Do i have to have a return ticket

I am trying to find out if i will be refused entry to India if i do not have a return ticket out?can someone please help me on this.
thank you

There is no requirement, in my experience and that of many others, to even show your ticket on entry.

Unless it has changed, there is no requirement on the UK High Commission, London site, to have any ticket at all before applying for your visa. Applicants in other countries should check local requirements.

Hi paab 13 ,that guinness looks good !! As per your question i have not heard of anyone being refused entry into India because they have not had a return ticket , as long as you have a valid visa stamped in your passport ,no problem . Enjoy

Hello, I'm new here, but wanted to refer you to a post I put in on "london refusing postal apps". London I dont think, ask for return/onward bound tickets still, but those of you asking for visas at quite a few other HIC'sor Embassies should trawl theie sites very carefully as some ARE now asking for return/onward bound tickets before they will even issue a visa to you - although, as you say, they normally dont ask for or even look at, if offered, you ticket - at all at port of entry!

Lonodon, at least in my mere ten years experience, have never asked for tickets at all.

Although foreign missions normally do not ask you to show a return ticket, the airline may refuse to let you check in if you do not have one. There is no requirement to show a return ticket for Indians when applying for visas to the UK or the US but at the airport while checking in, you need to show a return or onward ticket else you will be denied boarding as the airline is fined and made to repatriate the passenger at its cost if he/she is denied entry at the port of disembarkation. I do not know if India has such a requirement but the airline officials will be able to guide you.

Why would they sell you a one-way ticket then?

That makes no sense at all.

What you say about repatriating passengers who are denied entry by the destination country is quite true. But they would also be subject to claims against them for not letting you fly without a valid reason.

A search of this site should show up several people who have travelled with one-way tickets.

If I fly BA Heathrow/Chennai (the only direct option), a one-way ticket costs three times as much as a return. So I don't buy one!

4 times I have flown into India, 4 times I have not been asked to show a return ticket. Which is handy because 4 times I didnt have one!

One way tickets are sold to passengers who are residents of that country or to those who are on non visitor(tourist) visas. While in the US on a visitor visa, I bought a US-UK-US return ticket and took a trip to the UK. While returning back to the US, the airline asked me to show my previous India bought ticket showing my departure from the US. Only then would they let me check in. I wonder what would have happened if I had not carried that particular ticket with me. But as I mentioned before, India may not have that requirement. You need to check with the airline officials. It depends which country you come from.

US and UK make up 'requirements' as they go along these days. their good intentions regarding security have fallen into the hands of loony planners and maverick enforcers. I expect you fell foul of someone who thought they were doing their job.

I have never before heard of any residency requirement for the sale of a one-way ticket.

U shud know by now that the US is a special case, a VERY special one since the last 6 years. Other countries are a lot more relaxed.

paab13,
U will not be refused check-in nor deported if u have only a one-way ticket to India. But as Nick points out, they cost more than half of what a return ticket costs.