What I found strange in this article was the concept outlined by the writer that the Indian government was tightening up the Visa rules to protect their own internal labour market and ensure that their graduates can get jobs. I don't buy this at all. Why should foreigners who engage in running tourist related activities such as restaurants, bars, market stalls and entertainment be a threat to the home grown graduates. I think not!

If India believes that it is beneficial to keep out foreign workers from the many corporate hi tech groups operating here it may find that longer term these corporates move elsewhere as the Indian labour laws will become prohibitive and more complex and ultimately lead to higher costs. If this happens and another country offers better opportunities to the corporate world then what will India have achieved for their graduates? Even less opportunity than before.

These people have contaminated the whole world,sorry i mean colonized and to hear words like concession, one off permission, from some jobsworth in my country makes me more than angry!!!!
jobsworth = inhuman shit brain.
One thing that confuses me unless you own property here why would anybody want to return??
By the way the wife has just gone to bed in tears after reading your recount.
DISTRAUGHT!

I just love it when they say "do not make your travel plans until you have your visa" (or words to that effect) - of course we can ALL afford to make last minute holiday bookings and pay through the nose.............


We did not make our travel plans until we had our visa and then they moved the goalposts. Coach and plane tickets booked when we got the visa then find out we are not allowed back in without loads of hassle.

Maybe this has been asked before but can someone please tell me when applying for a new visa does the 2 month rule mean from when you last left India or when your current visa actually runs out.
For example i left India 23rd Dec 2009,my visa actually expired Jan 10th 2010.
So can i apply for a visa on 23rd Feb or 10th March??

As I read it you can apply for a visa on Feb 11th but can't travel until Feb 24th so you'd 'waste' two weeks of the visa.

AndyD 8-)#

Ok thanks very much for your help Andy...so the 2 month gap is just to stay out of India for 2 months regardless of when visa's end?

Yes, the expiry date of the visa is a separate issue - you have to wait for ONE month after the expiry date of your tourist visa before applying for a new tourist visa.

As a_f_d described, there are two different 'periods' to think about if your tourist visa expires shortly after your last departure date from India. You might as well wait for TWO months after your last departure date before applying for a new tourist visa, rather than having a new tourist visa with 'time ticking by' because you cannot use the new tourist visa due to the 'stay out' two months rule. . . . . . . . . . . . .

H.

Yes i understand now thanks very much H.

Advice please What is the rule with a 3 month single entry visa? (instead of the 6 month multi-entry we always apply for and get). This Xmas my wife got a 6m multi and I got a 3m single, applying at the same time! I had a new passport this time and think this is the reason behind the 3 mth visa. Both of us also had to get letters of confirmation we were visiting India on holiday from our respective employers. We usually have two holidays a season in Goa, one Dec for 2 weeks and again March/April for 3 weeks. My present visa expires 1st March, but we left Goa on 29th Dec. As it was only a single entry visa, and can't use it again, do I have to wait a month after 1st March before applying for another visa? Are we all going to end up getting a 90 day single entry visa in future? We have booked flights to come back 11th April

I think this will mean you can't apply until the 1st April if you have to wait 1 month after you visa expires.It's tight but you could still do it if you get it in on the 1st April. As this is the end of the season you would probably get it back in 3 days if you collect it
good luck
GC

Hi Wilky

Last season I also had to send a letter from my employers stating that I was going on holiday to India and not doing business. Like you I had applied for the 6 month and only got 3 months, and that meant I had to change my return flight and return a week earlier than I had planned.
This year I applied and no problems whatsoever.
I think these people working in the VFS have a lottery system where they pick one in say ten applications and mess around finding ways to make it difficult, just because they enjoy pxxsing people off. Probably makes them feel a sense of power or something !

Although cutting it fine I think if you go to the actual VFS in person and both hand it in and collect it you should be able to get it renewed in time - just !

Good luck

Dread - sack the jobsworths !
x

Fwiw, I think the VFS people really are just the gate keepers & the "real power" lies within the IHC or CG of Birmingham or Edinburgh.

H.

I have to agree with that. The last application I handed in, for a one year visa, ellicited the predictable "you wont get that, you MUST change it to six months" response. As I repeatedly stood my ground the obnoxious haridan got angrier and ruder, until in the end she refused to speak and snatched the paperwork. Throughout I had remained a picture of pleasantness and politeness.

I feel sure that if she had been able to influence the type of visa granted she would have done. She did not and a one year was forthcoming.

I do agree with the theory of every now and then, they pick an applicant to p*ss off, but that it takes place at the IHC. I have encountered one of those jobs-warts some years back in a personal interview and they truly are foul................

H now please don't you start Fwiw.
Just spoken to the guy in our block asked for a three month visa, two weeks ago and was given a 6 month multi entry with 180 days on. Where the hell do you stand.

Kindly note you can apply for a Tourist Visa up to 6 months. However, please note that granting a visa and visa duration remains solely at the discretion of the High Commission of India, and we have to comply by the rules and regulations set by the High Commission of India.



If you prefer to contact HCI directly kindly refer to the following link: http://hcilondon.in/officerofhci.php