MHA VISA Appointment Scheduling System

The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has just updated their Foreigners, Tourists & Visa page with a link for Visa Appointment Scheduling, a new online system for scheduling visa interviews at the MHA, Foreigners Division, Jaisalmer House, 26 Mansingh Road, New Delhi-110011. The process is intended for use by foreigners who are physically present in India. Interviews may be requested for services such as visa extensions, conversion, regularization of "overstyal", permission to exit, endorsement of visa in new passport, permission to change port of exit, permission to change mode of travel, and permission to visit additional places.

Great find! Will be interesting to hear user experiences...

The Visa Appointment Scheduling link has also hit MHA's home page.

Well spotted, it will be interesting to hear reports about whether the appointment system works in the usual MHA efficient manner...

Anyone have comments?

Manu_J has given an account here of his experience of using the new appointment system.

No doubt things will change as time passes.

Background: Applied April 13, 2010 for an extension of my emp'y't visa w/the same employer and received the standard 3-mo. stay visa.

I just went to Chennai Shastri Bhavan and spoke to the man at counter 2 in the room on the right. He checked in his computer--"No response". I asked him 3 times if maybe by chance he had it, "no". He advised me to go to Delhi.

I stepped away and then went back to him to check on the FRRO registration as the current Stay visa ext. (temp'y) is good 'til July 14. He said that at MHA they will give me an authorization to get the full visa. Then I have to come back to S.B. and give that paper to his boss who will take 2 days to check it. Then the boss will give it to this clerk and the clerk will send me a letter. Then I can come and get the visa.

So I asked, would it take about 4 days after I bring the authorization to his boss? He asked if I had to travel abroad in the near future and I said, "yes". So he wanted me to get another 3 mos. visa temp'y extension and I explained that I have someone sick in the hospital at home and I don't have a plane ticket ready but I need to be able to go at anytime so I need the full year visa extension. So he said, "go to Delhi".

I asked how much money the year visa would cost and he said the 6,000+ Rs. I paid in April 2010 was THE cost.

More to follow...

My appt. was at 10 am last Friday but my flight got in a little late.I got there at 10:30. Went to reception desk and showed my appt. slip—he gave me a token, #88. I went to the next counter where a guy checked me in the computer and said there was “no status”, asked me my address and printed out a purple slip and told me to go upstairs w/my token & slip.

Upstairs there were 12 sweaty people all thrusting their token/purple slips at one stressed woman. She handed everyone 2 forms to fill out and put the token # in the upper corner. Others were thrusting their filled out forms asking questions. I’d say there were about 60 people sitting on couches. Luckily, I’d brought carbon paper with me so I filled them out quickly and she motioned to me to sit in a row of chairs against a wall that faced a long desk.

At about 11:15, one clerk sat down behind the long desk with a stack of these forms and started calling out numbers, but not in order. Since I was directly opposite him, everyone (it was mostly families) kept falling on me as they sat/stood and talked to him. Then clerk #2 came out and started calling the token numbers from his stack, clerk 3 and clerk 4 (There were supposed to be 6). It was crowded, noisy, HOT (I’d say about 98 F—at least the fans were working), kids running around, etc. The woman continued bringing over completed forms to each clerk.

It’s good I’d sat in that row of chairs, because as the clerks came to work, the movement of people and families up and down this long row to get to their clerk was horrible.

Clerk 3 called me and we spoke for MAX 6 minutes. He asked me why I had come from Chennai and I explained it in 1 sentence. He replied that now that won’t be necessary (supposedly local FRROs are going to do the extensions...). He asked me my job and for the contract--didn’t read the salary correctly and said, “This is a low salary”. Since other applicants had mentioned that that raises suspicions, I made sure to point out the yearly salary. Then he said to come back at 5 pm and I’d get a sealed envelope that I had to take to FRRO Chennai and not to open it.

I walked out at 12:30 frazzled from the heat/crowd, but hopeful.

Went back at 5 and 1 clerk came out and tried reading names, sometimes the token # and then went away. A second clerk came within a minute and eventually read my number, which was good, ‘cuz I was afraid I’d miss my name if it was mispronounced. I asked this guy if local FRROs would be no longer be sending extension paperwork to MHA, and he said yes, so Karl, et al, MAYbe won’t have to do this.

In the end, the appointment time clearly doesn’t mean someone is sitting there waiting for you to show. I think it’s just something they put in place to keep all 200 people from showing up at the same time. Each clerk covers certain countries, and the order each clerk calls people seems to be dependent on how soon you get the forms back to the woman and she brings them over to the clerk.

