Irish citizen applying for 6 month tourist visa from Australia?

Hi guys!
I'm planning my first trip to India and having been searching the forums here for a few weeks now but can't seem to find the info, hope im not asking something thats been answered 100's times before
I left Ireland 3 years ago, Im in Australia now and will be applying for my visa from Perth. Do you think there will be complications because i have been out of my country of residence for so long?
I will be doing some volunteer/Ayurvedic/yoga courses - do i need to/should i declare that, or will the tourist visa be okay?
I've heard that you can get your visa at the airport when you arrive into India, does anyone know if that possible??

love & light

thanks for your time guys

You get your visa based on your citizenship which is the passport you carry. You will apply in Australia but will be given a visa based on what they offer citizens of Ireland.

If you declare you will "volunteer" you will need an Employment Visa. This is not easy to get. You will need the place you volunteer to be registered with the Govt. of India and they will need to fill out paperwork.

If you are only thinking of helping out somewhere, but it may not even happen, you should apply for a tourist visa. If you write down all of the ideas of what you might do, your visa might be denied.

Keep it honest but simple. The minute you mention schools, volunteering, you need a different type of visa.

Here is where you will get the info you need to apply for a visa. http://www.vfs-in-au.net/aboutyourvisas.html You can click on the left to see each type of visa & the requirements.

Don't blabber more than you have to! To go on a student visa can be a lot more trouble. You are going as a tourist and keep it at that. One person fancied themself as a writer and described themself as a journalist. Big trouble..

Yes - but not for you. It's a 30-day visa and it's only available to four or five nationalities, Ireland and Australia not among them.

Missed that part of the question.

As Wildhorse said, NO, not for you. It's 5 countries. http://www.tourism.gov.in/events/visa.pdf

I think a few more countries were added to this recently. The Indian PM recently announced it on his South Asia tour. I will try and post a link.:http://www.hindustantimes.com/Manmoh...e1-619914.aspx

"nationals from Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Laos will be given visa on arrival from Jan 1"

May that list grow longer..

Big thank you for the feedback guys!

i'll keep the volunteering business under my hat for now.

Would you say that i will get the 6 month visa pretty easily, or could it be highly possible that i would be issued with a sad little 3 month one? Just concerned as to booking my onward flight (which you need to show on arrival right?), slightly worried i'll become overly ambitious and book an onward flight 6 months from my arrival date, only to be issued with 3 month visa!
That would NOT be cool

Thanks again for helping me out, means alot to finally get this sorted

You don't need to show anything on arrival other than your passport and visa.

Definitely don't mention anything about volunteering. I once sent an email enquiry to my Indian embassy about getting a volunteer visa, and when I ended up applying for a tourist visa about 4 months later it was delayed because I had suggested previously I might volunteer. I had to write a letter to the Head of Consular section, promising not to do volunteer work, and got hand-written on my visa "not valid for anything other than tourism" which made the authorities in Delhi look twice.

Thanks indianabe!
Will keep my lips sealed on that one for sure.
Its like they are trying to keep people who want to help out - bizzare!
Did you have an onward flight out of India when you arrived there?
I've been hearing mixed storied about whether i need to show proof of an onward flight or not. When i traveled South America a few years ago i arrived into Mexico and was asked for proof of an onward flight out of there. Luckily i had one but just don't want to get stuck in that situation again, minus an onward flight!

1. Any immigration or mission official will be suspicious of a person who has not been in his/her country for three years bagpacking/volunteering unless he/she is trust fund kid, independently wealthy. Dont blame them

2. While it has not been asked of the hundreds of India travelers I know of personally, and thousands I have heard of anecdotally, it is better to be safe than sorry, if the immigration official suspects that the inbound tourist might just get lost in the smoky haze of goa or manali

nycank - and thanks for your response.

That makes sense i guess that it might sound alarm bells for immigration, but what if i plan to leave overland? (Hopefully i can go to Nepal for 2 months and then return again with another 6 month visa) Surly they can't be in their right to ask me to provide proof of a departure flight? Can they?

Thank you much for your help

I had a departure flight booked within the 6 months each time I was there, even when I knew I was going to Nepal to get a new visa and would stay longer than 6 months. I was told that any airline wouldn't let me fly into India if I didn't have proof that I would leave within my 6 month visa.
I don't know about immigration officials checking onwards flights when coming into the country though. Best thing is to have a flight booked that can be changed for a fee once you are in India and know what your plans are. I've paid 40euro to KLM or 120euro to Virgin Atlantic to change flights in the past.

KLM's Take-Off fares (Class of booking - L, N, T, G, V) cannot be changed.