Applying for an Indian tourist visa in Bangkok

Me and my girlfriend applied for the visa in Bangkok in december. You get a photocopy of your passport back with a stamp from the indian embassy. It says on it that your passport is beeing processed. We went to Khao Chang in that period without our passports. No problem whatsoever. Only with the motorbike rental. For that you need an ID with a photo on. I used my student card =)
I did ask around in travel agencies and in hotels in Bangkok if i might get some trouble finding an accomodation, and they said no.
So go for it.

I've used the Bangkok Visa office twice before without any issues, however from their web site I see that the processing is now at least 6 days. Where as in the past it was a consitantly 5 days. Was it "at least five days" before the change to the extra day? Has anyone been made to wait longer?

And alot of talk about six month visas I presume they still fire of 3 month single visit visas as standard?

As far as I'm aware of, it takes 5 working days. In on Monday, pick up on Friday afternoon. There is no guarantee ever that it will be 5 days but this is how it usually goes. People applying are always told to give themselves extra time in case there is a delay of some sort.

As far as traveling around Thailand without a passport, there is usually no problem as Thais are very relaxed about this. When a hotel asks you for your passport and you tell them that such and such embassy has it, it is usually 'never mind', it's okay. Few people are going to turn away foreigners because they don't have a passport.

Well tomorrow's the big day, we should arrive in Bangkok bright and early around 6 am, get our documents ready and head to the IVAC office in time for 8:30, hopefully... and get this process started so we can carry on to Chiang Mai asap. Hopefully the visas will be ready before the Indian holiday next Thursday; if we get it in successfully tomorrow (wednesday) then fingers crossed they will be ready next Tuesday.

In the meantime we'll take some day trips around Bangkok, looking forward to seeing this giant gold buddha in Ang Thong. I'll let everyone know here how things go tomorrow.

Don't forget to send the application in online first, then take the hard copy to the visa office.

Be warned air in Chiang Mai at present is disgusting due to farmers slashing and burning fields. Same goes for all northern Thailand. I have lived in Chiang Mai for 8 years and normally the pollution which we get every Feb/March doesn't bother me but this year it's severe.

I departed Chiang Mai this morning and will be heading to Southern Thailand which is clear.

Clear in Bangkok but last week, very bad.

Thanks for the reply. Done the one week turnaround twice before with no problems but checked the VFS Bangkok site and theres the following note

"14/10/2011 Change in Tourist Visa processing time with effect from 17/10/2011.
Processing Time for Tourist Visas:
Thai Nationals/ Non Thai Nationals with Work Permit or Resident Permit more than 3 years: 3 working days
Non Thai Nationals on Tourist Visas to Thailand or having Work Permit or Resident Permit less than 3 years: Minimum 6 working days "

I'm planning to do a one week stop in Thailand but might need to extend now, is the 5 days turnaround report based on recent reports or the longer general knowledge based on the experience many like myself have had, before October?

Also for others re hotels a photocopy of your passport is fine in Thailand. I've been asked for the Indian holding passport letter once only.

Hi,
I am looking into a 5 year visa, but have not made up my mind as to whether or not I will try to apply for it. In the meantime, I would like to know from anyone with recent experience applying in BKK how easy it was to get 6 months. I have read that 3 months only was a general rule, but I would most defiantly prefer 6 months. Can anyone tell me as of now, is BKK handing out 6 month visas? Thanks

I can't say with certainty that the visa wait time will be 5 or 6 days, currently. I am now holding a 10 year visa and haven't been in the visa office here in 10 months.

My last application here in BKK was for 6 months. No problem but things do seem to change, especially with Indian policies.

I just went in last week (Feb 28). The processing time is now 6 days, not 5. We tried everything to get them to offer 5, nothing worked. You cannot pay extra to rush it. It takes 6 business days (so if you drop off on a Monday, you get it back the following Monday).

They also offer to take passport photos for you for 250 Baht (you get 6). That was 90 Baht more than I could find on the street, but more convenient.

I went to the Chiang Mai Consulate this morning and was told they do not give out 6 month visas; only three. Walking out disappointed, I called a number the kind woman at the desk gave me and they said I can fill out the online application, go to a courier here in CM and they will send everything off. I am reading online that the India Embassy will need to do an interview on why I want 6 months. I am writing a letter of why I would like 6 months to send off with my docs. I will keep post updated.

my girlfriend and I got our Indian Visas yesterday from IVAC, the procedure was basically as expected.

We took in the application and passports on Wednesday February 29, it was about 1 pm but we had no problem getting in, maybe we were lucky but there wasn't much line up that day, took about 15 minutes.

There weren't any complications with the application, no questions asked.

Be aware that if you want email notification of when your visa is ready, they will charge a 60 B service fee. If you don't want the notification then you'll just have to guess if it is there and ready.

As part of the application you need to bring two photocopies of your passport photo page, one of which they will stamp and give back to you stating that they have possession of your passport. We needed to use the copy once to check in to a hotel but it wasn't a big deal.

I can confirm that it is definitely a 6 day process now, they were very clear on that. But, the morning of the 6th day, we got the email that the passports were ready.

This time the wait was a bit longer but after 30 or 40 minutes we had our passports and it was all done.

All in all it was an expensive process, around 2300 Baht each or about $70, but what can you do, it's the only way to get in to India

I should mention too that at the IVAC in Bangkok they offer a minimum 6 month visa. We only needed 3 months and selected that on the application, but they said that was not available and so we had to cross it out by hand, change it to 6 months, and then sign and initial the change. I assume it is a common error.

Depending on your perspective I guess that's a good or bad thing... I don't know if they charge more as a result of it being 6 months, so for us needing less we have to pay more, but whatever I guess it's good to have the flexibility.

What costs more is the multi entry 6 month visa. IIRC, about $125.