Within the 6 months ?

hellsbellsbaby

Once I receive my visa does this give me enough time to get a good flight price , book the hotels I want ?

I realise everyone has to do the same thing but is this really enough time or do you book you flight/hotel anyway ?

As everything I'm booking is independantly & I'm having to meet up with my aunt in the UK , I don't want to book flights only to find our visa dates don't match up....am I just worrying for nothing ?

sannna

Yeah - no worries, generally! You don't have to book those things far in advance.

But: Ofcourse it depends on how long after you receive your visa you want to leave and how long you want to stay in India..

hellsbellsbaby

Only having the 2 weeks so leaving 1st week of Nov...but it worries me .
For the last decade I've been 2/3 times a year to Thailand , where you fill your visa form out on the plane and all is well . So I can book my hotels , flights etc well in advance...this all seems a little hurried at the end .

Saulteaux_woman

I'm sorta going through the same thing with my mother. She hasnt got her Indian visa yet and its already a month before I book her ticket for Feb 24th, 2009. I'm a bit worried I wont get a good price on her ticket, but I'm scared to book the ticket right now, I dont think India rejects Visa often.

machadinha

<cross-posted with Saulteaux>

I don't book anything, except for a hotel in Mumbai where I land this time, and that's just because Mumbai was always hard on accommodation, and I don't feel like dealing with it after the flight.

To each their own, right.

More importantly perhaps, it depends on your nationality and where you get the visa perhaps, but at least where I live you don't need a visa to get a flight (nor a flight to get the visa). (Some nationalities do, so people should just check their local stipulations.) So as long as you apply for the visa within a reasonable time before leaving (i.e., in time to actually get it, again, just enquire with your Indian embassy), there's nothing to stop you from making any other arrangements now if you want.

I'm not sure I get the question btw: A standard tourist visa (it may depend again per nationality, some get only 3 months for instance, so take notice of this) should be valid for 6 months, from date of issue mind. You don't make it sound like you're going for six, and even if you were, it will have to be issued at some point right, so yes, this might conceivably cost you a week or so of the six months.

They're not going to fit the visa around your flight dates or anything. It is issued, and is valid for six months (or whatever) from that moment. No problem really.

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machadinha

ps And on closer reading, unless you have good reason to assume your application will merit extra scrutiny (having overstayed in India in the past or something, let alone any criminal convictions there of course), there's really no reason to assume it will be refused. So this shouldn't be a concern.

If it is for some reason that's a costly joke of course, but seriously, why would it be. One hears about people getting refused from entering e.g. the US or Israel with no reason given (upon landing mind, not said to be real fun as you can imagine, i.e., you just get sent straight back, having already paid for and arranged and being generally set on your whole trip of course), but I've never heard anything like that about India.

Saulteaux_woman

Thats what I was thinking, and my mom is harmless old lady, no reason to deny her entry. I might as well book her flight.

machadinha

Yes, you should. btw Those people in, cough, certain other countries I mentioned above weren't exactly fearsome- or otherwise dubious-looking either. I guess they may have worn the wrong badge or T-shirt or eau de cologne or something, or just met with the wrong officer. (In the US where customs personnel isn't renowned for their welcoming ways anyway, a friend of mine was barked back to stand at the end of the line all over again just for having filled in "Holland" instead of "The Netherlands" as his place of origin. ["There exists no country called 'Holland'!" There in fact doesn't, but you'd think the officer got the gist, no, and besides all you silly foreigners seem to think that's what it's called and it makes for a handy abbreviation anyway.] Not quite the type to have himself be barked at either, but hey, one wants to get in right. This was way before a certain date mind, which in his case wouldn't have had much to do with it anyway.)

But so anyway and again, I know no such stories regarding India no.

Saulteaux_woman

I just checked the flights and for sum reason its about 200 CDN cheaper if I book now, so hopefully all goes well!!! lol

machadinha

Well, it's normally cheaper the further ahead you can book of course (and going for the off-season; and for weekdays; and yada yada). There appears to exist some benchmark of three weeks ahead; which doesn't mean doing it even earlier can hurt.

With the market currently doing what it's doing you can expect some amazing deals yes (as well as great fluctuations practically from day to day); the downside of course is your money may not stretch quite as far on the ground either.

hellsbellsbaby

I doubt there will be any problem with mine...I've never been before . My only concern is we (mum & I ) fill out the form incorrectly ~ is that hard to do ?
How basic is the application form , I realise it won't be as simple as the Thai one .

Haylo

It is not too complicated, one thing that people often find confusing is the question about Indian referees. The form is used for all visa types but this question does not apply to tourist visas, so just put N/A in those spaces.

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