only two months.

It is not necessary to have a tax clearance before leaving after having been here for more than 180 days, at least, not for most of us.

the 180 days caveat only applies for tourist visas. other visa holders can stay for longer periods - do check and you will find out that it is true, this is subject to certain restrictions of course. if you stay for longer than 180 days (or intend to), you will have to register and get a residency permit (this is not again for tourist visa holders), this is in cases of your having an employment visa, extended business visa or an X visa (spouses of Indian nationals and those with Indian national family in India generally are issued X visas - not others).

if this were not so... why the necessity for registration and registration booklets? this of course is not available for a tourist who cannot stay for longer than 180 days - irrespective of the validity of his/her visa.

the following types of visas are issued:

• Tourist Visa (no stay longer than 180 days, even 90 days is the maximum stay for some nationalities).
• Business Visa - for visiting India on business trips
• Conference Visa - for delegates to recognized conferences and seminars
• Employment Visa (valid only for the contractual period, if one where to leave the job, the visa would be cancelled)
• Research Visa (it is necessary to be invited by a recognised university to get this type)
• Study/Student visa (one must enrol in a recognised educational establishment and apply thereafter, the maximum validity is 5 years and is issued as per the duration of the course the applicant has enrolled for).
• Entry Visa (the famous X variant), this allows you to enter India and stay for as long as you are allowed to by the authorities, usually this is issued to family members of Indian nationals and is often followed by an application for OCI or PIO status)
• Journalist Visa - technically all journalists and film makers and their crew must apply for this type, as a tourist visa does not cover this.
• Medical Visa - issued for those coming to India for surgery and medical reasons, it is a variant of a tourist visa and has several restrictions.
• OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) a special sticker in your passport that gives you lifelong entry to India (for a one-time fee), this is normally only given to those who have surrendered Indian nationality and taken residence in another country (one cannot run for political office in India, nor be a government servant or vote - but in all other ways you enjoy the benefits of Indian citizenship).
• PIO (Person of Indian Origin), this is also issued to former holders of an Indian passport (the scheme was in force before OCI was introduced), and more commonly to foreign national spouses of Indians - the validity is limited to 15 years and there are restrictions and less benefits than under the OCI scheme.
  
  to Nick-H, please do correct me if you have better information.

Sometimes we attribute too much rationality to bureaucracy. It is what it is. From what I hear a flight to SL & back & stay isn't cheap compared to a to a train ticket to Gorakhpur & a bus to the border & back. However, it would be my choice indeed as it involves a lot less wear & tear from hard travel (maybe I just loathe bus travel)..

Under OCI, one cannot buy agricultural land.

No Politics (can't contest for MP, MLA, Sarpanch, panch
No Govt. Job
No voting rights
No buying of Agricultural property

OCI is granted to all who are of Indian Origin if you or your parents or grand parents were Indian citizens

And what exactly inspired you to revive this thread from a year ago with this particular "news"?

Forum Advisor Note: Please note that this unfortunately revived thread contains out of date information which is now extremely misleading.



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