Which Visa is best?

apowers

I intend to move to india within the next 12 months. I would like to find a job once I am there, and I am also currently engaged to an Indian man who is living in New Delhi, (although I am not of indian origin so no PIO card option).

What should I do? (It appears that any change to my visa type requires that I return to my home in the USA) Is there any way around this? Should I go with a tourist visa first, or arrange for a job before I leave the USA and go on a business visa...or is there some sort of marriage / fiance visa that I can use? My goal is to avoid as much as possble any trans-atlantic flights which Would quickly kill off all the money I've saved up.

shanthi

I'd think for moving anywhere, it would be better to get a job before you went, but then, I'm not so much in a position to say. Nick-H (our top poster !!!) may have some idea. Tourist visa's are not extendable in India, except under very strict circumstances where someone has become ill and unable to make their flight out of the country or some such other reason.

Nick will help you more than I....he'll be online about 10.am or thereabouts Indian time!

Best of luck!

Nick-H

My God! I'm being watched!!!

Actually, I'm up early today.

Anyway...

No, there is no fiancé or marriage visa.

It is technically possible to get a tourist visa converted to an X-visa after marriage: it takes a lot of forms, interviews, police checks, blah blah blah. I was trying this: what with the total failure of my 'agent' to produce anything other than bullshit and so on it turned into a farce and I got my visa in London in the end.

I believe that it is very difficult to get an employment visa from within India: if you can get a job there before leaving then that would be a good bet. Conversion from employment to X visa is probably about the same as from tourist (don't think I've heard of anyone doing that so far --- but if the job sees you through the first year then you can apply for PIO anyway. PIO will be an option for you after one year marriage.

For the definitions of the different types of visa, see the Visa FAQS here, your local Indian Embassy website and the Indian Immigration Dept website

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