Us Citizen To India

[Nam Kao]

Is it easy for a US citizen to get a visa to stay long in India?

What are the requirements ?

thanks

nam

[Azul_Blanco]

I've been to India 3 times on 6 month visas -- no problem at all to get them, I think the cost was around 50USD. I've got 1 in the states, 1 in Romania, and one in Nepal and it was painless to get the visa at each location.

[Dutchy2]

Is it easy for a US citizen to get a visa to stay long in India?

What are the requirements ?

thanks

nam

half year tourists visas are easy to get, no problem at all. Depending on where you want to stay, the cost of living can be significantly cheaper than in Thailand. I've met people in India who could survive on 500 baht a week, they ate local food up north and lived in a crampy bungalow. They spent their entire time smoking pot which was also very cheap, they bought it per kilo. The majority of people also tend to speak English.. It has also been on my mind to move back to India.

Good luck

Dutchy

[Nam Kao]

Thanks for the replies

I met an Indian guy here in the US and he invited me over to Bangalore

and he said he he will pay for my whole vacation. My experience previously

with Indian people was pretty sour but this guy is really nice.

Previously I made freinds with an Indian a few years back, he was from New Delhi

and we became good freinds. Our wives also hit it off and spent time together.

Well one day they came for dinner and we were talking about our jobs and

the subject came to pay. I am a very casual dresser and I think he thought

I was poor. So he boasts "This year I will make 40,000$". I replied meekly

not trying to boast "Well I'll make 150,000$". He started laughing and said

"You very funny". So I go over and grab my recent paycheck and hand it to

him. He inspected for a few minutes even holding it up to a light. He said "This

must be forgery". I said "No its not" and gave him a stack of old pay stubs

and my last years W2 form. Again not trying to boast, i just didnt want him to

think I am a liar. So anyways he goes home and this guy NEVER spoke another

word to me and his wife was banned from ever talking to my wife again.

My wife was crushed she lost a good friend. The Thai-Chinese are not even

this bad...

My second experience was with a 50ish year old Indian man from Bombay. Again

we became kind of freinds until one day he comes over my apt. at 11am in

the morning completely drunk. My wife answered the door and he pushes the

door open and tries to kiss her. My wife pushes him off. I come out and calm

the situation down and write it off as the guy was drunk. Ya i know i am too nice.

So the next day I see him outside. His apt is across from mine. I told him "Listen

you cant act like this in the US, if you did this to anyone else you'd be in jail right

now. This guy just snares at me and walks away. The next day I am at work

and my wife phones me and say "Indian man look my room". My apt was on the

ground floor and he pulled up a bench and watched my wife. So I come home

and approached the guy and asked him "What the heck are you doing". He says

"This is a free country I can sit anywhere i want". So I go inside and look out

my window and he is still sitting there snaring at me. So now I am getting steamed.

I go into my kitchen and I grabbed a huge knife and I poured a ton of ketchup

into my left hand. I go back to the window where he is watching me. My hands

behind my back. He is smiling now. I show him the big knife. His smile goes away

but comes back in a few seconds. I now pull up my hand with the ketchup and I

pretend I very slowly slice open my palm and ketchup is all over the knife.

I do this 3 times with a very twisted look on the face. Then I pretend I start

licking the blood off my hand and I smear the ketchup all over my face.

I'll never forget this, the guy tries to stand up and his knees are shaking, his

face very white for a dark guy. He walks quickly to his apt. I go in the bathroom

and I laugh so hard my ribs were sore for 2 days! My wife is ready to call

the funny farm. I am thinking this is perfect! So i fashion a fake bandage for

my hand I wear it everytime I went outside for 2 weeks. Everytime I seen him

I held up the bandaged hand and give him a crazy look. If this guy seen me

coming he would turn around and take a completely different route. Even his

family was petrified of me. The kids would look at me and point and take off screaming.

He must of told them. Not another problem after this. He moved 3 weeks later.

[Nam Kao]

Getting back to India, My new freind said yes its very cheap to live in india.

He said he spends about 150$ to live in Bangalore and 250$ a month is living good.

[Axel]

Nam Kao, life is a b*tch. Never ever show your money, even on a payslip.

And if you use ketchup, make sure they know it is not Kerry's

[indiana_gs]

Everyone is Welcome in India, just make sure all the documents are intact, and the purpose of visiting , staying or overstaying is 100% clear.

About Indian people, I m sorry, some people had a bad experience with them, well let me tell you, I m from New Delhi, India, and I have been couple of countries - In an Alien country and alien people, one has to be very careful in finding right people to establish a communication. It happens in every country.

After gradual informal investigation of the person, one can be assured ( if not 100% at least 90% ) that this person is safe to talk and so on...and vice versa.

Wish you all a Good Luck !!

[Nam Kao]

Indiana, Thanks, I'll post my experience here when i get back.

[ubergnome]

I have a 10 year visa for India, which I got in the US 2 yrs ago. Youre supposed to stay max 6 months unless you register with the local police. But like Thailand the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing and no one cares anyway. The rules are just rules and most of the time irrelevant. I met people who'd been there 10 years or longer with no formalities. It's more like the Wild West than LOS is.

