6 month tourist Visa - leave & re-enter?

Hi all,
On an Irish passport, presume it's still just a 6 month tourist visa I can get?
If so, can I leave & re-enter in those 6 months?
I'm planning on applying at last minute as the last time I got mine, it kicked in the day I got it, not the day I landed, is this still the case?
Want to know if I can fly to another European Country for Easter & head back to India afterwards on the same Visa if the 6 months hasn't expired?

Probably, yes. You need to check with your visa office.

Only for purposes of neighbouring tourism, otherwise 60 days out.

It has always been like that, at least in "living memory" As far as I am aware, all visas worldwide start from the day they are granted?

Absolutely not.

Your visa will start the day it is processed...

If you leave India other than visiting neighboring countries you will have to remain out for 2 months before re-entering unless you apply for a re-entry permit.

Your travel plans will come under the 2 month out rule....

Why not try for a 12 month visa, you can get one in the UK, not sure about Ireland. Someone on here will know the answer...

Thanks for the replies, don't think more than 6 months is possible for a tourist visa from Ireland?

So, If I want to fly back from India to Switzerland for 4/5 days over Easter, you don't think my 6 month tourist India Visa would still be valid after spending only 2/3 months there?

You can have the two-month rule waived by submitting your travel plans to Switzerland and supplying documents when you apply for your Indian visa.

Thanks, but the travel plans bit would be a bit awkward.
I'd have to buy my India -> Switzerland, Switzerland -> India tickets before I even apply for my 6 month tourist Visa to do this?

"You can TRY to have the two month rule waived"

This is far from certain and depends on the fickle whim of HCI. As far as I am aware this is not done at visa application through outsourcers but is a separate application direct to HCI?

From the Travisa website:

"For Tourist visa holders who wish to visit India within 2 months of their last visit, an application for a Permit to Re-enter India is necessary. No Permit is needed if the visa holder is also traveling to neighbouring countries of India for tourism purpose on the same itinerary as long as the trip follows the itinerary exactly. The visa holder must carry a copy of the itinerary to show the Immigration Officer."

https://indiavisa.travisaoutsourcing...ements/display

Nope, not at all; hence I guess people's frequent confusion about it with regards to India.

Save for those who are apparently blissfully unaware that traveling some parts of the world and depending where you're coming from requires visas at all, I'm not sure but to have a tourist visa be valid from date of entry into the country would indeed be pretty common, perhaps rather the rule than the exception.

I think you are confusing Visa Free entry (or Visa of Arrival) , where the immigrations officer decides how many days/weeks/months you are granted entry.

Typically visa on arrival (VOA) and Visa Free or Waiver Programs (VWP) allows one to be a visitor/tourist for smaller amount of time, than when one arrives with a visa ( Of course there are exceptions to this rule. )

Unless you have examples of where validity begins from the date of entry ?

I don't actually see what is so hard about that. If that's your travel plan, why not buy the tickets, managing the risk that you wouldn't be approved for a visa? Either way, you'll need to provide some documented evidence - either flight bookings or accommodation bookings.

I don't buy the 'neighbouring tourism' bit either. In February/March this year I did 2 weeks India, 1 week Bangladesh, 2 weeks India; and I needed the re-entry permit which was noted on my visa. Even then my travelling companion was held up at immigration when we re-entered India as it took two officals some time to decide whether or not to let her in. Happily my immigration officer simply double-checked that I had the permit and allowed entry.

http://indianembassy.ie/app/opencms/...a-services.htm

http://indianembassy.ie/app/opencms/...s.htm#visa-cat

DrRudi, you don't have to "buy" the neighbouring tourism bit, its given away free by the Government of India and well documented on their web-sites, as well as on this forum.
On a useful note, your links to the HCI, Ireland websites tells us that 3 month visa is standard, 6 months can be requested and no mention of 12 months.

Merchant, your quote from Travisa would have relevance if the O/P was applying through them in the USA. As we all know you receive special treatment with 5 and 10 year tourist visas. The quote adds nothing to the likelihood of actually being granted a re-entry permit, although from posts on this forum it seems more of a done deal in the USA than Europe.

Nycank, fully agree, I would be interested to hear of any examples of a country granting visas in advance that only start to expire on entry?

Dear Johnny - as I indicated in my experience - I went to BD for 1 week in the middle of four weeks in India. There was no concession about 'neighbouring tourism' - I had to apply for, and obtain, the re-entry permit before I left Australia. That's why I'm not buying it.

More importantly, the OP is going to Switzerland, which is unlikely to qualify as 'neighbouring tourism'. So, he needs the re-entry permit.

And just to be clear about what information is provided about neighbouring tourism:

http://in.vfsglobal.be/tourist.html

"Re-enter India after Neighbouring Tourism:Some foreign nationals holding Tourist Visas, after initial entry into India , plan to visit another country largely on account of neighbourhood tourism (Nepal, Bhutan or some other country) and need to re-enter India within 60 days, before finally exiting. Such persons may be permitted up to three entries (need based) by the Indian Missions/Posts subject to their submission of a detailed itinerary and supporting documentation (ticket bookings),if the foreign national is travelling by Bus or Motorbike, documentary details of the travel should be provided at the time of applying for the visa . If the foreign national is already outside his/her country of origin, he/she can also get such an endorsement on his/her passport from the nearest Indian Mission/Post."

For every instantiation of a need for re-entry permit for doing neighboring countries in the same visit, there are about a hundred of the other, where a mere itinerary and dual/triple entry on the visa was sufficient.

Does that make your example proof of replicability across the board, and their experiences false ? NO. Welcome to the world of border control decision making

Denial of entry after neighboring tourism is very very rare. I know of only one instance; where there was an extra protocol situation; the person was given a TLP instead to retrieve their belongings from the hotel.

Re-entry permit just because I feel like attending a bat mitzvah of my rabbi's daughter back home or join folks from my shul for a tour of the holy land is not grounds for granting me one. People of indian ethnicity have been denied these waivers (in NYC) and re-entries to attend weddings/birthdays/festivals/house warming/bar hopping ceremonies. That does not mean that on an odd day, one is not denied one. Once granted, there is little an immigrations officer can to at the POE in India - This is not the US where I/O is the king.

The motto seems to be "Poor planning on your part should not become an emergency on our part"

Just because you got jerked around by your visa people in Australia, that doesnt mean thats the rule worldwide. The actual rules are well documented, as is VFS's tendency to give people inaccurate information, depending on which "clerk" you see.
Neighbourhood tourism is a fact, extending as far as Thailand. You clearly were an exception.

This was acknowledged in my first post. It appears you introduced this subject anyway.

As we are talking about an Irish national, is there any reason why you are quoting from a Belgian visa site? (especially as most countries have slightly different rules)