How early can I renew ? - 6 month tourist visa.

Hi everyone,

There is a good chance I may be spending more than 6 months in India, and I'll need to travel to a neighboring country to renew my tourist visa. My question is, I'll generally be traveling from north to south, and by the time 6 months of travel time is nearing, I'll most likely be in Tamil Nadu. If at all possible, I don't want to have to backtrack (to either Nepal, Pakistan, or Bangledesh), and I can't afford to fly to Sri Lanka just to take care of a formality.

So, my question is, how early can I apply for a new visa, while still traveling under my initial 6 month tourist visa?

Thanks everyone!

-Dave

The visa is valid strictly from the day when it was issued (that should mean within a few days from when you applied for it, depending on how long the visa processing will take). So you can't "apply in advance" for it, in the way you suggest.

Why don't you start your trip from South instead, and head North?

You can get your new 6 month Visa whenever you want, but when you do the old one will be cancelled and you will get a new one valid for 6 months from date of issue.

Great - thanks Steambuff. I really was hoping that's how it worked.

Icetea- my wording must have been confusing. I was asking about a visa 'renewal', rather than the process by which you obtain your initial visa. THanks though

-Dave

Actually icetea's advice is correct because you cannot "renew" or "extend" a tourist visa. You have to get a new one. And if I remember correctly, you can't get the new one while you're still in India. You have to leave the country. The only time people can get "extensions" is if they have some genuine emergency and have to overstay the original visa. Even then, the extension is very short - just enough time for you to get out of the country - and may also be accompanied by a fine.

Dzibead - Right, right. I think we all have a mutual understanding, its just the wording that is getting in the way. I do understand that a visa can't be renewed - I guess I was just equating 'getting a new 6 month visa' with 'renewing a visa'. My question more accurately should have been stated:

Can I apply for a new 6 month tourist visa before the original 6 month tourist visa has expired?

I think we all understand though, and I'm glad of it!

Thanks so much everyone - problem solved.

-Dave

I was hesitant to answer this thread before, but I wonder about this. Might make it a little obvious you're just extending your stay, or leave you at the mercy of whatever official you're dealing with.

Do you have direct or close experience with this procedure? I imagine it could lead to trouble, so maybe Dave should look into it more closely. I'll gladly stand corrected however.

Hmmm....I wonder...I wonder...

Any other input on this, someone with actual experience?

Thanks so much everyone,

-Dave

Oh! I finally got it (couldn't quite understand why you were happy with the answers!)

Yes you can apply for a new visa at any (reasonable) time during your previous visa stay, there is no restriction about that, is there? Three months into your visa, for example, you can cross the border and ask for a new one, you'll just have some explaining to do. I myself have asked for a new visa while there were still 3 months left from my previous one, because that's when I happened to be at home and near the embassy. They just pointed out to me that the old one is still valid, but after explaining they agreed, no problem.

However, mine was a 1 year visa....and I was at the Indian embassy back in my home country. That might make a difference...

There's really no messing around with this issue, since it is more than a formality. I recommend you design your trip to place you somewhere convenient, say, five months into your original visa. It doesn't matter which country you go to for your new visa, and it doesn't have to be contiguous with India. If I were in your shoes, I would fly to Dubai. The other South Asian countries are deluged with visa applicants--refugees, economic migrants, people pursuing property claims that date from partition, trying to visit family, etc. Depending on the political climate, the Indian embassy in Pakistan may or may not even be open and staffed. Bangladesh is currently experiencing pre-election turmoil, and who knows what the place will look like in six months. Nepal is calming down after the insurgency, and Sri Lanka is hotting up. It's not just a matter of the queue at the embassy but of the ability to get a flight, a hotel, etc. Things to consider . . .

You have to leave the country to apply for a new tourist visa. The application for a new visa can be submitted at any time after your current visa has been issued. You can't get a new visa while you are still in India.

well! I guess this last one is yet another possible (mis)interpretation of your post, davidp80!

Well, this is a little late, but I had a bad experience of just this issue, several years ago. I still had a couple of months on my 1-year multiple entry tourist visa (that's what we Americans used to be able to get), and I was back in the US and planning to return to India before the expiry of the one year, and wanted to stay for another many months.

The Indian Consulate in New York did always seem to be ruder than other consulates, but anyway they said categorically they wouldn't cancel the existing visa and give a fresh one. So I went and got a new passport, and that worked fine. The old passport only had a couple of years left and was getting full.

Also, if Sir Lanka still doesn't require visas, and if you're in South India anyway, it might not actually be all that expensive to fly there. It's a very short flight from Trivandrum and when I went (ten years ago) it was less than $30, which I had though impossible for a flight.

Really? 30 dollars for a flight to Colombo?? Does anyone know if this is price is still accurate? I was having a difficult time getting websites to accept the Trivandrum airport as a valid destination port. Thanks so much!

-Dave

Trivandrum's new name is... But, it isn't anywhere near 30 USD just like I can't get a fish dinner in Goa for 70 paise anymore..