one year visa

Nick-H

Congratulations! (and Welcome to IndiaMike ).

Seems like a bit of a lottery these days.

The very rich are welcomed in many countries, as those countries are happy to have a great deal of money brought into them.

However, that hasn't been enough to merit British citizenship for whats-his-name-that-owns-Harrods...

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

richie4india

Hi guys,

Today I went to the HCI London and secured a one year T visa. For those of you interested to know!

I emailed the head visa guy and he called me and said ok. I filled the application form, handed it over to the lady on the counter, who said I must get it authorised first and come straight back to her. So I went to the PRO desk and spoke to the guy who called me back in August. He signed my application and I went back to the same lady and she accepted it.

Some of the staff were not nice but the ones I dealt with were and I got smiles from the counter lady.

Regards
Richie

Nick-H

Well done! Congratulations

Is that with 180-day stay? What was the reason you gave?

anar

details please!

richie4india

Yes a one year T visa with the 180 days rule. Atleast, I do not need to go on a visa run and I can see Sri Lanka more. Happy with the outcome.

I emailed the High Commissioner and said I wanted to tour India for 8 months and he forwarded it on to the top visa officer. He then emailed me asking for a number so he could call me. I got a call back and he said it was ok. It cost me £50. I was told to go to another counter to get the application authorised first. I spoke to the RUDE guy on the PRO desk. I was a bit annoyed when he said 'scrub it out and put 6 months' so I called the guy I spoke to and told him and he came to the door next to the travel agents counter. He sorted it all out, singed the top of the application to authorise the person visa staff visa to issue and for the counter lady to accept my application:-)

I got in the embassy at 9.20am and out at 11.50pm.

The only concern is the way it was printed on. The details were printed on the visa at an angle so the dates are printed over the original black writing and I'm worried this will cause me problems when I land, do you think so?

The details that they have printed on were printed on at an angle and not on the lines. So the expiration and issue dates have been printed over the black writing and you can't see it without looking. I hope this doesn't cause a problem on landing?

Nick-H

Wow, well done!

This must be the first time we ever heard of anyone getting longer than 180 days because they want to.

It might catch on!

richie4india

Think it was a matter of who I spoke to though. Cool stuff still.

Nick-H

It might even have been a mistake.

Just don't go back to check

Dilliwala

Can't see it without looking, huh? That suggests that u can see it WITH looking. Don't worry, our immigration officers are trained to look! That's the worry - sometimes they see things that don't exist, and not the other way around, heheheh!
Check if it can be seen comfortably under a magnifying glass. If yes, ask them to check accordingly if u have any problems. If u have a particularly sticky officer, ask politely to speak to his boss (the Inspector on duty) - he cannot refuse. And then there's always the AFRRO on duty. But I strongly doubt u'll need to go to the Inspector even.

Good for u, but obviously u were lucky that u got the 1-year. This is not about to become a general practice. Seems the HC was in a good mood when he read your email, maybe Ladbrokes had long odds on India at one of the 20/20 games, and he'd won a bet the previous day and made a small fortune.
That the whole thing was adhoc in nature can be seen from the attitude of the PRO, who clearly wasn't used to applications for 1-year tourist visas being approved, and there was no system in place to keep him informed that some applications like yours wud be processed and that he shud not make a fuss. Other than that, he was only doing his job (not the unfriendly part).

anar

sounds like there's hope for all of us! well done!

ALPHABAR

if you have the technology, maybe you could scan the visa issue/expiry dates and post on this thread...we could then give our humble opinions on the likelihood of your encountering problems...

and also,actually see what may become a collectors item - a one year tourist visa issued in london !

richie4india

Defo was NOT a mistake. He said we can issue if people ask. They issue at their discretion too. I spoke to someone with authority too which made a big difference!

All you need to do is ak the people at the top. I guess it also depends on the reason too. I wanted to tour India NOT try and buy property.

richie4india

On the visa in black writing it says 'issue date' and they should print the dates under it but they were printed on top of it, so you can only just make it out and I'm worried that they will give me a hard time!

richie4india

Check if it can be seen comfortably under a magnifying glass. If yes, ask them to check accordingly if u have any problems. If u have a particularly sticky officer, ask politely to speak to his boss (the Inspector on duty) - he cannot refuse. And then there's always the AFRRO on duty. But I strongly doubt u'll need to go to the Inspector even.

What does AFRRO stand for?

Dilliwala

Well, just follow my tips and u'll be alright.
Asst. Foreigners Regional Registration Officer.
There's one in every shift - so s/he is the shift boss. These are police officers and generally reasonable people.