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

Since you have limited time you will probable have to apply for another visa.

You will need to attach a letter ( I'm sure you will anyway ) requesting they cancel the other visa.

Fight for your refund and the gross error of not checking application photo against passport photo separately due to time restraints.

The agent route will probably increase the timespan.

Andy they say applications were sent together, which is perfectly acceptable. Let's presume they were. (They will only return 1 application per envelope).

Even if someone had attached the wrong photo to the application prior to sending, then lets presume they did in excitement of their trip.

At least 2 others ( VFS & HCI clerks ) have had to check all is in order throughout the process. Ending in a big cockup.....

Time is big problem here. Which is the quickest way to save the trip.

Mike

Is that a recent change? We had both of ours returned in one SDE in December 2011. (I've been in India for five weeks and not keeping up).

The website says maximum 2 applications per envelope.

SOME VFS jobsworths say only one.

What to do?

This has been in force for some time look here

Sorry Mike, didnt realise the actual rule had changed. For most of last year it was as per my previous post.

... yes, like I said: since photo-visas came in all applications are handled separately (i.e. each goes into a sort of plastic mailing outer) so there is no way VFS can correlate applications submitted together.
This was in operation at B'ham last September.

AndyD

The point people miss is that the Indian government seems to have no interest in selling middle level holidays to tourists who just wish to sit on a beach and meander around a museum or old church now and again.

India, well, the Indian government, encourages high level tourism and tolerates the backpackers but seems utterly uninterested in anything else.

Now rich people just have an agency do their visas and the backpackers don't care because 'it's part of the experience' but 'ordinary people' are just unwanted by just about everyone but the Goans and Indian domestic politics means that the Goa state government has absolutely no influence on central government visa policy at all, well, not unless it's trying to confiscate residential property from foreigners.

The reason the visa process is dreadful is because nobody in the Indian government cares about, or makes money from, tourists...

The difficult Indian visa process is a shame when people can choose to go to so many other parts of the world. Most people in Goa were content with the beach, sunshine and sea, I like a little more from a holiday. Yorkshire where I live on a sunny day can be one of the most scenic places in the world, and we are very lucky to live in Europe where there is so much history, architecture and great scenery. I have said to my daughter to explore Europe first before going to the other side of the world. However Europe is not always cheap. A place like Goa needs to appeal to a good range of tourists, not just those who are happy with the beach and a bit of winter sun. Wildlife, elephants etc were great, and the local people try hard. Some really good, public access, tropical gardens there would help, make the most of the buildings the Portuguese left, more jungle walks rather than having to go on an expensive trip to the waterfalls and so on. Islands like Majorca and Madeira cater for a huge range of interests, including cycling, walking, caving, golf, beach bums, architecture, and have good road and rail infrastructure, and modern airports. I have only been to 2 tropical places, Goa and Hawaii, I have to admit the Mediterranean is probably my first love.

Hi all

I have a non salary employment visa. I will be back in the UK to renew my passport but there will be approx 1 month left on my visa. Do I have to wait till that expires before appling for a new non salary employment visa with my new passport?

Thanks

"... the Goa state government has absolutely no influence on central government visa policy at all, well, not unless it's trying to confiscate residential property from foreigners..."

I think the visa process has got more difficult because the UK has made it more difficult for Indians to come to the UK in recent years. Buying property overseas, especially in places like India can be fraught with danger when weak politicans don't follow the rule of law, are corrupt, or change things retrospectively. Spain has shot itself in the foot by demolishing properties that people bought in good faith, and carrying out all the necessary checks according to the local law. Flimsy laws and corruption usually spell the end of a decent property market anywhere that they apply. I am grateful that the UK has relatively stable property law (even if houses are very expensive), France is quite good too. I imagine Indian law is as chaotic as other aspects of the country, and like the driving, you need a good horn (loud voice), good brakes, and good luck. I would very much decide to rent somewhere overseas before buying, because you never know which numpty politician is going to change things because they feel like it.

visa arrived in the post moments ago. unfortunately i've been issued with a 6 month which nose dives my plan. it expires september 15th. will i be able to apply for another 6 months when it expires from south east asia? i am likey to be in one of the following countries: thailand, malaysia, singapore, laos, cambodia, viet-nam, maybe even china or kong kong.

replied to your other post.

AndyD

Hi i am an Indian Passport Holder Residing in U.K for about 6 years now. I married a girl who is of Chinese Origin. Now we applied for her entry visa to India on 20th of february in person to the Hayes office and still waiting for the response. We have filled in every details of the form and which was further checked at the VFS counter there. Now before making this application i e-mailed VFS enquiring about what kind of Visa's can we apply for her to visit India and they replied back saying, since our marriage is not yet 2 years so she can either apply for 6-12 months entry visa (Also known as X Visa) or 6 months tourist visa. Depending upon this information we applied for 6-12 months entry Visa with multiple entries. At the counter we were being told that, since she is Chinese she can only get 3 months entry visa. On enquiring further i did show him the email from VFS suggesting the options for her to visit India. They insisted that we can take the money back and apply for 3 months entry visa or submit a covering letter stating the reasons and consequences of applying for 6-12 months entry visa which we did. Now its more that 4 weeks and we are still waiting for it. I have phoned the embassy and was being told no solid answer as of when can i expect it to be ready. I also e-mailed Vfs enquiry giving all the details but they didnt come up with any answer to satisfy me as well. Any idea friends what should i do now? or when can i expect it to be done. I am a beginner so excuse this long thread. Please help.

hi guys can someone please suggest me something.

Hi Guys, wow this is a long thread. It looks like things have changed dramatically since the last times I got my visas. I am aiming to head to India for six months at the end of April. I was wondering whether you would recommend applying for my visa online or heading to London. I notice on the VFS site you need to supply 2 years of utility bills. The trouble is I was in Spain till May 2010 and had live in jobs for a year and live as a lodger now. Is this likely to be a problem?