Re: Visa help.
 

Originally Posted by tarkacreek
Herald letters, Polish visa issues.

Polish visa issues
Dixon Vaz, Fatorda
I would like to appeal to Goa government to pay more attention to receiving more tourists. Tourists from Poland cannot land in Goa as per new visa regulations. I work with Polish tourists and they have no intentions of staying on in Goa and make their living. Poland is ranked as the best place for tourism in Europe, Krakov, Warsov, Gdansk etc. These places are historic. They come here to look for the sun and then go back. So please, I appeal to the government to relax the visa regulation. I have been to Thailand thrice and will be going again with my family and the visa is free. Yet I did not settle in Thailand.


Don’t believe this rubbish


Hi, some of you are aware that we live near Katowice South Poland and have been coming to Goa for the last 7 years and have tried various Travel Agents and Airlines. The best travel route for us is to fly to Germany, Frankfurt or Munich-Doha- Goa, 16-18 hours traveling time incl. stopovers. There are flights from Warsaw but this is usually only available with a package holiday 27-32 hours traveling time and when you do your sums (costly 6-7 hour stopovers 30-50 GBP a time) it’s always cheaper and faster through Germany.

Last year we paid 1004€ 2 persons return, this time for Jan.2011 1612€ and we booked 6 weeks ago. That’s a 60% increase and the hotels have almost doubled in the last 7 years.

In my opinion this is the real reason Poles are not coming to Goa, the charter flights are cancelled simply because it’s not profitable due to lack of passengers . It has nothing to do with Visas.

After reading this article in Goanvoice-Herald-BE my wife called BLS International Visa Service- UK stationed in Warsaw which is in the Indian Embassy building, this is very handy and also a source of income (rent) for the Indian Government. BLS said 3-4 days is the norm, on their website it states: Visa applications, minimum 7 days before departure, so who do you believe. To be safe we will apply in person 4 weeks before departure. I will post when and how we received our visa when it arrives.

BLS charge 40 PLN = 9 GBP
Visa 184 PLN = 40 GBP


Off topic: Poland is no more expensive than Goa if you stay away from the tourist hotspots, beer is a pound a pint in a normal pub and food - hotels are very reasonable. Should you visit Krakau then you must visit the salt mine in Wieliczka it’s awesome and Auschwitz if you can handle something so sad.

Good luck with all your property issues.

Keep fighting Mainwaring



Applying for Indian visa in Warsaw Poland

After reading about all the hassle people were experiencing, photo size, difficulty with the website etc. I called the BLS office in Warsaw several times to check up if anything has changed, every time the same answer, don’t worry, nothing is about to change. (and I always got through first time on a normal land line)
On the Wed. 8th December my wife went to Warsaw 700km. 10hrs, round trip
About 10 am she went through the BLS security check and found she was the only person applying for a visa. There are 2 counters both occupied but no customers. 15 min. later all done and dusted, the BLS staff explained it could take 2 to 3 days longer for none Polish passports.
Mon. afternoon, Tue. and Wed. tracking system showed processing. Thursday 16th Dec. nothing!! and now get this, I checked my emails, 2 new ones 16th Dec 5.56pm and 5.55pm Your visas are ready for collection, 9 and 11 email addresses were also attached, this could mean 22 visas in one day, if so they are not exactly rushed of their feet. Only 7 days for our visas, more than happy.

So today Wed. 22nd Dec. after waiting for a break in the weather my wife travelled to Warsaw, she entered BLS offices at 2.55pm. 3.10pm. received our passports and checked the visas, dates, stamp, signature etc. everything ok. 6 people were there to collect their visa.

We were informed 3 months single entry is now the standard visa, which we have received, although on previous applications we have always received 6 months multiple entry.

Costs:2 visas 98 GBP + Train fare etc. 80 GBP + the undisclosed amount my wife spent on Christmas shopping in Warsaw Grrrr, but no complaints we have our visas.

20 days to go and counting, the weather is our next worry so fingers crossed.

Merry Christmas everyone and Good Luck and Happiness for the New Year.

Mainwaring

Re: Visa help.
 

Enjoy your stay - and a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you.

