Visa Questions

gipsi47

We are planning on spending 6 months a year in India and returning to Canada for 6 months for the next 3 years.
Has anyone had experience doing this and do you know if we will have a problem getting a new 6 month Visa every year.
We will be investing in a small business with a resident Indian national, will this give us any help in getting a longer term visa and should we tell the embassy about this from the start.

Any insights will be greatly appreciated

-m2-

Getting a 6 month tourist visa every year is no problem. If you get a tourist visa, then it it better not to mention that you will be working. If you wish a business visa or a longer term one, then the situation is different -- the following link is from the Consulate in Vancouver and has some information on the other types of visa. There are also consulates in Toronto and Ottawa.

http://www.cgivancouver.com/visainfo.html

pooch

Investing in any scale business with an Indian for the sake of mandatory legal clearances is illegal, admitting this while applying for your visa will worsen your chances. It is legal for an Indian to accept a loan and repay with handsome rewards from a friend or relative overseas, all this must be documented properly, including some proof of prior relationship. They say it's straight forward if you are an ethnic Indian, while the visa fomalities are, actually getting down to setting up a business or investing in the Indian stocks markets (definitely the most volatile in the universe therefore offering good earning opportunities) is almost impossible, time consuming and frustrating.