Change to tourist visa rules re multiple entries - 60-day-out rule scrapped

A double/ triple specifically allows re-entry and is given when you apply with an itinerary in advance.
A multi-entry may still avail of the general exemption specified in the MHA FAQ, but it is advisable to carry a printed itinerary.
Entry is always at the discretion of the Immigration Officer.

AndyD 8-)₹

My Wife has a 10 year multiple entry Tourist visa in her US passport. The visa was issued in 2009. A few questions..

1. Is this tourist visa still valid or does she have to get it converted to an entry visa?

2. If it is valid...is she allowed to stay for just 180 days or is it possible for her to stay for more than 180 days by registering with FRRO?

Thanks.

Your question #1 I can't answer.

#2, No, not on a tourist visa.

1. Yes, it is still valid if she just got it in 2009 (good until 2019). No, it is & always will be a tourist visa to use as a tourist visa which means

2. You can stay up to 180 days but not more. You don't register with FRRO. You can not stay longer than 180 days.

3. You cannot change a tourist visa into an entry visa. It's a completely different type of visa & would need to be gotten before you leave home, if she even qualified for one.

Well-stated, CamelGirl.

However, I think JagguDada is of Indian origins, not sure of what status. (Am I right thinking just and mostly an Indian expat? I mean rather than an Indian born or largely raised abroad, or so. I imagine this would confer different statuses on you, in Indian legal terms.) So she being his wife, I guess what he means is this would make her eligible for X/Entry visa.

Would probably need to be applied for at home, yes, so in her country of origin or residence. (Though come to think of it, say if you are or were to get married to a resident Indian, I think it's about the only occasion where the visa can indeed be converted in-country. How and if that would apply if you both reside abroad, no idea. And I'm no expert on any of this, mind, since it simply just doesn't apply to me. More than what I read here, or on other official sites for it, I can't tell you.) The one visa would just rule out the other. Whether it would be mandatory (which seems to be another of his questions) I don't know, either.

Pertinent links in the field and to carefully study would include
http://www.immigrationindia.nic.in/ and
http://www.mha.nic.in/, notably currently its http://mha.nic.in/ForeigDiv/ForeigHome.html,
and for those of Indian backgrounds over the past few generations, http://moia.gov.in/.

Thanks. Yes, we don't have any info on why he asked. He could get all the info on entry visas by going to the visa website which explains everything he could possibly need to know about getting one for his wife if he is a PIO. https://indiavisa.travisaoutsourcing.com/homepage

Thanks to all who replied. Yes I am of indian origin with OCI and my wife is also eligible for OCI.

But she already has the 10 yr Tourist visa and I was just wondering if it was possible to stay longer than 180 days with FRRO registration.

I think in the past ( before the days of terrorism) it was possible to stay longer with the blessings of FRRO???
Correct me if I am wrong.

No, again on a tourist visa, that is just impossible. Though you'll run into plenty of confusion in the field. (Apparently notably spurred on by even official Indian stipulations that you indeed need to register with the FRRO if staying for longer than 180 days. Those are general and multi-purpose stipulations though, any tourist visa just simply doesn't allow you to stay for longer than 180 days, so it just simply doesn't apply. Never, nyet, nada. (Though you may well run into stories even of people who did succeed; blame that on local officials who seem to not know or understand the rules themselves, either. Technically, it is just not allowed. Stories of people where it was "allowed" by such apparently blundering officials, then they running into severe trouble with it later, are also not uncommon. Down to their acquiring property and it later confiscated since they had no right to in the first place, cute stuff like that. Just don't even go there.)

It seems to confuse notably those very few nationalities who are eligible for longer-term tourist visas, so notably Brits and Americans. But no, that tourist visa is only good for stays of a maximum of 180 days at any one time (and a spell of at least two months out of the country inbetween, these days). The only advantage to you guys is you don't need to apply and pay for a new visa on each occasion; hence that "long-term" visa. It doesn't allow for a longer stay.

If your wife would have to apply for an X visa on the occasion of you being married, I can't tell you that. Hopefully others can.

ps

But if I'm not mistaken, OCI would be quite something else again than an X or Entry visa (the latter two are two names for the same thing, as far as I know).

I guess study those sites CamelGirl and I provided just above, indeed. A ring to your Indian embassy or visa services might also not hurt. You're not asking them anything iffy I don't think, so they should reasonably just be willing to answer and inform you, or so it seems to me.

Thanks machadinha and camel girl.......well if she cannot stay for more than 180 days..then might as well ask her to apply for OCI.

Hi there. Can someone tell me if it's possible to enter India on a six month Multiple Entry Tourist visa, stay for a month, then travel to Nepal, stay 2 weeks, return to India for one week, then travel to Sri Lanka for two weeks (all of this travel confirmed on an "itinerary") and then return to India for 2 weeks (this travel duration does not exceed the six month Tourist visa) and then fly out of India to Thailand and then re-enter India from Nepal (again not exceeding the six month visa duration. When we asked our local Indian Visa Centre in Australia, we were told that once we departed India we could not re-enter again for two months. Now we are seeing on the net that people with an "Itinerary" can apply or don't need a re-entry permit. Is all this information/misinformation?? supplied and decided, by/at the whim of each Consulate.

A. Enter India - One month
B. Nepal for two weeks
C. Back to India for one week (RE-ENTRY ONE) = DOUBLE ENTRY VISA
D. Out to Thailand--> Nepal --> India (RE-ENTRY TWO) = TRIPLE ENTRY VISA

Apply for triple entry visa along with a detailed itinerary and tickets.

Makes it fun but supposedly you can do what you outlined, one off on each of these countries except Thailand. The latter could change though. I have seen rumors of such. But, since you are coming back from Thailand via Nepal that makes it interesting since my understanding is that its only once per neighbor country. Maybe you can fly back from Bhutan..

I agree with both nycank & edwardseco

The interesting part of your journey is leaving for Thailand then re-entering from Nepal. There have been conflicting reports about Thailand being a neighbouring country. I can't see this being as big a problem as if you were entering from Thailand on the third entry.

As nycank advises apply for a triple entry visa with itinerary.

Please post your experiences,

Someone posted Chapter and Verse on this - seems Thailand is a neighbouring country.

AndyD 8-)₹