India - Re Indian Tourist Visa 60 Day Re-Entry & FRRO

Guys, need some urgent help, if I have a tourist visa with the "mandatory 60 day gap required between future visits" and I gain a waiver for the 60 day gap through Indian consulate, do I still have to register with the FRRO in India within 14 days of arrival?? Can some one please clarify this??

Re-Entry Permit: If after a visa is issued, and the applicant needs to re-enter India within two months of exit, a Re-entry Permit is required (even for a multiple entry visa holder). After processing such cases an endorsement would be made on passport permitting two to three entries depending on the itinerary and supporting documents submitted by the applicant. A fee equivalent of A$25 would be chargeable for granting such permission. This service can be availed directly at the, High Commission of India in Canberra/Consulate General of India in Sydney/Melbourne. In all such cases the applicant should register with the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) with in 14 days of arrival. All Tourist visas are non extendable and non convertible Immigration Authorities in India may also grant such re-entry permit to persons of Indian origin in emergency cases. Should I take the "ALL SUCH" as in context to this? rather then "ALL OTHER CASES" ??
Thanks in advance!

yes you have to....my client ran into this problem just last week....he had the waiver & failed to register....when he got to the airport to fly back to the uk they did not let him board the flight....he had to wait till the following day to register & only then did they allow him to fly back....

yes you have to....my client ran into this problem just last week....he had the waiver & failed to register....when he got to the airport to fly back to the uk they did not let him board the flight....he had to wait till the following day to register & only then did they allow him to fly back....

Thanks Keyser, thank god I've found out now as Iv gone through threads online and people have been refused boarding for not having the waiver! so basically it's just a Police Clearance? like If you stay > 6 months in India, the reason being in Ludhiana there is no FRRO office, so I will need to head to local Police HQ and register there?
Cheers

in Ludhiana there is no FRRO office, so I will need to head to local Police HQ and register there?
Cheers

not quite sure about that....it may be worth mentioning this to the authority that gave you the waiver....

not quite sure about that....it may be worth mentioning this to the authority that gave you the waiver....

No worries, well that's what I've found anyway on FRR's website, there is a proper FRRO office in Chandigarh UT, or in Amritsar but they state in other Indian towns/cities a SP of Police is qualified to act as a FRRO officer.... Hopefully things work out..

cheers ^

I know this won't help with your current situation, have you considered getting an OCI?

I know this won't help with your current situation, have you considered getting an OCI?

I did think of getting one before I left, but the wait is like 8 weeks ex SYD, and I had to go in an emergency as one of my relo's became ill, and then I had to return and re-enter India again as they got re-admitted back into Hospital, was caught up with this, than I just read the fineprint online stating "you must register with FRRO" if u re-enter within 60days.......

anyway I will be surely considering OCI, since ex AUS the Indian govt does not allow 10 year visa's like in the States.... 5 year visa is equivalent to the fee of OCI, so Id rather go for the OCI.

Guys, is it 60 days from Departure or 60 days from Arrival?? as I arrived in DELHI on 28th January and flew back to SYD on 12 March, and then re-entered DEL on 6th April?? I went to the FRRO office they said I do not need to register, as I re-entered India after 60 days?? (they said they only look at the arrival date, nothing to do with departure date) since I re-entered India after 60 days of my first arrival... ?? is this true? I don't want to get harassed at the Airport..
and the official also said, if I had to "register" it would have stated on the VISA STAMP/RE-ENTRY ENDORSEMENT Stamp, but nothing is there..
Thanks ^

I wish they would waive visa requirements for former citizens. Guess I can't have it all.

Guys, is it 60 days from Departure or 60 days from Arrival?? as I arrived in DELHI on 28th January and flew back to SYD on 12 March, and then re-entered DEL on 6th April?? I went to the FRRO office they said I do not need to register, as I re-entered India after 60 days?? (they said they only look at the arrival date, nothing to do with departure date) since I re-entered India after 60 days of my first arrival... ?? is this true? I don't want to get harassed at the Airport..
and the official also said, if I had to "register" it would have stated on the VISA STAMP/RE-ENTRY ENDORSEMENT Stamp, but nothing is there..
Thanks ^

i believe its 60 days from departure....

