Five Year Tourist Visas

[WilliamIV]

Times of India

1st December

India to Issue Tourist Visa valid for 5 years

But Americans & Pakistanis excluded from list

[taxout]

Perhaps because Americans have been able to get 10-year multiple-entry tourist visas to India for some time now.

http://www.cgisf.org/visa/visa_services.html

[ovenman]

Perhaps because Americans have been able to get 10-year multiple-entry tourist visas to India for some time now.

I've had my ten-year Indian visa for just over four years now. It pays for itself after just a couple trips to India. The only real catch to obtaining one of these for a US citizen is that you pretty much need to apply for this visa at an Indian consular office in the US. I dropped my passport off in the morning at the consulate in San Francisco, picked it up that same afternoon.

Edited December 9, 2006 by ovenman

[Night]

It's a shame Thailand didn't think like india on that one.

maybe someday thailand imigration might catch up to india imigration. some day.

[thaihome]

Perhaps because Americans have been able to get 10-year multiple-entry tourist visas to India for some time now.

http://www.cgisf.org/visa/visa_services.html

Perhaps you should re-read your attachment and retract what you assert.

Maybe you should?

"Ten Years Tourist(T) /Business Visa -Multiple Entry [Not available for Non-US passport holders"

"Five Years Tourist (T) Visa -- Multiple Entry [Not available for US Passport holders"

TH

Edited December 9, 2006 by thaihome

[rahyumdee]

It's a shame Thailand didn't think like india on that one.

maybe someday thailand imigration might catch up to india imigration. some day.

I think it's because India has a reciprocal arrangement with the U.S. on this (that is, the corporate-owned Congress offers them the same deal as a way of thanking them for their endless supply of cheap I.T. labor...).

You can stay up to 6 months at a stretch in India as a tourist. Spend money. Leave and come back. For 10 years. What's wrong with that? Hello Thai Immigration, are you listening?!

I don't know why Thailand boasts of such a good relationship with the U.S. but doesn't feel moved to offer anything remotely similar. It's a joke.

I would like to see at least a conversion of their piddly 2 mo Turst Visa to a 3 or maybe even a 6 mo. term, for a reasonable added cost, of course. I would go for it.

But, nooooooooooooo. We're now hearing from Thai Imm things like "...sorry, no more turst visa for you ...you've travelled 'too much' already in Thailand..." and the like.

Huh? Travelled "too much" already?!

What a joke...

[Naam]

"You can stay up to 6 months at a stretch in India as a tourist. Spend money. Leave and come back."

*****

you don't have to leave India but it is mandatory to register with the local police after 180 days.

[ovenman]

"You can stay up to 6 months at a stretch in India as a tourist. Spend money. Leave and come back."

*****

you don't have to leave India but it is mandatory to register with the local police after 180 days.

Each entry made on the ten-year visa is good for a six month period only, and supposedly cannot be extended. Registration with the police after six months is a separate matter and has nothing to do with extending a visa.

[taxout]

Waiting for a retraction, patiently.

[Naam]

"Each entry made on the ten-year visa is good for a six month period only, and supposedly cannot be extended."

*****

as requested here's my retraction: i can only quote from the two five-year visas which i obtained which bear an additional small stamp that says something like "if stay exceeds 180 days you must register with the chief of police". i don't know the exact wording and i'm too lazy to search two dozen passports to scan the page. however, if you insist with a valid reason i might do it. these five-year visas were "multi-purpose visas" and not limited tourist visas. i assumed -perhaps wrongly- the ten-year visas are identical.

since 2004 i possess a so-called P.I.O. card (looks like a passport but with less pages) valid for 10 years, enabling me to enter India whenever i please and also stay longer than 6 months provided i register with the local police (not immigration).

the P.I.O. card is for persons of indian origin but will not be issued for citizens of Pakistan and Bangla Desh. although i am a purebred bloody german i managed to obtain one, but applied only when the fees were reduced from several thousand to several hundred dollars.

[taxout]

I was referring to the other "doctor"! Perhaps "sorry" isn't in his vocabulary.

In any event, I have a ten-year multiple-entry visa with the same notations:

"Registration required within 14 days of arrival in India for visas valid for more than 180 days."

"Registration not required, if continuous stay on a single visit does not exceed 180 days."

There's nothing on the visa itself or on the entry stamp when you arrive that sets a 180-day limit.

On other boards, there's been disagreement whether these visas permit a stay more than 180 days if you register; myself, I've never tried it.

[ovenman]

There's nothing on the visa itself or on the entry stamp when you arrive that sets a 180-day limit.

No information on my visa either, nor on any of the Indian entry stamps I have ever received. I believe that where I initially read these restrictions was on the website for the Indian consulate in New York City: look under "TOURIST VISA"

Of course, just 'cause something is posted on a website doesn't necessarily make it correct.