Visa To India

[leggo]

I am planning going to India in October and have discovered that the visa agent/office is closing down permanently

"From 7 July 2013, VFS India Passport & Visa Application Centre will
not be operational."

1 I phoned the embassy to ask where I could get a visa for , applying end of August and a gentleman replied vaguely - another company will be handling visas -check the web site.

2 The VFS is asking for 4530 bht for a tourist visa as opposed to 57 sterling in uk !!! - when I asked the gentleman at the Embassy what was the fee he referred me to VFS ; I told him what they were charging and he replied -oh yes, that's much too expensive! ( If that is the official policy of the Embassy they should presumably do something about it - probably the most expensive tourist visa in the world .)

Does anybody know what is going on?

[Crossy]

Thanks for the heads-up leggo.

I'm a regular business traveller to India and will be needing a new visa in October.

Indian visas have always been expensive here and the rules get tighter every year, this year for the first time in seven years I had to have an interview for a Business Visa

Fees also vary by your nationality on a seemingly tit-for-tat basis.

[Tomtomtom69]

I'm also planning on going to India again in October and although I originally thought about applying for a new visa in Bangkok, with this confusion I might as well apply in Australia again, where I will likely be travelling to prior to this time anyway.<br /><br />

[Jasun]

Many countries, including Thailand, make the visa process for Indian nationals travelling to their country very difficult. This is them returning the favour.

[vivek130205]

hi , I am indian staying in tablet, can totally understand your confusion, it's VHS office that handles application if you require visa prior to travelling to india, however you can also opt for visa on arrival facility if your stay in india is not over 60 days and you can always extent it from frro office.

The government has put in motion a series of measures that will drastically liberalize the visa regime in the country and ensure a significant boost in foreign tourist arrivals. Not only has the government extended the facility of visa on arrival for individuals from four to nine airports in the country but also given its nod for VoA option for a group of foreign tourists (four or more) using air or sea ports to enter the country.

The group VoA facility has been extended to all countries excluding Afghanistan, China, Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Pakistan and foreigners of Pakistani origin.

In effect from April 1, the measures mean that a family of four, or a group coming from any part of the world except for the countries on the negative list, can use the VoA facility.

Individual VoA was earlier accepted in airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata which has now been extended to Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kochi, Trivandrum and Goa.

According to a notification issued by the ministry of home affairs, foreign tourists in groups of four or more, arriving by air or sea, sponsored by Indian travel agencies approved by the tourism ministry will be granted a collective landing permit for a 60-day period with multiple-entry facility. The tourists will have to submit their personal details, itinerary and apply for visa online. The travel agency will have to submit a complete list of group members to the FRRO, 72 hours in advance. The travel agency will also have to take responsibility for the group.

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[Crossy]

Vivek, have you got a link to the new VoA regulations? The Bureau of Immigration site here http://www.immigrationindia.nic.in/visa_on_arrival2.htm still has the old information which we must assume is still current.

Of course, this doesn't help those of us who do business in India.

Incidentally, have you ever been in an FRRO office, nightmare

[vivek130205]

FRRO offices gives everyone a hard time, no doubt about Thai, may I ask you which nationality do you hold and at the same time the information reflected there has not been updated since a long while, don't know how long though. for india your single point of contact to get all your queries resolved should be vfs. are you planning to go on tourist or business visa .?

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[Crossy]

I travel on a UK passport and use a Business Visa for India, have Work Permit and extension of stay for Thailand and I've had several Indian Business Visas before.

Our OP will be using a Tourist Visa of some kind, I assume he's also a Brit as he mentions the visa price in the UK.

[vivek130205]

I guess you will have to get in touch with Indian embassy in that case to clarify the procedure in this case .

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[poooket]

Why would anyone want to travel to a country like India?

[vivek130205]

Why would anyone want to travel to a country like India?

Why wouldn't someone like to travel to india unless it does not suit ones budget, have time restrains or he is ignorant about facts of Indian history, traditions, culture and others aspects that makes the country so special or else has visa issues provided that one is really looking forward to explore a different art of living all-together.

I would like to the the opportunity to invest my time and let you know about few facts which you might not be aware of , which made you to ask such a question.

Here are just few( i really mean it JUST few) facts about India that may surprise you :

There is 17 major languages which the government accepts and 844 dialects spoken in India and over 1300 of regional languages. along with that every 200 miles you travel irrespective of the fact which direction you are traveling towards, the food, traditions , culture, dialects, weather, choices and the interest of activities changes.

Vsiting india is like visiting over 15 countries at the same time , unlike other countries wherein most of the things remain unchanged as long as you are in the same country. you will visit country with most diverse culture and society and yet in the same country.