At Chennai Shastri Bhavan Tuesday, I showed the magic envelope and was ushered into waiting room 1 like I was the Queen of England. Then Vincent (one of the “gatekeepers”) brought me into the boss’ room, but he wasn’t there. He handed the envelope over to a clerk who was just going to register it; I told him I wanted to see the decision and get a photocopy.

He said he couldn't "this is an official document.” I explained that my company just spent a lot of money to send me to Delhi to take care of this and they would like to know what happened.
I insisted, and then he opened the envelope and showed me the back of the form which said it was extended for the full year (Yeah!).

Then he said they will send me an intimation letter and I have to come back with my tax forms, etc., even though I had all that now.

I asked if it's true that local FRROs will be giving out the visa extensions now and he answered, "Yeeeessss…But not yet."

I stepped outside and called my HR POC because I had a bad feeling—what if this MHA extension letter gets lost in Shastri Bhavan? What if the intimationletter never arrives? I wanted a photocopy! I had her speak to Vincent who said he couldn’t photocopy it because it’s “an official document” and he mentioned if I hadn’t gone to Delhi, it would’ve taken another 3 mos. for my extension to arrive.

So, I'm waiting for the postal carrier...

Congratulations Rockyp44 on getting your visa extension - it is good to know that there is sometimes a light at the end of the tunnel.

I am engaged in the same process, and comparing your experience with mine, it is clear that there is a huge disparity in the procedures followed by the different FRO/FRRO's. For exmaple:
- You were issued a 3 month "tempoarary visa extension". I was told that there is no such thing, but was given a letter to attach to my residence permit when my current visa expired which allows me to remain in India whilst my application for a visa extension is processed by the Home Department
- You were told to go to the MHA in Delhi. I was told not to, as applications for employment visa extensions are now initially sent to the State Home Department. It seems that they now have the authority to grant/deny visa extensions, and will only send the file onto the MHA in Delhi if they are not sure what to do. This is presumably because the Home Department are now having to deal with so many more such applications since the rules governing "renewal" of employment visas changed. A possible further change in the future to allow the FRO/FRRO's to grant extensions would seem logical, and would indeed be a welcome move.

Of course, the problem of how to leave India and return again after the expiry of the initial visa whilst the extension application process is ongoing would still remain, but it is good to hear that you were able to find a solution to this.

The Stay Visa sheet w/your picture on it is what we call the "temp'y visa extension".

I was lucky that the clerk at FRRO Chennai did suggest going to MHA Delhi when I went 2 days before my flight to see if the extension had arrived. That was said unofficially, of course.

Didn't MHA Delhi figure that they would be inundated w/visa extension requests (at least for emp't visas) once the rule was changed last Dec.?

So we've heard that the local FRROs are (now) going to give the full visa extension--but has anyone yet gotten one at their local office?

To leave the country while waiting--prob'y the usual--bring all the papers and pay 6,000+ and get an exit permit, etc.?

Yeah, that gets you out of India, but how could someone get back in again?

The current visa would have expired, and obviously the extension had not yet been granted, so you couldn't use it to enter India. Not could you apply for the employment visa outside India, because it is with the same company therefore it's an extension which can only be granted within India.

You are correct. The only way to get it is to go to Delhi and just get them to extend for the full year and send you back to your local address w/the letter.

I got my intimation letter 2 days before my first 3-mo. extension was to expire and went down yesterday.The letter said to bring pictures, tax form & Challans, passport, etc., and a demand draft for 6510 Rs.

So I got the draft at the bank there, and then the clerk asked me for my previous receipt for that am’t. She told me I didn’t need the 2nd draft. ANYWAY, she didn’t ask for the tax report, challans, nothing/zero/zilch. I signed a new “Stay Visa” that had June 30 typed and 13 July stamped. I saw her stamp my passport and in about 20 mins. I was called up and got my passport and one of the new Stay visa sheets.

I got back to the bank 2 seconds before they closed and got the money back for the demand draft.

Finished. No more Shastri Bhavan.

Oh, yeh! I asked again about the “new process”. The guy said that a new rule went into effect on the first of the month (July?) that visa extensions will be done locally.

I just heard of someone here in Goa who has been granted his employment visa extension before the expiry date of his current visa - the application had definitely not had to go to the MHA in Delhi. So, maybe the first signs of a new, simpler, faster, procedure?

Earlier this year I had experience of the 'new, simpler, faster, procedure' <g> in Goa when applying for extension of an 'X' visa - you apply at the FRRO who send it to the Home Dept. before it's sent to Delhi, and the Home Dept. refuse it!!!

AndyD 8-)#