I wish they would waive visa requirements for former citizens. Guess I can't have it all.

They do waive visa requirements for current citizens though.

Just sayin' :p

I wish they would waive visa requirements for former citizens. Guess I can't have it all.

They sort of do, apply for OCI and consider the fee as an one off administration fee for a lifetime visa.

A bit of a pain to apply but totally worth it in situations like the OP describes.

i believe its 60 days from departure....

there's so many voids in the system, guess will have to find out at the airport and see what happens..

will surely go for an OCI once I get back... as the stress and running around is just not worth it..

there's so many voids in the system, guess will have to find out at the airport and see what happens..

will surely go for an OCI once I get back... as the stress and running around is just not worth it..

good idea....^^

yes you have to....my client ran into this problem just last week....he had the waiver & failed to register....when he got to the airport to fly back to the uk they did not let him board the flight....he had to wait till the following day to register & only then did they allow him to fly back....

Colour me confused. They prevented a presumably British citizen who was in India on a visa, from boarding an outbound flight that would take him out of the country.

Why???

I wish they would waive visa requirements for former citizens. Guess I can't have it all.

As a former citizen, I disagree. Those of us who've given up Indian citizenship have willingly taken a decision to do so and untill India allows people to hold dual citizenship (and makes it retrospective) I for one am happy to run the gauntlet of an "Entry Visa".

Don't wish to get an OCI as I have an objection to calling something a "citizenship" when it is clearly not. Seems like a bone thrown to the Indian diaspora clamouring for "dual citizenship".

As an aside, I was somehow under the impression that you were a PIO and were born and raised in the United States. Unsure why I formed that idea. Must've been your post about having studied abroad in Japan (unless it was UAFan and not UA Fan who studied abroad in Japan :D )

Colour me confused. They prevented a presumably British citizen who was in India on a visa, from boarding an outbound flight that would take him out of the country.

Why???

because he had not complied with the formalities/rules/regulations....

if the rules state that you have to register within a set number of days then you have to do so....failure to comply with this can lead to issues like deportation, trouble getting your next visa, etc....

because he had not complied with the formalities/rules/regulations....

if the rules state that you have to register within a set number of days then you have to do so....failure to comply with this can lead to issues like deportation, trouble getting your next visa, etc....

Which brings me to the next question. Can a person willingly exiting the country be detained and deported?

Don't get me wrong, I understand the formality/regulation, and by all means, it must be adhered to. But to detain a person at the end of his stay, on his way out, feels a bit redundant. Presumably, the registration is to keep tabs on the foreign national's whereabouts in India (hence the requirement to register with the nearest FRRO or a police station/district HQ of some description).

Which brings me to the next question. Can a person willingly exiting the country be detained and deported?

of course....if they are in violation of the law of the country then they can certainly be detained....furthermore deportation could mean that they will not be allowed back into the country in the future....why risk that????

Don't get me wrong, I understand the formality/regulation, and by all means, it must be adhered to. But to detain a person at the end of his stay, on his way out, feels a bit redundant. Presumably, the registration is to keep tabs on the foreign national's whereabouts in India (hence the requirement to register with the nearest FRRO or a police station/district HQ of some description).

probably....if the rules specifically have a requirement that needs to be fulfilled then i guess there is nothing anyone can do about it....just follow it so as not to create problems for yourself....

As an aside, I was somehow under the impression that you were a PIO and were born and raised in the United States. Unsure why I formed that idea. Must've been your post about having studied abroad in Japan (unless it was UAFan and not UA Fan who studied abroad in Japan :D )

Nope, lived in India from the age of 5 to 20. I was the one who studied in Tokyo. My university had a campus there, so I did a semester there.

Even without an OCI, people of Indian origin can get "entry" visas rather than tourist visas. The 60-day rule applies to tourist visas, not entry visas or other kinds of visas. However there is no 10-year entry visa.

Colour me confused. They prevented a presumably British citizen who was in India on a visa, from boarding an outbound flight that would take him out of the country.

