Overstay on Tourist Visa by two days

Hi all

Before I get started on the story, I have read a few of the threads and realise there is a lot information on visa overstay but most the threads seem to discuss planned overstay where my situation is a bit different and would like to hear your views on it.

I am currently in India on a Tourist on Arrival visa which grants 30 days. I am a NZer. I planned to get a90/180 day Tourist visa originally from where I live in India however caught up with work etc before departing I didn't really do the research and assumed that I could get a visa back within 7 days like my Fiancee who is English. However when I went there they said as I carry a NZ passport that it would have to be sent back to NZ potentially and could tae 15-20 days to process which left me high and dry when it came to getting the longer tourist visa. Luckily TOA was an option so that is what I did.

We had an itinerary set up for 38 days in India before moving to our next destination and spoke to the travel agent about changing the flights to the the day of expiry of my visa and cutting the India travel short so I was compliant. The agents told me that due to a purchased bundle that was part of our ticket, if I change them once I am out there it is free, so that is what I planned to do. We arrived in Delhi and I got the TOA visa. I immediately the contacted the Global travel desk to change my flights. I heard back after 3 days to say that they can not get us on a flight until the 20th (two days after the visa expires) I have the emails from the travel agent, requesting my date change and being denied it, with their reply saying that all flights are full. I plan to go to the Mumbai FRRO on the 17th November the day before expiry to front up with the situation and show them at least the effort I made to fly out on time.

I guess I would like to hear users input about how lenient/aggressive the FRRO are likely to be towards my case considering I have tried to request dates to fly out on time and also perhaps that I have only been here 32 days in total where if I had managed to get the proper Tourist visa that I culd of been entitled too it would of allowed me a lot more time than what I am spending here. I.e, I haven't spent 6 months here and still overstay by 2 days which I think would not be that acceptable but a 30 day turnaround. I understand the predicament and take it very seriously and really don't want to overstay as it is not worth it. We would of seen everything we planned to see and will just be spending the two days in Mumbai which is of no real interest to me.

I took the flight change offered on the 20th to show the Authorities I took the next available date offered from my agent.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and way to proceed.

Try applying to the FRRO for an extension based on flight availability. Lately, the report is that they have become more accomodating. Report back as you are our first test case. They might charge a modest fine and a daily rate (which I forget). Hopefully easy..

In Delhi, they'd charge nothing and give you the extension by afternoon. My in-laws got a three-week extension in May. They also had a pre-booked ticket.

You probably will have to pay a fine of 500r a day but GET a reciept.

You can probably get it cheaper without a receipt. But, who wants to mess things up in so hospitable of a country.?

There is always a risk that next time you apply for a visa to India, you might get denied/rejected. They (GoI) are not there yet, but all the FRROs, all the ICPs under Bureau of Immigrations, more than half of the missions are connected to a centralized IVFRT system. So in principle, NZ/AUS/UK/US and most of neighboring missions can see your travel overstay.

I suspect that discretionary powers are likely to be used, err, with discretion. Otherwise, the validity period of a visa becomes a joke, and FRO/FRROs will have a daily queue of tourists awaiting their extra days and weeks.

Suspect is stressed: it's just an opinion.

Oh no you wouldn't.

That sounds likely if he just overstays and goes to the airport with an expired visa. But if he goes and gets the necessary extension from the FRRO in time, that shouldn't cause blacklisting.

And I think your email trail and booking and total fairly short time of stay all play in your favor in this case.

Actually this exactly some one did, paid the fine and was still backlisted. The man was from Afghanistan. The case either went to the SCI or was the Delhi High Court case. I cannot search the judis.nic.in, but the legal beagle I know in Mumbai narrated this case to me. It spins one head that they even heard the case. It would never have even accepted in the US.

I will go get it if you want to read it.

From lobis.nic.in/dhc

Abdul Shukoor Vs Union of India at the Delhi High Court.

Please someone summarize - I am lost in stupid parenthesis. My head spins.

I disagree. If you got an extension, then you won't be denied on the next application. It happened to me and there was no problem in getting my next visa.

What ever rocked your boat... don't push the luck. Read the Shukoor Vs Union of India link I provided above. IVFRT was not operational.

Goodness, what a chore to read through all that legal garble! I read about half through. This unfortunate Afghani man did not obtain an extension to stay and that is why he got into trouble subsequently. So it is a very different case.

OP is not on an Entry(X) visa. He is on a T visa, which is not extensible. Unless he has an emergency, medically unable to travel it is coded as overstay. If you read the case, it is about overstay and paying the fine.

As per the RFP out in the street, Indian missions might implement finger printing soon and will eventually be put in place every embassy.