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INDIA
Entry
Requirements & Visa Extension
Gone are the days when Commonwealth nationals could stroll
visa-less into India and stay for as long as they pleased: now everybody
needs a visa, except citizens of Nepal and Bhutan.
If you're going to India on business or to study, you'll need to
apply for a special student or business visa, otherwise a standard
tourist visa will suffice. These are valid for six months from the
date of issue (not of departure from your home country or entry
into India), and cost £30/US$60/CDN$62/A$55/NZ$55. As you're
asked to specify whether you need a single-entry or a multiple-entry
visa , and the same rates apply to both, it makes sense to ask for
the latter, just in case you decide to make a side trip to Nepal
or another neighbouring country.
Much the best place to get a visa is in your country of residence,
from the embassies and high commissions we've listed; you should
be able to download forms from the embassy and consulate websites
(http://passport.nic.in/vspassport/missions.htm). In Britain and
North America, you'll need a passport valid for at least six months,
two passport photographs and an application form, obtainable in
advance by post or on the day; address applications to the Postal
Visa Section of the consulate in question. In Australia and New
Zealand, one passport-sized photo and your flight/travel itinerary
are required, together with the visa application form. As a rule,
visas are issued in a matter of hours, although embassies in India's
neighbouring countries often drag their feet, demand letters of
recommendation from your embassy (expensive if you are, for example,
British), or make you wait and pay for them to send your application
to Delhi. In the US, postal applications take a month as opposed
to a same-day service if you do it in person - check with your nearest
embassy, high commission or consulate. Make sure that your visa
is signed by someone at the embassy, as you may be refused entry
into the country otherwise.
It's also possible in many countries to pay a visa agency to process
the visa on your behalf, which in the UK costs from around £25
(plus the price of the visa). In Britain, try The Visa Service,
2 Northdown St, Kings Cross, London N1 (tel 0990/343638 premium
rate calls, www.visaservice.co.uk ) who offer a 48hr service; you
could also try Visa Express, 31 Corsham St, London N1 (tel 020/7251
4822, visaexpress@cwcom.net ). In the US, try Express Visa Service,
2150 Wisconsin Ave, Suite 20, Washington DC (tel 202/337-2442, www.expressvisa.com
) who charge $45 and normally take six days or charge $120 for a
next-day service.
Visa extensions
It is no longer possible to extend a visa in India, though exceptions
may be made in special circumstances. Most people whose standard
six-month tourist visas are about to expire head for Colombo, capital
of neighbouring Sri Lanka, or the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, or
Bangkok, and apply for a new one. However, in recent years this
has been something of a hit-and-miss business, with some tourists
having their requests turned down for no apparent reason. The Indian
High Commission in Kathmandu is particularly notorious for this;
you can telephone them to check their current policy, but don't
expect the story to be the same when you arrive there. Try to find
out from other travellers what the visa situation is, and always
allow enough time on your current permit to re-enter India and catch
a flight out of the country in case your request is refused.
If you do stay more than 180 days, before you leave the country
you are supposed to get a tax clearance certificate , available
at the foreigners' section of the income-tax department in every
major city. They are free, but you should take bank receipts to
show you have changed your money legally. In practice, tax clearance
certificates are rarely demanded, but you never know. |
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