Re: Visa stuff
 

Not supplying 12 months tourist visas to persons that have not had them before.

If you go on a 6 month tourist visa from a 12 month tourist visa. They will not supply a 12 tourist visa in the future.


Sunglow.

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wonder how long the visa takes to come back.
send off for postal visa 8 days ago, bet it will be returned when we are away at the end of the week.

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Where did you get that information from please?

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check the VFS site - it now says to allow 15 working days plus holidays and transit time - i.e. a MONTH!

AndyD 8-)#

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and Diwali is this weekend, if only the visa would run from when you arrive in India, would save so much hassle. Spent hour and half on the phone to Dehli
Dell call center yesterday, - I thought they were killing each other the shouting etc - but I was informed they were just excited for Diwali. Hope the Visa staff are not partying until the weekend and will pull their fingers out.:rolleyes::fingerscrossed:

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Hope Dell were paying for that call :eek::fingerscrossed:

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They just called me back from India to see if I was o.k. (had another problem) now they can take over my computer - sorted. What a lovely Indian man - my faith is restored :thumbsup:

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Re: Visa stuff
 

[QUOTE=johnny five;8016385]Sunglow,

Can I repeat my request. Where did this NEW information on visas come from?

If it is reliable (and I have seen nothing about it anywhere else) then it is yet another very worrying development.

So please elaborate for us![/QUO

Hi Johnny Five,

Only got this info third hand from a friend. She was told by the women on the counter at the Birmingham Visa Centre last week that she could only have a 12 month tourist visa if had one before. Got one for herself but could not get the one for the other person who had not had a visa before, only a 6 months tourist visa was granted. Friend told me, it would be wise not to to let your exiting 12 month tourist visa lapse if you have one.

Sunglow.

Re: Visa stuff
 

[QUOTE=Sunglow;8016457]Thank you for your reply

Exactly what I expected, apart from the third-hand bit!

These ill-informed women on The VFS counters are notorious for giving out mis-information of this sort. It is reported on IndiaMike all the time and I had plenty of personal experience of it a few months ago.
I applied for a 1 year visa for my wife late May at Hayes- got the usual bullshit about very unlikely and no refunds, insisted the application was submitted - 3 days later picked up the 1 year visa.
Late June went through the same for mine, same bullshit but more vigorous and had to be really insistent. VFS woman got really stroppy and refused to speak to me although I had remained polite- 3 days later picked up the 1 year visa.
Had I not been a regular reader of the forums, especially IM, I would in all probability have given in and accepted 6 months.....just like your friend of a friend etc.
Why do VFS let their staff spout this rubbish? Who knows, but its very commonplace in India itself. I also witnessed her tell the people before me (Indians) that they had to apply on line and sent them away to do so. Then she accepted my handwritten one without a word!

This is why I sought clarification of your previous post. It was made with great authority as a definite fact and many people rely on these forums for such factual information. It is also how rumours start and spread around the internet like wildfire.

Many folk on this forum have enough to worry about already, without mis-information as well.

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[QUOTE=johnny five;8016516]Hi again Johnny five,

Sorry forgot to mention that my friend's passport is up for renewal next year. She pointed this out the the member to the women on the counter and she told her that she MUST submit her cancelled pass port showing her past visas to obtain a 12 month tourist visa for next time.

It is as if they are making it more and more difficult these days.

Sunglow.

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I'm due to apply for business visas soon, 1st thing I've decided is I'm going to apply on-line & opt to make an appointment to hand deliver my applications - 250 mile round trip but hey ho - Postman Pat & Cat Jess are going on strike soon so no point risking the Royal Mail. I'm also going to opt to collect in person again due to the potential no show of 'Pat & Jess' in the coming weeks!

What I was unsure about is 'how long' a visa to apply for? I think I've now decided, f**k it - go for it, the visa fees for business visas are £105 UP TO 1 year OR £160 for MORE than 1 year, so I'm going to pay on my credit card (can dispute the transaction later if it goes (.)(.) up) approximately £337.72 & apply for a 5 year business visa. . . . . . . . . . . . .

I don't usually do optimism, I'm a died in the wool 'can't be disappointed pessimist' - I must be ill - never mind, keep on taking the tablets (Latin for 'please me') & see what happens. . . . . . . .

H.

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[QUOTE=Sunglow;8016583][QUOTE=johnny five;8016516

Sorry forgot to mention that my friend's passport is up for renewal next year. She pointed this out the the member to the women on the counter and she told her that she MUST submit her cancelled pass port showing her past visas to obtain a 12 month tourist visa for next time.

It is as if they are making it more and more difficult these days.

Sunglow.[/QUOTE]

When she applies for new passport tell her to put a letter in with the application telling them she needs her cancelled passport sent back to her because of the visa situation.
When my husband renewed his they did not send it back "because the photograph had been defaced" or some such rubbish and he was very annoyed as it was full of Indian visas which he thought he would need sometime in the future. When he contacted them they said it had been destroyed.

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[QUOTE=emsirrah;8017355]Thanks.
I will tell my friend that's it's VITAL that she encloses a letter when renewing her passport telling them to return her cancelled passport and for what reasons.

Sunglow.

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I applied for a 2 year business visa last year and was given a year
I went to the Indian HC and told them that they had made a mistake and that i had only been given a 1 year yet they had charged me for 2 year
I was told go to VFS which I did and they told me they would look in to it while i was there.
After an hour I was told that this was all i was getting and i should be happy with this and that they do not refund money that the risk you take when you apply
My friend told them that this was theft and that they cannot do this and that we would take this further and to the media
I had a phone call on the way home from VFS/HC saying that if i made waves that they would cancel my visa and that i would not be allowed to travel to India
needless to say i have kept quite