When you talk about india to people who have been there and have spend a long span of time in the country can give you a better idea about what's so special about it.

India was one of the richest countries on earth until the British invasion in the early 17th century.

Every major world religion is represented in India. Additionally, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism all originated in India and you can still see signs of their orientation as well as the tradition , culture , eating habits and the the attire they wear depending upon their traditions.

India is 7th largest country in the world AND one of the most ancient and living civilizations (at least 10, 000 years old).

India is the world’s largest, oldest, continuous civilisation.

India never invaded any country in her last 10,000 years of history.

india is 2nd largest English speaking nation in the world, making it easier for tourists to travel.

GM of Hewlett Packard, Chief Executives of CitiBank, Mckinsey & Stanchart, founder and creator of Hotmail, creator of Pentium chip are all Indians.

few accomplishments

India has the second largest pool of Scientists and Engineers in the World

Indians abroad

* 38% of Doctors in America are Indians.

* 12% of Scientists in America are Indians.

* 36% of NASA employees are Indians.

* 34% of Microsoft employees are Indians.

* 28% of IBM employees are Indians.

* 17% of Intel employees are Indians.

* 13% of Xerox employees are Indians.

India is the largest democracy in the world.

The number of births that occur in India each year is more than the whole population of Australia.

India has the most number of mosques. It has 300,000 mosques which is much more than the Muslim world , though the majority is Hindu community.

Indians hold prominent places both internationally and in the United States. For example, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems (Vinod Khosla), the creator of the Pentium chip (Vinod Dahm), the founder/creator of Hotmail (Sabeer Bhatia), and the GM of Hewlett-Packard (Rajiv Gupta) are all Indian

It's a place worth visiting with many special facts which you may not be able to find in rest of the world especially when you will get 57 inr for 1 dollars which definitely makes traveling more inexpensive as india rupee fell drastically which makes this time the best time to travel.

Hope the information provided above answers your question.

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Edited June 6, 2013 by vivek130205

[theoldgit]

Can we keep this thread focused on visa issues please.

[poooket]

Why would anyone want to travel to a country like India?

Why wouldn't someone like to travel to india unless it does not suit ones budget, have time restrains or he is ignorant about facts of Indian history, traditions, culture and others aspects that makes the country so special or else has visa issues provided that one is really looking forward to explore a different art of living all-together.

I would like to the the opportunity to invest my time and let you know about few facts which you might not be aware of , which made you to ask such a question.

Here are just few( i really mean it JUST few) facts about India that may surprise you :

There is 17 major languages which the government accepts and 844 dialects spoken in India and over 1300 of regional languages. along with that every 200 miles you travel irrespective of the fact which direction you are traveling towards, the food, traditions , culture, dialects, weather, choices and the interest of activities changes.

Vsiting india is like visiting over 15 countries at the same time , unlike other countries wherein most of the things remain unchanged as long as you are in the same country. you will visit country with most diverse culture and society and yet in the same country.

When you talk about india to people who have been there and have spend a long span of time in the country can give you a better idea about what's so special about it.

India was one of the richest countries on earth until the British invasion in the early 17th century.

Every major world religion is represented in India. Additionally, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism all originated in India and you can still see signs of their orientation as well as the tradition , culture , eating habits and the the attire they wear depending upon their traditions.

India is 7th largest country in the world AND one of the most ancient and living civilizations (at least 10, 000 years old).

India is the world’s largest, oldest, continuous civilisation.

India never invaded any country in her last 10,000 years of history.

india is 2nd largest English speaking nation in the world, making it easier for tourists to travel.

GM of Hewlett Packard, Chief Executives of CitiBank, Mckinsey & Stanchart, founder and creator of Hotmail, creator of Pentium chip are all Indians.

few accomplishments

India has the second largest pool of Scientists and Engineers in the World

Indians abroad

* 38% of Doctors in America are Indians.

* 12% of Scientists in America are Indians.

* 36% of NASA employees are Indians.

* 34% of Microsoft employees are Indians.

* 28% of IBM employees are Indians.

* 17% of Intel employees are Indians.

* 13% of Xerox employees are Indians.

India is the largest democracy in the world.

The number of births that occur in India each year is more than the whole population of Australia.

India has the most number of mosques. It has 300,000 mosques which is much more than the Muslim world , though the majority is Hindu community.

