Tourist visa X visa drama....

I am an Australian living in India. Before moving to India I was living in Houston, the Indian consulate of Houston incorrectly issued me with a tourist visa before leaving USA (it should have been an X type visa). My tourist visa is now due to expire next week and I have been told it cannot be extended. How can I change from a tourist visa to an x type visa?, do I need to leave the country?, HELP!, please help.

You will have to go back to Houston and sort it out or return to Australia and try to have them help you. Either way its going to be a hassle so you should have checked the visa before you left the US.

Of course you can try bribing someone. $500 US can go a long way in government departments. It will still save you the hassle.

Good Luck

I'm not sure what you mean by an X visa. If you mean a 10 year visa, then as far as I know, these are only issued to US citizens.

With a tourist visa you have to leave the country before the expiry date. You could try going to Nepal or Sri Lanka and applying for another 6 month tourist visa. I think some members on the forum have done this successfully in recent times.

How long do you have left
Firstly as Old Hippie said bribing yourway to a new visa or not so much new as extended is very possible...though be subtle and find out which offices are accepting special payments ...there are a few notorious ones

Failing that ...pick a location
Sri lanka, Nepal and tahiland are the closest and go there for a month while you apply for a new visa in that country ...take the necessary documents and get the visa and return

What exactly is an X visa?
Bryan

I should be here on an X type visa which is based as me being dependant on my husbands employment visa. If I was on an X type visa I could register at the FRO and also be able to extend the visa yearly if necessary.

However here I sit on a tourist visa which expires exactly one week from today.

Bex 76,


Here is what the consulate states about the X type visa, "Foreigners of Indian origin desiring to visit India for short periods each year to meet their relatives etc. can be granted 5 years multiple entry ‘X’ visa with a stipulation that each stay shall not exceed 180 days. "

Note -- 1. the visa is only issued to people of India origin and 2. the period of stay does not exceed 180 days (similar to a tourist visa).

The is common confusion that a 10 year visa means one can stay in India for 10 consequetive years. that is not the case. A 10 year multiple entry means that one does not need to apply for another visa for a 10 year period, but each time he/she vists india, the length of stay cannot exceed 180 days. This is similar to a 10 year multiple entry visa into the US.. Some times the max length of stay will be stamped only upon entry into the country.

Apparently, the indian consulate allows the extenstion of the X type visa without leaving the country, but then the X type is only for people of Indian origin.

However, rules can be bent in India, check with the local immigration office before you leave the country.