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

laratigger

Made on line application for me and hubby on 6th October. Sent docs by special delivery - Royal Mail confirmed arrival 8th Octber. Status not changed from "application made 6th Oct". By 31st Oct seriously worried especially when phoning Birmingham they said they had no record. Hubby went to Birmingham in person today to investigate. They sent his back on 14th Oct because there was something wrong with his application (still no idea what). They sent it Registered, not Special Delivery. As it has not arrive, Royal Mail have deemed it officially lost. God knows whats happened to my passport. Hubby due to fly on Sunday. No way thats going to happen. Need to apply for new passpoert first.
If they are sending back a passport - what wrong with contacting the person first and checking with them or putting online status a rejected. We could have collected it or sent in new application. Very upset - almost enough to never bother again.

Haylo

Registered delivery is a service which in my view is totally unsuitable for something as valuable as a passport. I'm not suprised you're upset, I would be absolutely furious that they had acted so unprofessionally - they insist on applicants paying for / providing special delivery envelopes for good reasons!

So you have no idea what has happened to your passport? Do you think VFS might have returned yours in the same registered delivery envelope?

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

louisejenndavies

Hi guys,

If you made the application together your passport will have been sent back as well if there was something wrong with one application - probably a signature mis-match. This happened to me and my boyfriend's got sent back with mine as we had applies/ sent them off together.
I applied to Birmingham too - they seem to reject a lot of applications for signatures there. I got my eventually after 5 weeks - sent back recorded delivery - which I was surprised about as I paid £7.20 extra for them to send back special delivery. Also - they never updated my tracker to passports have been handed to Royal Mail - just remained as processed apps ready for collection. Thankfully my boyfriend was home the day they arrived as we had no idea. For this reason I can see how things get lost - if they don't update your tracker so you are left in limbo wondering what is going on!
I do hope they find your passports and you can get this mess sorted.
I am happy now as we have ours but it was not without some hair tearing!

Aiexile

I am having a prolonged senior moment. Could you please tell me the exact cost of a 5 year tourist visa (including fees) and a 6 month one as well ?

Haylo

The costs are on the VFS website, but you do know that "ordinary" UK passport holders aren't elegible for a 5 year tourist visa?

Edited to add: VFS Fees

zoethefairy

Thank You so much, i feel like such an idiot, i have done this before like 4 years ago, and seem to keep making mistakes. if my passport gets back to me i will let you know.

Easy1

Same problem as me, My application was sent back to me with no note stating why. I phoned the helpline who could not give me a reason why, i enquired where my passports were and they have no idea probably lost was the answer. Don't know what to do now...can anyone help?

Haylo

So you are saying that you sent your passports and application to VFS and they sent you an envelope back which only had your application in it?

Easy1

Yeah. The passports are missing and i can't get a straight answer from anyone on the helpline. I'm considering making a trip to the Birmingham office where i sent them to see if anyone there can tell me something helpful.

shootinstar

Hello everyone!

I am planning my first trip to India and hope to go on 2/12.

I am a french national living in the uk (london) and was planning on going to vfs Victoria to put in my application in person on Monday (10/11)..I filled it in and paid online... I am also required to bring an old bill or other proof that I have lived here over a year, which is not a problem.

Does anyone know if my application will take longer due to my passport being french?? and is there anything else I should know or do?? I'm getting anxious...wondering if I'll get my visa on time!!

Thanks in advance!

Shootinstar

Nick-H

You should check back in this thread as to what bills, etc, are acceptable: "old" is not good enough, it can be too old or not old enough, they are fussy.

asmithee has explained the requirements, look back through his posts. You'll probably find other useful information anyway

shootinstar

thanks for such prompt reply Nick..and yes you're right, I believe the bill has to be between 12 and 18 months old. To be on the safe side I'll bring several documents with me with different dates..and ask vfs staff which is best to use.

I have read quite a few of asmithee's (very useful) posts (and other peoples) but still wondering how things normally go for EU passport holders in London... maybe I haven't read the relevant posts yet...if anyone has had experiences I'd be glad to hear!!!

I made the mistake of making travel arrangments before getting hold of a visa...but I have got a flexible flight and can cancel or change dates...just wondering if I should be worried yet!!

Cheers!

Shootinstar

asmithee

Have to be honest, I cannot really offer much help on this one - I have heard that this seems to happen a lot, applications being sent back from Birmingham with no explanation. There should be a covering letter explaining what is wrong with it, and what you need to do.

I am afraid that if you are getting no response from the phone, a trip to the centre may be the only option.

And someone needs to make the point to the management at the centre quite forcefully about no explantion of why it is being sent back - in fact everyone should, then the message should hit home.

asmithee

OK, here it is.

Firstly, if you have lived in the UK for more than a year, then you need one of the following -

An unlimited residency permit/stamp in your passport...and it must say unlimited

or

a utility bill from a year ago. Try and make it as close to a year ago as possibly, ideally November 2007.

or

a bank statement from a year ago.

If you have those and you have lived here more than a year, your passport processing time will be 2 - 3 working days minumum.

However, if you have been here less than a year, you need to fill out an additional 'non-UK' form (which you can get from the centre when you arrive). Please make sure you put your non UK address on that form. This is in addition to the main application form.

Plus, as you are classed as non-uk you will also need to pay a 10.00 surcharge.

And finally...if the second scenario does apply to you...the processing time will take longer, a minumum of 5 - 10 days.

asmithee

Always best to bring a few different types of documantation just in case, plus any other passports you may hold.

As I stated before, if you have an EU passport and can provide one of the forms of proof of stay for more than a year, then effectively the processing time is the same as for a British passport.

Did you make an online appointment? It does help, you do get served and processed quicker.