Indians hold prominent places both internationally and in the United States. For example, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems (Vinod Khosla), the creator of the Pentium chip (Vinod Dahm), the founder/creator of Hotmail (Sabeer Bhatia), and the GM of Hewlett-Packard (Rajiv Gupta) are all Indian

It's a place worth visiting with many special facts which you may not be able to find in rest of the world especially when you will get 57 inr for 1 dollars which definitely makes traveling more inexpensive as india rupee fell drastically which makes this time the best time to travel.

Hope the information provided above answers your question.

{style_image_url}/attachicon.gif ImageUploadedByThaivisa Connect Thailand1370527266.529034.jpg{style_image_url}/attachicon.gif ImageUploadedByThaivisa Connect Thailand1370527274.200383.jpg

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I understand you have a reason to go back there since you are Indian.

But for everyone else, why would anyone want To go to India when the government support/ignore the Indian rape culture!?

Since u mention some big companies I think one reason to go India could be to open A child working factory. Another reason would be to travel to like Goa and do some dope, other than that I see no reason traveling there.

[vivek130205]

all I meant to say that india has one of the best blend of seasons and cultures which makes it a perfect destination for travellers . I understand there are have been bad incidents in past, however if you look at the masses they have always been a good host when it comes to welcome people from rest of the world.

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[Crossy]

OK, warning number two!

Let's keep this on topic which is Indian Visas.

If anyone has any pertinent information on life after VFS please let us all know.

[leggo]

Thanks for all the replies to this topic. Firstly to the person who informs VOA to all countries except etc . Unfortunately this is NOT the case as a single person with a UK passport is not accorded this facility. Secondly to the person who replied 'why would anybody want to go to India?' my reply is simple

'Why does anybody travel anywhere - personally it's the adventure, new cultures and sights etc and in the case of India, in my opinion -great food, lovely people, magnificent scenery and the Himalayas are a lot cooler than the plains of Thailand in the summer!!'

[vivek130205]

my friends from korea have opted for this facility though. I am not dead sure about uk passport holders as vfs was supposed to be SPOC for UK tourists. this is the post where you can see the announcement of the new scheme.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-05-08/india/39115203_1_visa-regime-voa-inter-ministerial-coordination-committee

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[pluto_manibo]

I hope they facilitate the visa process really soon because India is simply amazing!!!

[leggo]

my friends from korea have opted for this facility though. I am not dead sure about uk passport holders as vfs was supposed to be SPOC for UK tourists. this is the post where you can see the announcement of the new scheme.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-05-08/india/39115203_1_visa-regime-voa-inter-ministerial-coordination-committee

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As you can see from the link -these new regulations only apply to groups of more than four people; I knew this already but thanks for the post.

[dsfbrit]

Can anyone please tell me what the situation is now with relation to getting a visa in Bangkok for India. I actually need a medical visa, have filled out the visa form online, but cannot quite understand what to do with it now!!!

I travel to India on October 7th, so have 4 weeks to sort this out!!!

Thanks for your help

edit - I found this on the Embassy website, so I thought if I posted it then it may be of some help to someone else who could not find the new processing office.

Indian Visa and Passport Application Centre - New Outsourcing Agency – IVS Global Pvt. Ltd.

With effect from 8 July 2013, all Visa and Passport applications should be submitted at the address given below:
Indian Visa and Passport Application Centre (managed by IVS GLOBAL Pvt Ltd)

Address: 22nd floor,
Building name: 253 Asoke.
Opp: Rutnin Eye Hospital,
Sukhumvit, Soi 21, Bangkok

Tel: 026641200
Fax: 026641201
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.indiavisathai.com

Working Hours:
0830-1400 hrs- Submission of applications
1630-1730- Delivery of documents.

Edited September 9, 2013 by dsfbrit

[Bcgardener]

Can anyone please tell me what the situation is now with relation to getting a visa in Bangkok for India. I actually need a medical visa, have filled out the visa form online, but cannot quite understand what to do with it now!!!

 

I travel to India on October 7th, so have 4 weeks to sort this out!!!

 

Thanks for your help

 

edit - I found this on the Embassy website, so I thought if I posted it then it may be of some help to someone else who could not find the new processing office.

 

Indian Visa and Passport Application Centre - New Outsourcing Agency – IVS Global Pvt. Ltd.

With effect from 8 July 2013, all Visa and Passport applications should be submitted at the address given below: 

Indian Visa and Passport Application Centre (managed by IVS GLOBAL Pvt Ltd)

Address: 22nd floor,

Building name: 253 Asoke.

Opp: Rutnin Eye Hospital, 

Sukhumvit, Soi 21, Bangkok

Tel:   026641200

Fax:  026641201

Email: [email protected] 

Website: www.indiavisathai.com

Working Hours: 

0830-1400 hrs-    Submission of applications

1630-1730-           Delivery of documents.

