New USA Visa Regulations? Over 180 Day Stay?

Rama

From what I understand, the USA Tourist Visa allowed a maximum of 180 days continuous stay, even the Tourist Visa that was valid for 10 years. However, upon receiving my new 10 year Visa, an additional regulation was stamped on it.

Here are the regulations in full, the additional and interesting part being in bold:
This additional regulation makes it sound as if it is now possible to legally stay over 180 days, so long as the Visa holder registers. Is this true? Or is this just for emergencies such as being stuck in the hospital which makes one overstay their 180 days? Has anyone heard of this? Hold long can the visit be extended? I was not able to find any information on this on the Indian Embassy.

Nick-H

Curious.

I'd put my money on this being a mistake.

Sama

I have a feeling that if you asked 10 different people at the Indian Embassy you'd get 10 different answers....

my 5 year visa (that I got last year) does not contain your first sentence.

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Rama

Exactly. This is what makes it interesting.

But it includes the second sentence? The very first sentence, which is NOT bolded, is printed directly unto the Visa. It is part of the visa. The bolded sentence is what was stamped on. This makes it interesting because the stamped sentence clarifies the printed sentence, therefore making it look like it was NOT a mistake. And on top of that, it seems to add that there now exists the possibility of a continuous stay lasting over 180 days.

YogaGal, on your visa where these statements are not made, is it specified that registration is required even if the stay lasts under 180 days? Does it even mention registration?

shashank.aggarwal

I don't have much knowledge on the Visa issues, but this statement might be there for all types of Visa and not tourist visa only...

Like there might be employment VISA or business VISA which might allow a person to stay more than 180 days, but the person might have to register first...

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crvlvr

I must agree with Shashank's assessment.

GoanCanuck

As Shashank mentioned this is likely the reason.

Rama

This may very well be true. I do not know how the employment and business visas look like.

But are you trying to hint, as Nick-H mentioned, that this was a mistake on a tourist visa? This may very well be so.

crowgirl

Here's the site we had to go to in order to figure out our visa stuff:

http://chicago.indianconsulate.com/V...e%20available:

I found it confusing as from my understanding, we (USA) citizens have 6 months in which to have time to get visa and go to India but then after we are there we can only stay in country 3 months and then have to immediately get out. The 180 day period starts as soon as you enter but the 6 months as a whole is for giving time to get tickets, etc., NOT to stay in India for 6 uninterrupted months.

No idea about a 10 year Tourist visa. Passport is 10 years.

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Rama

There are multiple tourist visas for US nationals. All of them have everything in common except their validity timeframe. The website your linked to explains this with these two sentences:
There are visas that are valid from 6 months to 10 years. This is the validity of that visa which means how long you can use the visa to enter the country. This validity period starts the day your visa is issued (usually before you receive it). The expiration date of your visa will be marked on the visa itself.

Every tourist visa (not counting my visa issue) that is valid for 6 months or longer (up to 10 years) allows you to stay in India for only 180 days (6 months) at a time. Even if you have a 10 year visa, you can only stay in India for 180 continuous days. You must leave India before those 180 days, but if your visa is still valid after that period, you are welcome to visit India again.

Read the whole page that you linked to for more details, including what types of tourist visas are available and how much they cost.

wonderwomanusa

I think you missed something here. The 6-month visa starts expiring the minute the Consulate glues it into your passport. On the 180th day from that date, you have to leave Indis.

If you have a one-year or ten-year visa, you then can go back for another 180 days (from date of entry)... until the visa is completely expired.

Ten-year visa is only for US citizens, presumably those who travel to India often enough to use it.

Nick-H

Maybe I'm still sleepy, but had to think twice...
because it is only valid for 180 days anyway

But surely, as long as you have more than 180 days validity left on such a visa, in this case the 180-day stay starts on arrival.

brownboy66

Hmmmm....is this a case of confusing the entry requirement with the validity period? Visas can be single or multiple entry. So the 10 year visa is obviously a multiple re-entry visa - valid for 10 years. The 180 day entry requirement is the total time allowable for each stay continuously - at which point you are required to leave the country. If, for example, you cross the boarder into Pakistan and return the same day - you get another 180 days.

Sounds similar to the situation in Thailand a few years ago. You could get a 10 year visa limited to 180 days for each visit. Foreigners were living in Thailand on this basis - travelling to Singapore, KL, etc every six months to renew their entry...

wonderwomanusa

Yes, that's it.

Nick-H

Yep... we're all singing the same song now.

If we could agree on the words we might have a hit!