Re: Visa help.
 

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop..._visa-Goa.html

Just read this on tripadvisor - anybody else come across this!!! :frown:

Re: Visa help.
 

I collected our visas last Thurdsay and they did not include a photo. Perhaps the persons current photo is a lot different to their passport photo.

Re: Visa help.
 

If it's scanned & printed as part of the visa (rather than your photo stuck on) it could explain the change to 2" sq. - I've read somewhere there is US made equipment that does that sort of thing.

AndyD 8-)# 8-)#

Re: Visa help.
 

No I have not been drinking - but I heard to-day the photo's have to be matt, and show your face including your ears !!!!! it is so daft it is possibly true. Merry Christmas.

Re: Visa help.
 

what if your ears do not stick out far enough to show, mabe I could invent something to fit behind peoples ears to push them forward and make my fortune.
Have a good day. It's Christmas!!!

Re: Visa help.
 

:curse:
In herald to-day new visa rules.
3 months in and two months out. :thumbdown: sorry can't get url to paste.

Re: Visa help.
 

This link might work, Noni.

I wonder if this will affect the British who have usually been able to get longer 6 month Tourist visas than many of our European counterparts.

If this is the case, then India and especially Goa can kiss goodbye to most British"longtermers" (mainly retired people) who want to spend the "season" out of the UK cold winter months.

Let's try out the link

*** New visa rules keep Europeans off Goa - Herald Publications
isa-norms-have-impacted-european-tourists-goa-tourism_1487578">New
visa norms have impacted European tourists: Goa Tourism
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t...Goa/44256.html

Re: Visa help.
 

Hi - yes the link works, after you are re-directed.

It talks about "fresh visa regime" and "new visa".

Has there been another sneaky change, just like last December's?:eek:

Re: Visa help.
 

Hopefully this is an example of the Herald (and D'Souza of TTAG) indulging in sloppy journolism and mis-information. After all, a lot of Europe, and I believe now, Russia only get 3 month visas.

As I am sure most of you will agree, this puts the British in a vulnerable situation though, especially when they are whingeing about their 6 and 12 month visas!


.

Re: Visa help.
 

Exactly!

AndyD 8-)#

Re: Visa help.
 

Has anyone in the last 2/3/4 months got a 6 months visa from the UK. And was it stamped with the 2 months out thing.

Re: Visa help.
 

I would feel pretty confident in saying that 97% of the british on holiday in Goa at present have a six month visa with the 2 month out thing!I know of at least 3 different friends/couples who have got visas between sept and dec with the above mentioned.I have a 1 year visa and am currently half way through the 2 month out thing! But at least I`m not having to worry about applying for a visa!:thumbsup:

Re: Visa help.
 

YES, on 11th November & Yes it was stamped 2 months out, but we're planning to stay till 3rd May

Re: Visa help.
 

Hopefully the Herald has it wrong - but who knows. Happy New Year everybody.

Re: Visa help.
 

Regarding the visa photo 2"x2". Friends had the new size photos done at a photographers to send with their application. Now they have found out from an agent that the rule has changed in that the head in the photo has to be between 1" to 1.3/8" in size and the centre of the eye to be 1-1/8" to1-3" from the bottom of the photo. New rules came out last thursday.

Re: Visa help.
 

Hope this helps - VFS have outlined the full requirements for visa photos on their website and stated that applications will be rejected if they dont comply with their spec. Here is the link:

http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk/touristvisa_photospecs.html

Veri

Re: Visa help.
 

The site is very helpful thank you!

I called them as we are currently living in Spain (UK citizens) but wish to go to Goa for 6 months to a year,they were very helpful and were able to point us in the right direction. We have opted to go back to our hometown and obtain the visas over the counter..........post here is terrible.

Re: Visa help.
 

Hi there.

Don`t wish to put the dampers on your trip to Goa - but the current visa situation is that you can only spend a maximum of 180 days in the country and then you have to have a gap of 2 months before returning! Even if you get a 1 year visa!J

Re: Visa help.
 

Thanks for that MsJ5, they did state that it was only for the 180 days at a time, they failed to say that there has to be a gap of two months. Not put a damper on my trip 6 months better than none.