 

 

I just helped my daughter get a visa from the Asoke address as she was volunteering at an orphanage in Delhi for a Month. She filled in the Form online for a tourist visa and got a printout of a flight booking but didn't actually pay for it. She submitted the downloaded form at the visa office but something was not right with her form ( sorry not sure what) and she had to pay another 200 baht to have it fixed on the spot. After that it was just pay the money and wait around 8 - 10 days for the visa to be approved. They sent a text message in the evening when it was ready for pick up after 9 days. You can only pick up visas between 4 - 5pm (might be half an hour out here, but it is on the Web site) Best thing is to get there well before this so you can get in first as there was quite a crowd on the day we went. It's a terrible time to try and get out of Asoke but apart from that it was pretty smooth.

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[BlueScouse]

Do you have to leave the passport at the visa office or is an e-visa issued? Don't fancy being without my passport for a couple of weeks.

Company want me to go to India for a course in December/January. On a ship now with poor internet so can't do a search myself.

[Bcgardener]

Do you have to leave the passport at the visa office or is an e-visa issued? Don't fancy being without my passport for a couple of weeks.

Company want me to go to India for a course in December/January. On a ship now with poor internet so can't do a search myself.

Yes they keep your passport and put a visa sticker in it that takes one page. I don't think there is any other way.

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[Tomtomtom69]

Why would anyone want to travel to a country like India?

Why wouldn't someone like to travel to india unless it does not suit ones budget, have time restrains or he is ignorant about facts of Indian history, traditions, culture and others aspects that makes the country so special or else has visa issues provided that one is really looking forward to explore a different art of living all-together.

I would like to the the opportunity to invest my time and let you know about few facts which you might not be aware of , which made you to ask such a question.

Here are just few( i really mean it JUST few) facts about India that may surprise you :

There is 17 major languages which the government accepts and 844 dialects spoken in India and over 1300 of regional languages. along with that every 200 miles you travel irrespective of the fact which direction you are traveling towards, the food, traditions , culture, dialects, weather, choices and the interest of activities changes.

Vsiting india is like visiting over 15 countries at the same time , unlike other countries wherein most of the things remain unchanged as long as you are in the same country. you will visit country with most diverse culture and society and yet in the same country.

When you talk about india to people who have been there and have spend a long span of time in the country can give you a better idea about what's so special about it.

India was one of the richest countries on earth until the British invasion in the early 17th century.

Every major world religion is represented in India. Additionally, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism all originated in India and you can still see signs of their orientation as well as the tradition , culture , eating habits and the the attire they wear depending upon their traditions.

India is 7th largest country in the world AND one of the most ancient and living civilizations (at least 10, 000 years old).

India is the world’s largest, oldest, continuous civilisation.

India never invaded any country in her last 10,000 years of history.

india is 2nd largest English speaking nation in the world, making it easier for tourists to travel.

GM of Hewlett Packard, Chief Executives of CitiBank, Mckinsey & Stanchart, founder and creator of Hotmail, creator of Pentium chip are all Indians.

few accomplishments

India has the second largest pool of Scientists and Engineers in the World

Indians abroad

* 38% of Doctors in America are Indians.

* 12% of Scientists in America are Indians.

* 36% of NASA employees are Indians.

* 34% of Microsoft employees are Indians.

* 28% of IBM employees are Indians.

* 17% of Intel employees are Indians.

* 13% of Xerox employees are Indians.

India is the largest democracy in the world.

The number of births that occur in India each year is more than the whole population of Australia.

India has the most number of mosques. It has 300,000 mosques which is much more than the Muslim world , though the majority is Hindu community.

Indians hold prominent places both internationally and in the United States. For example, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems (Vinod Khosla), the creator of the Pentium chip (Vinod Dahm), the founder/creator of Hotmail (Sabeer Bhatia), and the GM of Hewlett-Packard (Rajiv Gupta) are all Indian

It's a place worth visiting with many special facts which you may not be able to find in rest of the world especially when you will get 57 inr for 1 dollars which definitely makes traveling more inexpensive as india rupee fell drastically which makes this time the best time to travel.

Hope the information provided above answers your question.

ImageUploadedByThaivisa Connect Thailand1370527266.529034.jpgImageUploadedByThaivisa Connect Thailand1370527274.200383.jpg

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India is also one of the cheapest countries in the world to travel in, much cheaper than Thailand. In general, food is about 50-60% of the price of Thailand, as is clothing and other everyday expenses such as transport. Accommodation costs vary, but are also generally very cheap or at least, good value for money.