visa re-entry queries....

SKIP

Gday all,
Please could someone just clarify a few small things.

Firstly, this is my first time travelling to india, but I know im gonna love it.
Originally I was just staying from dec 30 til 22nd of jan,,,,I went and sorted my visa and begun getting a bit down cos 23 days isnt enough . Im hoping to stay now until mid april so that I can complete a mountaineering course.

my problem is,,,,,My visa runs out on 7th march . I realise im going to have to go to sri lanka or kathmandu etc. but can I go there in january and apply for a new 6 months whilst I still have 3 months left on my original visa????, what process do all of you indian veteran travellers go thru when your needin ya visa renewed???

Any help is much appreciated..........

cheers,
SKIP

machadinha

I don't know, but can't you get your visa extended before you leave? Even getting a new one might be worth the trouble.

__________________
Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

Nick-H

Just get a new visa before you go. Much less fuss.

Tourist visas cannot be extended: they will cancel the existing one.

Get in in Mid December --- you won't have to worry about it again until Mid-June

__________________
.


Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

SKIP

gday all,

cheers Machadinha and Nick

So I could go to the embassy today and apply for a tourist visa and next week they'd grant it(hopefully), and just cancel the original one???

If this is the case then I'll just re-apply in late october,,that'll take me thru til late april.

SKIP

Nick-H

I really do not see why not.

If they ask --- your plans changed. Which is true.

But why get the visa 2 months before you need it? I'm all for not leaving these things 'till the last minute, but...

machadinha

What I was saying is you'll probably be paying double (mind you, you might not. Call them!) That is to say you'll lose the first one. Might be worth not having to deal with any other hassle though.

I don't know about current affairs but it used to be your visa was valid from *date of issue*, not *date of entry*. As Nick hinted, why the hurry.

In case you get stuck with your original plan I don't see why you couldn't get a new visa (*not*: an extension) along the way. Although some bureaucrat down the line might get in your way, who knows.

Hopefully the knowledgeable ones will be around presently. In the meantime, why not call your local embassy? It's not like your predicament is anything out of the extraordinary.

Nick-H

It is indeed from date of issue.

I've had a new visa while the old one (cancelled) was still valid. I don't think I even got to use my first-ever India visa (the trip just didn't happen).

The fact that you haven't used it has got to help: it is not as if you are running back to 'extend' it.

Just a change of plan. it happens. Go ask --- or rather, confidently apply, pointing out they should cancel the unused one: a confident attitude will carry the day!

SKIP

Yeh cheers again for the info.
My reasoning for wanting to sort my visa as early as possible is that im wanting to apply for a course at the H.M.I. and part of the application wants to see my visa valid for the course period (20th march - 16th april).
I'll just re-apply here in sunny scotland in late october.
thanks again

Muss

well i'm on my second visa, the first was still valid when i applied for a new one in Thailand.... no probs, they just cancelled the current one and issued another.... now i've returned home for a short holiday, weddings etc, i'm just going to apply for my third visa back to back, didnt think it would be a problem until reading the application form for the London embassy.... "Please check you do not have a valid visa at the time of application" i quote...... arrrhhhhhhh, i'm gonna do it any way, but its not looking good, what does it mean???? i'll find out tomorrow, £30 i could do with out wasting.
gonna try the confident approach, fingers crossed.....

Nick-H

...It means they want you to do the work of telling them so they can cancel it.

I forgot, last time, and did have two valid visa running for a while. I made sure the immigration guy at the airport stamped opposite the new one.

Muss

Well that was pain less, got my visa, off on Monday, back to my hammock on the beach..... Might be alittle wet with monsoon coming etc, but hay, Sussex or Tamil nadu...eeerrrrrrr!
the visa currently running was cancelled and a new one issued, the only difference being a red stamp on the visa, "stay during each visit shall not exceed 180 days" all good.

SKIP

cheers mate,
i'll go n have a crack myself in a few weeks.
skip