Why???

Because he broke the law

I have a friend re-entering India within 60 days of her last visit.

The consulate in NYC has already given her a re-entry permit

I understand that she needs to register with the FRO within 14 days of arrival in India.

However, her stay in India is less than 14 days.

Does she still need to register? does anyone have any experience with this?

In Sept 2011,My wife who is US citizen and tourist visa holder landed in chennai and 48 hours later went to malaysia.After 1 week we returned via Singapore.
We did get a reentry permit FROM THE HIGHLY EFFICIENT SINGAPORE CONSULATE[took 1 hour] and reentered chennai and left 48 hours later to US.
1 In singapore the JET staff did not want to check us in till i showed the rentry permit which indicates that Airline staff are advised to watch out.
2 The same thing happened at chennai ,as the immigration officer appeared to be ready to pounce on us till i showed the reentry permit
3 we had no problem exiting chennai even though we did not register where ever we were supposed to.
Thanks

In Sept 2011,My wife who is US citizen and tourist visa holderIf so she is eligible for an "entry visa" (and also for a PIO card). This is less hassle than getting reentry permits, although perhaps more costly.

I got a re entry visa, but was not even looked at a few weeks ago when I landed at DEL

My wife has 10 yr tourist visa and kids and myself have OCI. Going to Delhi for 2 weeks then on to Sri Lanka for 5 days. Colombo to US is VIA DEL with approximately 19 hr layover, we plan to visit family during that. Does she needs pre approval or some kind of clearance?

I have a friend re-entering India within 60 days of her last visit.

The consulate in NYC has already given her a re-entry permit

I understand that she needs to register with the FRO within 14 days of arrival in India.

However, her stay in India is less than 14 days.

Does she still need to register? does anyone have any experience with this?

yes she does....

My wife has 10 yr tourist visa and kids and myself have OCI. Going to Delhi for 2 weeks then on to Sri Lanka for 5 days. Colombo to US is VIA DEL with approximately 19 hr layover, we plan to visit family during that. Does she needs pre approval or some kind of clearance?

From what i gather she will need a re-entry permit.Please see my experience.

From what i gather she will need a re-entry permit.Please see my experience.

So I checked travisa outsourcing website to check on requirements for re-entry permit and here's what it says, "No Permit is needed if the visa holder is traveling to multiple countries on the same itinerary and the trip follows the itinerary exactly. The visa holder must carry a copy of the itinerary to show the Immigration Officer."

Our tickets are all booked and no plan on changing the itinerary.

I also checked the entry visa and it basically repeats the above statement about neighboring countries.

Jayagopal50 in your case Singapore, Malaysia are not neighboring countries so I don't know if same principal applies to Sri Lanka.

In Sept 2011,My wife who is US citizen and tourist visa holder landed in chennai and 48 hours later went to malaysia.After 1 week we returned via Singapore.
We did get a reentry permit FROM THE HIGHLY EFFICIENT SINGAPORE CONSULATE[took 1 hour] and reentered chennai and left 48 hours later to US.
1 In singapore the JET staff did not want to check us in till i showed the rentry permit which indicates that Airline staff are advised to watch out.
2 The same thing happened at chennai ,as the immigration officer appeared to be ready to pounce on us till i showed the reentry permit
3 we had no problem exiting chennai even though we did not register where ever we were supposed to.
Thanks

What do you need for a reentry permit? Do you have to have your itinerary pre planned and ticketed. Can you get a reentry permit if you decide to travel to neighbouring country

after you arrive in India?
travel by land?

I am not questioning WHY.I have stated my experience.Long ago[I am 60 now]I realised the "bapu" in front of you can make your life miserable interpreting RULES as he chooses and we do not have much recourse.You can be brave enough and take them on,but experience has taught me it is not worth the grief.
i read the RULES talked to 2 Immigration Officers before we left Chennai but decided to play it safe ,and i am glad we did.
TRUST me I Had "high level connections" to bail us out if we had problems at the airport.

