Current Visa situation in Birmingham, UK

jcbrum · Sep 11th, 2007, 18:56

It's not even the season yet but read this :

Furious crowds storms consulate

Quote:

ANGRY crowds stormed the Indian Consulate office in Birmingham as a row over visas erupted into violence.

Families massed outside the Consulate General of India in Augusta Street furious at the department's decision to drastically reduce the number of visas it would issue.

Tempers flared outside the Jewellery Quarter building until a throng of people barged through the doors and into the foyer.

Around 200 people stormed the offices after they were told that they would have to come back tomorrow, even though some had been queuing from as early as 5am.

Read the full article by Will Oliphant from The Birmingham Mail here

John

Mod note: reformatted and moved to the News forum to reflect it's importance.

Thanks, John.

beano · Sep 11th, 2007, 19:16

I drove to London from North Devon last Friday for my first Indian visa. I arrived at 9:30am, waited for an hour (before the helpful chap behind me spotted my yellow ticket and informed me that I should be in the *upstairs* queue ...) but it went well and I was out of there a shade before 1pm (when they stop for lunch!!).

After reading up on some of the horror stories about obtaining visas, particularly from first-timers like me, I'm counting myself pretty lucky that it all went off without a hitch.

Nick-H · Sep 11th, 2007, 23:36

John, I'm re-formatting your post, and moving this thread to be shown as a news item.

It may help people know what is going on their.

It is unfortunate that, to so many people, "We put it on our website" is equivalent to "we told everybody".

j33vvn · Oct 4th, 2007, 20:19

The consulate in Birmingham is a total waste of time, the staff are unhelpful,arrogant,totally rude they even go out of their way to make things difficult.. the place is a shambles...firstly they reduce the number of people allowed in for a visa.. from 200 to 50 ..their reason being that they dont wish for people to wait outside in adverse weather conditions..finaly when you do get in after a 5 hour wait in my case.. they only wanted to process half of my visa's ..although we are all travelling on the same flight..basically the travel agents and the consulate are running a money making scam to line their own pockets,this is my first trip to india and this will also be my last ...because of the comical beauracracy of these blithering idiots who are employed there... GETTING A VISA IS A JOKE >> I COULD HAVE TRAVELLED TO INDIA IN THE TIME THESE JOKERS TOOK TO GIVE ME A VISA!!!!....people of Indian origin are made to look stupid infront of the non indian travellers because of the way things are done there ...word of warning avoid the Birmingham Consulate!!..maybe you will have more luck with the London Branch...

patrickday · Oct 4th, 2007, 20:30

i was first in queue for visa (birmingham)Yesterday got there at 4 am .. they only process the first 50 .. if this is a problem for any one visiting india and you are going to get all worked up .. my advise DO NOT GO TO INDIA as you will not enjoy the experience

Chinadolly · Oct 4th, 2007, 20:32

My advice is to go through an agent, its saves an awful lot of hassel. There is a good agent in the UK and the fee is only 10.00pounds,the service is very good. Have'nt got his details on me but will post them later.

ColinT · Oct 11th, 2007, 15:01

I'm about to use an agent for the first time, given what has been said about going to the consulate in person. I've gone in person so many times but as I'm travelling from Liverpool to get there, I don't want to risk being turned away if they are now giving just 50 visas a day. Does anyone have experience of indianvisaservice.com (Travel Fixer agency) which is listed on the consulate's site. If so, how quick are they at getting you your visa (current postal strikes apart!)? I'm about to use them.

Sep 11th, 2007, 23:36	#3
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 26,773	John, I'm re-formatting your post, and moving this thread to be shown as a news item. It may help people know what is going on their. It is unfortunate that, to so many people, "We put it on our website" is equivalent to "we told everybody". __________________ . Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Oct 4th, 2007, 20:19	#4
j33vvn Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: birmingham Posts: 1	Birmigham consulate waste of time The consulate in Birmingham is a total waste of time, the staff are unhelpful,arrogant,totally rude they even go out of their way to make things difficult.. the place is a shambles...firstly they reduce the number of people allowed in for a visa.. from 200 to 50 ..their reason being that they dont wish for people to wait outside in adverse weather conditions..finaly when you do get in after a 5 hour wait in my case.. they only wanted to process half of my visa's ..although we are all travelling on the same flight..basically the travel agents and the consulate are running a money making scam to line their own pockets,this is my first trip to india and this will also be my last ...because of the comical beauracracy of these blithering idiots who are employed there... GETTING A VISA IS A JOKE >> I COULD HAVE TRAVELLED TO INDIA IN THE TIME THESE JOKERS TOOK TO GIVE ME A VISA!!!!....people of Indian origin are made to look stupid infront of the non indian travellers because of the way things are done there ...word of warning avoid the Birmingham Consulate!!..maybe you will have more luck with the London Branch... Last edited by j33vvn : Oct 4th, 2007 at 20:24. Reason: spelling

Oct 4th, 2007, 20:30	#5
patrickday Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: cheltenham/ nepal Posts: 29	visa i was first in queue for visa (birmingham)Yesterday got there at 4 am .. they only process the first 50 .. if this is a problem for any one visiting india and you are going to get all worked up .. my advise DO NOT GO TO INDIA as you will not enjoy the experience

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Sep 11th, 2007, 19:16	#2
beano Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Manchester Posts: 17	I drove to London from North Devon last Friday for my first Indian visa. I arrived at 9:30am, waited for an hour (before the helpful chap behind me spotted my yellow ticket and informed me that I should be in the upstairs queue ...) but it went well and I was out of there a shade before 1pm (when they stop for lunch!!). After reading up on some of the horror stories about obtaining visas, particularly from first-timers like me, I'm counting myself pretty lucky that it all went off without a hitch.

Oct 4th, 2007, 20:32	#6
Chinadolly Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: uk Posts: 153	My advice is to go through an agent, its saves an awful lot of hassel. There is a good agent in the UK and the fee is only 10.00pounds,the service is very good. Have'nt got his details on me but will post them later.

Oct 11th, 2007, 15:01	#7
ColinT Future Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: UK Posts: 335	I'm about to use an agent for the first time, given what has been said about going to the consulate in person. I've gone in person so many times but as I'm travelling from Liverpool to get there, I don't want to risk being turned away if they are now giving just 50 visas a day. Does anyone have experience of indianvisaservice.com (Travel Fixer agency) which is listed on the consulate's site. If so, how quick are they at getting you your visa (current postal strikes apart!)? I'm about to use them.

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