[rferguson]

I think India in common with many countries adopts a ‘tit for tat’ visa process. You make it different for our citizens to come to your country, we will do the same to you.

This is not to come across as disrespectful at all but does India or Russia really think they are at risk of a flurry of western europeans claiming asylum on arrival in India or overstaying their period of stay as a tourist without visa or trying to gain employment illegally? I think not.

The scales are tilted for a reason and silly visa rules from India etc are just self defeating.

[SimonS1]

For some places it is a handy source of income. I routinely pay $50, $55 etc in places around Africa and often more.

Get 100 people a day doing that and it is a useful income stream.

[K1ngston]

rferguson I so agree with you, and I am glad you said that! As the person who started this whole thread off, I have always contemplated whether there is someone in the Indian Government who thinks I would want to leave my current country of residence and overstay or indeed illegally set up in India?? … PLEASE!! What I would like to do is visit some potential partners and do business with them, financially supporting Indian business’s in the future …. As this can’t happen due to the restrictive visa issues that business has since gone to Bangladesh oh well as they say!!!

[PeterCoultas]

rferguson & Kingston +1: tit for tat (courtesy silly May) is correct but stupid in the extreme if tourism is any way significant for the country.

Luckily on a recent visa application (for Russia) they sort of “overlooked” the necessity of “dates for all countries visited in the last 10 years” – actually a big problem for me as I no longer have all the necessary information!

Seems that India has woken up to the problem.

[K1ngston]

PeterCoultas the only thing missing is the actual dates of where you have visited over the last 10 years! I mean I couldn’t answer that honestly and truthfully for 2014 let alone the last 10 years, maybe a good honest person will tell me why this information is actually necessary, why they need to know who my parents were and all totally irrelevant questions like that? I mean I am not going to change it but would be interesting to know which pencil pushing nonentity came up with that one?? Currently in Cambodia, a little onerous and expensive but VOA for both business and tourist and very helpful to boot… Can be done!!!

[IanFromHKG]

I ran out of room on the Indian visa form to list all the countries I had been to so I ended up putting down a dozen or so and then putting “and others” at the end, which never seems tohave been a problem (still current information as I got my latest Indian visa last week!)

As to information about parents – I must say I do find it amusing that in many of the formal documents I am required to lodge in India (I am a director of two Indian companies) I must not only include my own name but also describe myself as “son of …”

However, I do think some posters have misunderstood one of the primary reasons for this whole set-up, which is that the more information is “required”, the more information must be processed, and the more government employees that are required as a consequence. Start to think of it not as a logical issue, but as a job-creation scheme, and it all starts to make sense. Which leads me on to an anecdote (this is NOT apocryphal!)…

My father had several Indian clients, and one year visited India with my mother to do some client relationship visits. They were invited to stay with one of them, and were put up in one of the many guest cottages in the grounds of his client’s estate. On waking the next morning (and having been given tea by the houseboy – who slept on the floor outside their door in case they needed anything during the night), they wandered onto the terrace. There, they saw a long line of women kneeling on the lawns, clearly doing something. But what?

It turned out they were cutting the grass. With nail scissors.

Not very efficient, but it created a lot of jobs…

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

Thought this would be an appropriate thread – but for UK Passport holders – from 14th March it looks like you’ll have to go in person to consulate / VFS processing centre to get Biometric details taken. Release from Visa Swift below

“The high commission of India announced yesterday that it is their intention to move the visa application process to include biometric testing.

The commission when asked , gave indications that they will be opening additional processing centers to cope with the additional volume of applicants and the additional time it will take to vet and process applications.

The proposed launch date for the first Biometic applications is 14th March and further details of operational structures will be released by VFS the outsourced lodging provider on the 23rd February.”

So my advice would be for anyone planning to go – to get one sorted before they introduce these new processes.

[Charles-P]

The problems in obtaining a visa for India mean we no longer bid for business there and I always meet my Indian agent in Dubai (his son works there so he often visits). He confirms what others here have said that this is no more than the latest attempt to create ever more civil servant jobs to maintain unemployment levels among Middle Class voters. Business leaders in India have begged the government over and over again to remove these restrictions listing the effect it is having on inward investment but to little sympathy.

[Tom Otley]

I have just applied for a multiple entry business visa for India.

The basic cost of this is £107 for six months or £277 for two years.

I applied for 2 years and was rejected ( no reason given). So I have only a 6-month business visa (multiple entry).

I used a visa procurement service, meaning that although I filled in the forms, they picked up my passport from the office, went to the Indian consulate, got the visa and brought back by courier my passport.

The total cost of the 6 month visa, using a visa procurement service was:

£107 for the visa

£12 for the photos (those large square ones are necessary).

£133 for the visa service (so I didn’t have to go and queue, and would get my passport back quickly)

£50 for next day return

£25 for servicing of the application.

Total: £327.

And I’ll have to do it again in September.

[Author]

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