Applying for an Indian Visa in the UK: Your Questions and Experiences

Haylo

Unfortunately, when you submit a one year Tourist Visa application, you take the risk of being given a six month Tourist Visa and losing the additional fee. It is not VFS who decide, but the HCI and they are not keen on sharing their reasoning on this one, even with VFS.

VFS are not currently refusing to process applications for one year tourist visas for people not in the tourist industry, as they were until fairly recently, but they will warn you that the application is at your own risk; in some cases the HCI do issue six month visas where one year visas have been applied for.
That is a very good idea, as both staff from VFS and the HCI will be in attendance; you could take all your paperwork along with you just in case it's needed, and discuss your situation with them to see what they recommend.

__________________
The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful - E.E. Cummings, poet (1894-1962) . .

Re-Entry Permit from: UK & USA ~ MHA Tourist Visa FAQ ~ MHA Employent & Business Visa FAQ ~ MHA Student Visa FAQ ~ Two month rule ADVICE ~ Two month rule DISCUSSION .

Nick-H

What an absolute and utter con!

And yes, I know it is not just India that does not make refunds on visa applications. Still a con, though.

johnny five

Here's another good con.........

If you extend your existing employment visa whilst in India now, due to new rules you are now charged the fee for a full year (several hundred pounds), even if you only need a few weeks extension.
Bear in mind that you never actually see the "extension" as everything is sent off to Dehli, never officially acknowledged, and all you have is a letter from the authorities confirming that this has all happened, is it possibly yet another scam?

Haylo

The way it has been explained to me is that you're paying a fee for the application process, not buying a visa.

Having said that, I cannot imagine there being substantially more work involved in checking and processing the application for a one year visa, as opposed to a six month tourist visa, though as one year visas used to be issued only to members of the travel profession, perhaps the fee was calculated to include for checking employment details.

Nick-H

Yep.

But one can say that there is always an explanation, and that it is always the one that suits the pocketer of the money!

I can understand there being a fee for the application, which entails work in the consideration, but it still seems unacceptable to me that the difference between a 1 yr and a 6 month visa is pocketed.

Anyway, whatever, because I know only too well that how such things seem to me is of absolutely no consequence whatsoever to the decision makers!

Haylo

But surely that's just a coincidence?
You're right, I don't think it would be unreasonable for the additional fee to be refunded.

(btw just found out that to visit Iran, the visa fee for a Brit is £95 for just a single entry visa, which is higher than they charge , citizens of any other country in the world, including the US! )

a_f_d

I wonder if my 1976 multiple-entry work visa is still valid <g>?

AndyD 8-)#

johnny five

I'd want to be paid a lot more than £95 before I would visit Iran!
Try reading "On the Wings of Eagles" by Ken Follet - true story.

Haylo

Didn't you know? I'm into dangerous sports. I know the book, and the story, that was all in the 70s though, and foreign nationals are pretty safe in Iran these days as long as they stay away from the areas next to the Iraqi and Pakistani borders. Well, as safe as Delhi anyway!

In any case, I don't get a choice; Iran is where my partner is being posted to after Delhi, I felt the same as you until doing a lot of independent research about what it is like to visit, and learned how warmly visitors are welcomed by Iranians. So I have to cover my hair, big deal, at least women are allowed to drive there, and I'm sure that driving in Delhi will be good practice for driving anywhere! I am now looking forward to the "Great Adventure" and am confident that I will have a wonderful time there, though admittedly living there full time would not be such an attractive prospect. I'm getting just a bit offtopic though!

bigpigpants

AndyD,

Please will you explain what you think the advantages of applying for you visa at a visa surgery are?

I can think that you would get your visa on the same day as an advantage, but what else? Do you think there's a chance of applicants getting better (longer) visas when applying in person at a surgery as opposed to the "standard" VFS process?

My reason for asking is that I was considering using a surgery local to me to apply for my visa later this year.

Thanks in advance

BPP.

johnny five

Whilst on the subject of Visa surgeries, if you look at the link below, the top chart shows next weekend (9/5/09) as Wolverhampton and the bottom chart shows it as Gloucester.

Does anyone know (for certain) which one it is please?

http://www.hcilondon.in/schedule.php

Nick-H

I would say that a Potential advantage of applying at a surgery is that you are dealing directly with consular officials. There is no middle-man.

This could mean that stuff that might take days through VFS might only take minutes (like the good old days at the High Commission), and it might also mean that, in the event of difficulties with visa types, or potential refusal situations, that one might get some information, and even advice.

This is very theoretical; one might also encounter a stony-faced official who is not allowed to say anything, or a clerk who has no idea why the back-room officer decided what they did, and isn't permitted to ask.

I hope we get some feedback about Consular Visits (once called visa surgeries) to know if any of my ideas are true.

Probably, for the majority of applicants who wouldn't have had a problem anyway, the time aspect is the only advantage.

Haylo

I think asmithee said the Consular Visit would be staffed by people from both VFS and the H CI; as they are mostly being held in community and leisure centres, unless they close the place down on that day, the HCI staff are likely to be working alongside the VFS staff in the same room.

Make the most of it, these days that's the closest you'll ever get to actually seeing a real live visa officer!

stevebenaulim

My question still is, will i have more chance of a one year visa, if i take my paperwork, I.E. rental contracts, bank statements India and abroad, or just write a covering letter the reason why i want a one year visa, over a six month visa??.
Or is it just luck??.

__________________
Savages, the bloody lot of them

a_f_d

I see two advantages in addition to same-day visa:
1) you have a chance to speak to HCI staff and argue your corner
2) You can find out what visa you'll get before you pay for it!

AndyD 8-)#