Fairly trivial question - India
 

We need to organise visas for India fairly quickly. We get the impression that is not particularly simple - any advice.

We have current Yellow Fever certificates - will these be OK or do we need tojump through some more hoops?

Thanks in advance for any information.

How long for? If you are only going for a month an e-visa is available in a few days but 6 and 12 months take longer, I have never been asked for a yellow fever certificate.

Inherited British Government bureaucracy..

https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/index.html

Says 3 days minimum. And something about an interview. Best to start now - the sooner the better.

I would think a tourist visa would be processed fairly quickly. Make the entry date reasonable, and make the exit date more than what you need by say 2 weeks, this is a small allowance for delays. If you going for longer than 3 months that might delay things as most people only spend a much smaller amount of time there .. an attached letter of explanation with a rough scheduled (where + when roughly) should help. If going for an interview than a schedule will help as will bank records showing enough money.
Good Luck.

My experience (long ago) was that India consulates take their own sweet time processing applications, and that they do not make exceptions or respond to pleading about dire circumstances, real or imaginary. Perhaps this has changed, but I'd not find "I would think a tourist visa would be processed fairly quickly" very reassuring.

In the USA, there are e-visas with a four day delivery time, with pickup at a couple of dozen Indian airports. There is also an expedited service with a one-day turnaround. I didn't look into prices or other details. No interview is necessary for either of these options.

I don't know where you are, or whether you have the same options available.

As far as yellow fever, there's no requirement for a yellow card unless you're arriving from a yellow fever zone as defined by the WHO. AFAIK, those zones are all in Africa and South America. And since there's no yellow fever in India, most countries will not require vaccination for ongoing travel. The exceptions are places which require it no matter where you're coming from. I'd definitely take care of all the usual vaccinations and I'd be sure to bring antimalarials unless staying in the mountains. It's worth thinking about the prevalence of counterfeit medications in India, which to me suggests bringing my own from home--including a couple of antibiotics and metronidazole.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Ok, this is my experience, I have a wife of Indin origin, and a daughter, we have all had long-term Visas in the past. I needed another long-term visa that took seven days to get in the end, and my wife and daughter took four days to sort out an E visa this time.... OCI cards are real fun and games to organise but worth it if you are entitled to one.

The big problem I found was the web site ran by VFS global, It was a nightmare for me to negotiate, and I have 25 years experience dealing with Indians now... If you are even slightly dyslexic and or on the autistic spectrum, god help you. It took me quite a few loops around the web form, filling it in multiple times to get there!

Having said this, even with all of the hassle is worth it. I will be going there again to see more of this amazing country.

Is the e-visa still only available for entry by air and only for stays of 4 weeks maximum. I'd agree that the process isn't all that user friendly and even paying for it was a major hassle because of the "verified by visa" nonsense that I have never struck before or since. I had to get my bank in Australia to manually disable that feature while I was hanging on on the phone until the payments went through.

Used to be that entry at land borders required personal interview to get a visa.

Ii got a one year, multiple entry visa in Vancouver by using a visa firm. It took about two weeks, which I was told was a week longer than normal. Am in India now, came in via Myanmar.

Some countrys like Germany can apply for the Indian Visa online. This is easy and quick. With the positive Email of the embassy then you fly to India and get the stamp in your passport at the airport.

For my swiss girlfriend we had to ride to the embassy in person and buy an expensive Passfoto for CHF 20 and fill out some forms. 1 Week later we got here passport back with the visa:

Motorcycle world trip - Dharavi slums in the 18 million city of Mumbai