Research Visa??

thaneb

So I am travelling to Gujarat for approximately 3 months to do research for my MA thesis. I am a Canadian and this will be my first trip to India. I have run into considerable difficulty obtaining said visa. I was just curious if anyone else has tried for a research visa. The advice I have received from other academics (NRI's only) is to go on a tourist visa as research visas are very difficult to get, take a lot of time to get, and given my area of research, may not be granted anyways.

Has anyone been in India for research on a tourist visa before? Have you run into any trouble?

Thanks

GoanCanuck

Hi Thaneb. Welcome to India Mike. The advice you received is correct. Take a tourist visa and get your research done. getting a proper research visa is not easy to put it mildly. Are you at UBC or SFU?

thaneb

Thanks for the quick response, that is pretty much what I have resigned myself to having to do but I wanted to see if anyone had any horror stories of having to deal with authorities for conducting research.

I am looking specifically at BJP/Adivasi interactions in Gujarat (esp. the Dangs District) If anyone has been to the Dangs incidentally I would love to hear about it.

Actually I am at UVic, but good guesses. UBC would have been a more appropriate place to study South Asian politics, but my supervisor at UVic is from Gujarat so it is working out quite well.

Thanks again

GoanCanuck

Be careful of the water in Gujarat. Met a guy from Ireland who got Typhoid while touring Gujarat.

iwanttogoback

thaneb
i visited india in february this year to do a design workshop in ahmedabad as part of an official study trip for my university course. on the advice of the staff member who organised the trip we all travelled on tourist visas for the same reason that you have been given. we had no troubles or questions. the place we were working has run international studios before and they seemed to encourage the tourist visa.
all the best, you will have a great time.

edwardseco

And if you get caught you can be sure of being permanently banned from India. This is like asking childless couples about child rearing. Better be sure you are getting answers from someone who has gone through the process (check my profile on the ThornTree). I don't know what your field of study is. Mine was a real bear and it was carefully designed to be disarming. Everyone saw through that in a moment. If you are going on a grant the agency runs interference for you! It can take a year (mine did). However, if you are going to be dedicated to the field don't screw up. If you are just getting the sheepskin for a job in advertising take the short cut. At every point in the research you will need bonafides and letters. I guess if you committed to dishonesty you could forge them. The police may also track your activities in the countryside. I accumulated an amazing file and I thought I was quite discrete. PM me if you wish..

thaneb

Well, this complicates things, thanks everyone for responding so quickly. Edward, I did take you up on your offer and PM you, thanks

Chandra

Two of my trips to India have been study related. There is a Norwegian study center in Pondicherry where you can study anthropology or science of religion for three months and take your exams back in Norway afterwards. It's professionally run by a Norwegian private company cooperating, of course, with the local authorities. I joined this program in 2002.

From September last year until February this year I was doing research for my MA in a few different places in Nort India.

My point: On both occations I checked the "student" box in the visa application and then specified what I was going to do. The embassy in Oslo still gave me a tourist visa saying it was easier as I wasn't enrolled in an Indian study program...

hugoc

Exactly the same here... It was the Indian Embassy in Lisbon itself that gave me a tourist visa. For a research visa, I guess you must have some sort of academic contact in India, which I didn't (and I guess most researchers don't). But it went just fine with the tourist visa, I even had to interview police officers for my research... But that was in Diu, which is a quiet and small place. Still, you shouldn´t worry with activities in India. The only problem, I guess, will be at the airport if you have to carry a lot of obviously research-related equipment.

seraph

I have been in India on a research visa since January and can report that it has been a headache from start to finish.

I went through a reputable US organization - the American Institute for Indian Studies (AIIS) and it still took me over 16 months to obtain permission from the Ministry of Human Resource Development - Department of Secondary and Higher Education. It also means that you must be affiliated with an accredited Indian Institute that will oversee your research (for a hefty fee).

Since a Research Visa allows you to stay in the country for more than 180 days, you have to register with the Foreigner Registration Office (FRO) within 14 days. In my case, even though I was conducting research in Orissa, the only accredited institutes were in West Bengal. AIIS (who should know better) insisted that this meant that I had to register in Kolkata. Unfortunately, they were completely wrong and I needed to be registered in Orissa. In the end I registered in Kolkata and had my file transfered to Orissa. This was a nightmare because it meant towing my family to Kolkata and back several times. It also took bribes and over ten weeks for the files to be mailed.

A Research visa is also a pain in the ass if you need to leave the country because you need to obtain a "No Objection to Leave India" certificate from the FRO. This involves many wasted trips to the FRO office where YOU will be expected to do all the work (writing all correspondence, photocopies of plane and train tickets and bribes). The FRO has to send a message to ALL(!) the FRO's in the country to make sure that there are no FIR's or cases pending against you. I also had to go to my local police station where I was thoroughly interrogated by the police chief as to why I was here, what I am doing, why I wanted to leave India and many personal and completely irrelevant questions about my wife and how we met, etc. All of this has gone into my file. Only once the local police station gave their OK and no cases were found against me, was I given the certificate and allowed to go home.

Finally, if you have a Research Visa, you are in the "system". Most foreigners may not realize that there are three government bodies responsible for keeping an eye on foreigners. 1. Foreigner's Registration Office 2. District Intelligence Bureau (in the same office as the FRO) 3. Intelligence Bureau (Delhi). I know this because all three have regularly come to visit me to interrogate and make it clear that I am being watched. Sometimes this also involves veiled threats to extract some baksheesh.

Note that this may be different in different states and depending on your topic area. Still, based on my experience, if you are coming to India to do research for a short period consider coming on anything other than a Research Visa.

GoanCanuck

Seraph, what is the topic of your research?

phreako1

same thing here: if it's for less than six months, definitely go for a tourist visa.
I'm working with a local NGO, I got hired as a research and documentation coordinator for three years, and it took months before i got the visa. (see my thread in the visa section)
In the end I didn't even get the right visa (x visa, not employment). It seems that research can be difficult issue, especially social/political oriented topics, like yours is.

Good luck

thaneb

Hey everyone,

Thanks for your advice. I am going with the tourist visa (not that I had much of a choice) and will let everyone know how it goes once I get back.

Leaving in about a week which is very exciting!

seraph

Here is my first thread on IndiaMike. It discusses my research in general terms. I am an anthropologist, so I kind of need to be on the ground for long periods of time.

My recommendation to anyone coming for a short period of time for research purposes is contact an NGO and ask for their assistance. They will know many people locally, can run interference for you if necessary, and you can always claim that your research is in conjunction with them. You can also say that you are looking into the possibility of writing a grant with them. This certainly does not need to be untrue, as you may actually find a good opprtunity to work with locals and perhaps come back to India for a project.

joost_v

I am also in the process of applying for a research visa, but these stories worry me... The procedure has been confusing to me from the start. The university in India I hope to attend asked me to write the Ministry of Human Resource Development - Department of Secondary and Higher Education. I did so and at the same time I asked the embassy and they seemed to have never heard of this procedure for a research visa at all. Now the following happened:

1) at the embassy they say I will get authorization by August 15th and shouldn't worry

2) the government said one item was missing in my documents, and they will start processing after I have sent that; a process that will take "at least 3 months", while there are only 2 more months to go before I hope to start my research in India...

It seems like my case is in two flows now. My research is in technology, so it shouldn't touch anything senstive for government politics. I understand the advise to apply for a tourist visa, but I don't know if the Indian University agrees and cannot face any problem for hosting me on a tourist visa. Is there someone having some advise for me?

Thanks a lot for the advises given above.

From the Netherlands,

Joost