I stayed 6 months, but I found it pretty rough going. I lost a lot of weight (didn't have much to begin) and struggled to stay healthy (I'm normally never ill). On the way home for a break I stopped in Thailand and that was it, I was hooked.

The food in India is nowhere near as good as here. Yes it is cheap but it's DIRTY, SMELLY, MASSIVELY OVERCROWDED and in general it's one hassle after another. People in general are not nice. You are seen as a source of cash - even more obviously so than here - and people can be quite rude aggressive. In Thailand at least they smile politely while digging into your pockets. India can be nice, especially in the south, but it's a bumpy ride. All that said, I will go back. It is a fascinating country. And it's got better internet than Thailand.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I have a 10 year visa for India, which I got in the US 2 yrs ago. Youre supposed to stay max 6 months unless you register with the local police. But like Thailand the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing and no one cares anyway. The rules are just rules and most of the time irrelevant. I met people who'd been there 10 years or longer with no formalities. It's more like the Wild West than LOS is.

I stayed 6 months, but I found it pretty rough going. I lost a lot of weight (didn't have much to begin) and struggled to stay healthy (I'm normally never ill). On the way home for a break I stopped in Thailand and that was it, I was hooked.

The food in India is nowhere near as good as here. Yes it is cheap but it's DIRTY, SMELLY, MASSIVELY OVERCROWDED and in general it's one hassle after another. People in general are not nice. You are seen as a source of cash - even more obviously so than here - and people can be quite rude aggressive. In Thailand at least they smile politely while digging into your pockets. India can be nice, especially in the south, but it's a bumpy ride. All that said, I will go back. It is a fascinating country. And it's got better internet than Thailand.

Many others that did stay in India have similar views to yours. Seems a fairly common situation.

[indiana_gs]

Well, I bet you never tried to visit a good restaurant, food is best, lots of variety, you can find continental, south indian, north Indian, chinese ( indian styled spicy), mughlai, italian...A variety I can bet you will never find in any part of the World !!

India is a poor country, a country represented by 70% of Village, so you will invariably find food which is inexpensive, it may not be hygeinic upto any standards of the world, but a food which you can get in 1- 1.5 US $.

Almost half of the Indian population is vegetarian, so you will find lots of restaurants catering only to vegetarian population, there are non veg. restaurants, where the food could cost you 3 - 5 US $ ( per person).

It all depends what is your search criteria, if u want to have a cheap inexpensive food , you will get that in a crowded street, where everyone is able to afford that, hence more crowd, low quality. The restaurants in any good city are quite decent.

Up North, East , West , South, Central, long way to explore India...Even I havent explored fully.

About the people always looking for cash, tell me where local people are not attracted to money !! In my previous message which I posted, let me tell you, I have visited almost 10 countries , which are from lower economy to developed economies of which one is USA !!, the local people always look for money which you have in your hands, and they always try to take advantage of you. So , One has to be very careful and attentive....

One thing more, despite such so called un hygienic, No single case of Mad cow or SARs has been reported in India.

In India telecom is inexpensive, internet is widely available, countrywide you can access internet on mobiles through GSM GPRS and CDMA, cybercafes etc. Cheap mode of transportation, but its better you travel in Metro rails if you are in Delhi, or take auto rickshaws ( tuk tuk ) if you are in Bombay.

If you are on business tour, you can hire a car for one full day for just 18-20 US $.

[ovenman]

Cheap mode of transportation, but its better you travel in Metro rails if you are in Delhi, or take auto rickshaws ( tuk tuk ) if you are in Bombay.

Not quite:

The Metro in Delhi doesn't really go anywhere that many tourists would be travelling (yet). It'll be a different story when the line passing through Connaught Place is opened. An autorickshaw is a better option in Delhi at the moment (bonus if you can get a driver to use the meter!)

One cannot take an autorickshaw in Bombay proper as they are not allowed south of Mahim Creek into the city and this is actually enforced. A taxi is needed in the city although I prefer the B.E.S.T. city buses myself.

[Roger13]

Hi Nam Kao,

I am in Bangalore just NOW !!

Thoroughly recommend it.

It has altitude of 1,000 metres so it is cooler than

other big cities at any time.

Just now in the Monsoon it is High 27C (cooler than London)

Low 19C (so no need for night time a/c)

I have rented a 2 bedroom / 2 Bathroom small apartment in outskirts

Rs 4,500 = US$ 100 per month UNfurnished but with

2 bathroom water heaters and 3 ceiling fans.

[This is half the rent of my Bangkok Furnished 2 Bedroom / 2 Bathroom

Apartment with 3 a/c units)

Bangalore does not have as many Shopping Malls as

Bangkok - but there are MANY - Good Cheap Restaurants

Bangalore is very Cosmopolitan - It is India's Silicon Valley,

and - many Bangaloreans speak English with each other.

I hope you enjoy your visit.

Roger