Thanks again

Sharon

Re: Visa help.
 

Friends arrived yesterday - when visa's arrived back it had their photo on it. Like on the new driving licenses, but why they have had to have new sizes is anybodies guess.:sneaky:

Re: Visa help.
 

Interesting - this is only the second photo visa I've heard of - perhaps they are having teething problems with the new equipment - I read somewhere that it is from US so of course it will expect US size photos (it was years before US computers/ programs/ printers would recognise A4 paper).
This is all part of Chidambaram's great universal database - it was written up in the press a few months back, but I don't have a link to the story.

AndyD 8-)#

P.S. Is the visa photo in b/w?

Re: Visa help.
 

Will ask tomorrow - they just said it was shrunk to the tiny photo on the driving licence.

Re: Visa help.
 

I have an Indian driving licence from 5 years ago and yes the photo is miniscule

Re: Visa help.
 

the new visas with the photo are purple in colour and have several new security anti forgery features. this seems to be the standard for new visas and the photo is also shrunk to about half inch by half inch.

Re: Visa help.
 

If they are going to shrink the photo to put it on the visa why increase the size first. Although I suppose it keeps it in proportion.

Re: Visa help.
 

From reading various articles, I think they are using technology from USA, and the Yanks are the other major user of the 2"x2" photo........

Re: Visa help.
 

Because they like being awkward and making us jump through hoops! It is a pity that they have not had the gumption to put the new photo booth in their office before making this rule.

Re: Visa help.
 

The VFS info. states that there are photo booths in all centres except Manchester, Glasgow, & Cardiff. Is this not true? If it is true how are the queues?

Re: Visa help.
 

How many other centres are there? Is that not half of the centres. When I went to Victoria the photo booth was not working. My photo was the old size but they accepted it, That was in December.

Re: Visa help.
 

The emphasis was on NEW photo booths, ie capable of producing the NEW size of photo. For weeks after the instant change of size, those centres blessed with a booth, could only offer the old size, which after the brief period of grace was refused at the counter a few feet away.

Why do the aforementioned cities not have booths? Who knows? Lack of demand maybe. Why do the machines remain out of order for weeks on end? To prepare you for India of course.

How long are the queues?
I can't believe you asked that.......but here we go anyway;

It depends on how many people are wanting photos at the time :blink:


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Re: Visa help.
 

Do you have to be so unpleasant? I just asked a question? when I went for my visa in August at the Birmingham office I don't remember any photo booth, maybe I just didn't see it. My impression of the VFS site was that the booths were put there for the new photos if they were not why not just say so without the capital letters.
As to the queues: from this forum I get the impression that most people get their photos done earlier, I just wanted to get a rough idea how many actually did use the on-site booths, and whether it was worth the risk of getting photos done there when I next go. Those who have recently been would surely have some idea. Is that such a silly question?

Re: Visa help.
 

because they are just collection points not visa centres?

AndyD 8-)#

Re: Visa help.
 

No, but you bring out the best in me..........

Re: Visa help.
 

Given what friends are saying, they had to go outside the offices to get the new size photo's, costing from £12.99 to £16.99 each for two photo's.

Re: Visa help.
 

VFS website says:
AndyD 8-)#

Re: Visa help.
 

No photo booths in Edinburgh vfs centre last week so we had to go to Jessops - 2 photos £6.50

Re: Visa help.
 

As I'm in Goa for a couple more months I'm going to have a few strips of these 2"x2" photos done. SUBASH in the photo shop next to Snow White Laundry in Candolim has told me he can do them & certainly at a fraction of the cost in the UK. Will report cost when I get them done.

(BTW, if anyone has had framed family photos ruined out here during the last monsoon, take them along to Subash - he has managed to "recover" many photos for me which I thought were destined for the trashbin)

:thumbsup:

Re: Visa help.
 

I do not think it was a silly question at all. My advice would be not to rely on any of the machinery on offer at the visa centres, go prepared with absolutely everything you could possibly need and make sure that you keep a photo copy of your passport at home in case of loss. Go prepared for a long wait, I waited over 3 hours at Victoria when I took our documents in.