Visa 6 months condition? From date of issue or on entry?

MatchDancer

I'm traveling to india in the summer. Should I get a visa now, or later. Is the 6 month condition from when you get the visa or when you travel?

machadinha

Yes, (on a standard tourist visa) it's from date of issue, not from date of entry.

In other words, if you're planning to travel for six months, you'd want to get it as shortly before as possible, but naturally allowing for enough time to get it at all -- and you consequently won't make an exact full 6 months.

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Sama

six months from date of issue.

6 months is 180 days. so if you get a 6 month visa tomorrow, but you don't leave for india until 179 days from tomorrow....then you need a new visa.

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MatchDancer

I also heard it was 3 months somewhere?

Nick-H

Your visa should have a date of expiry on it. That should tell all.

Standard maximum length of stay is 180 days on a tourist visa, but some may give less. See what is printed or stamped on the visa.

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htid

Just filling in my tourist visa application, it says at the bottom you need two referees in India who can be contacted if needed. Can these just be hotels I'm staying at over there?

Cheers.

Nick-H

Yes. I believe they can even be blank for a tourist visa. As I have always had friends here I used to put a couple of names, but I don't think it is necessary.

atala

That is actually for business and other type visas. I know those forms change every few years. I used to see that on tourist visa applications too in my country. On my last form they added the reference "only for business visa applications". Embassy folks are extremely lazy in providing exact forms to their printers, it seems. As long as they know what to look for when checking an application.

And by the way: 6 months is still the standard tourist visa you get in Europe.

L&L

I'm filling out an online visa form right now for tourist visa and it does say that the references are required....but I haven't booked any hotels yet. Suggestions please!!!

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zoltan

If at all in doubt, just pick a hotel at random and put that as the place you will be staying.

Put it into context, if there are > 10000 people daily applying for visas worldwide, the embassy/consulates are not going to be phoning every hotel to confirm where you are staying... This is done via the Form-C when you arrive.

Cheers
Zoltan

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edwardseco

I believe 3 months visas are given to certain nationalities such as Italians and Vietnamese. At one time there was discussion of broadly converting over to a one year valid, 6 month stay visa in place of the 6 months from date of issue valla. But, heard nothing since. I may be wrong but I thought this was the case for UK for the longest time. Any Brits who can confirm/deny.?

goangoangone

I asked for a longer visa last September and received a 1 year multiple entry tourist visa endorsed maximum stay 180 days. Flew down to Colombo 2 weeks ago. I also know someone who has lived here for a long time who managed to get a 1 year X. FRO didn't like it when they went to register after 180 days. Mine was issued in London, theirs in Edinburgh. I also met a Brummie around Xmas who was offered 5 year tourist.
Everyone's story is different.............:confuse d:

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