I am not questioning WHY.I have stated my experience.Long ago[I am 60 now]I realised the "bapu" in front of you can make your life miserable interpreting RULES as he chooses and we do not have much recourse.You can be brave enough and take them on,but experience has taught me it is not worth the grief.
i read the RULES talked to 2 Immigration Officers before we left Chennai but decided to play it safe ,and i am glad we did.
TRUST me I Had "high level connections" to bail us out if we had problems at the airport.

Very hard to disagree with your views regarding Indian Babus, the reason I cited the rules were because I was in Houston and went to Travisa and they said, "You don't need re-entry permit" and they didnt want to take the application. I'm just going to go ahead and apply for PIO and not stress over this.

Very hard to disagree with your views regarding Indian Babus, the reason I cited the rules were because I was in Houston and went to Travisa and they said, "You don't need re-entry permit" and they didnt want to take the application. I'm just going to go ahead and apply for PIO and not stress over this.

OCI is much, much better than PIO

OCI is much, much better than PIO
I know but she's not eligible for OCI :-(

Question for the experts here: I came to the realization over on the domestic airline thread that I might need something more complicated than a regular tourist visa.

This fall, I plan to visit Amman, Kathmandu, and Delhi on the same trip. I currently hold Oneworld awards for ORD-AMM (stop), AMM-DEL (stop), and DEL-ORD. Because there is no easy way to ticket the Nepal part directly into a Oneworld award itinerary, I planned on buying a R/T on Jet Airways for DEL-KTM-DEL. When I arrive at DEL from AMM, I was hoping to connect directly to the Jet Airways flight and not enter India at all. When we finish the KTM-DEL return leg, we'd then spend a week in India before flying home.

My question is whether this is possible. It does appear that Royal Jordanian (RJ) and Jet Airways can be ticketed on the same itinerary (Orbitz will sell it that way) - but obviously mine will not be. It's an award ticketed by BA and then I'd be holding a regular paid seat on Jet.

If I cannot do this without passing through immigration/customs to reach the Jet check-in desk, will I need some sort of special permission for the 2-entry thing? The good news is that I'm not traveling until October and I figure I'll be in some city with an Indian consulate between now and then.

I guess the question is partly about how the DEL international arrivals are set up...would I need to enter India to get myself and my bag to the Jet Airways counter...and then partly about what kind of paperwork I'd need ahead of time if I do indeed have to enter then and again after the Nepal trip.

I'm sort of making an assumption that RJ in Amman won't check my bag straight through to the Jet flight to Nepal since they are on two itins. If anyone has different experience there, I'd love to hear that too.

Question for the experts here: I came to the realization over on the domestic airline thread that I might need something more complicated than a regular tourist visa.

This fall, I plan to visit Amman, Kathmandu, and Delhi on the same trip. I currently hold Oneworld awards for ORD-AMM (stop), AMM-DEL (stop), and DEL-ORD. Because there is no easy way to ticket the Nepal part directly into a Oneworld award itinerary, I planned on buying a R/T on Jet Airways for DEL-KTM-DEL. When I arrive at DEL from AMM, I was hoping to connect directly to the Jet Airways flight and not enter India at all. When we finish the KTM-DEL return leg, we'd then spend a week in India before flying home.

My question is whether this is possible. It does appear that Royal Jordanian (RJ) and Jet Airways can be ticketed on the same itinerary (Orbitz will sell it that way) - but obviously mine will not be. It's an award ticketed by BA and then I'd be holding a regular paid seat on Jet.

If I cannot do this without passing through immigration/customs to reach the Jet check-in desk, will I need some sort of special permission for the 2-entry thing? The good news is that I'm not traveling until October and I figure I'll be in some city with an Indian consulate between now and then.

I guess the question is partly about how the DEL international arrivals are set up...would I need to enter India to get myself and my bag to the Jet Airways counter...and then partly about what kind of paperwork I'd need ahead of time if I do indeed have to enter then and again after the Nepal trip.

I'm sort of making an assumption that RJ in Amman won't check my bag straight through to the Jet flight to Nepal since they are on two itins. If anyone has different experience there, I'd love to hear that too.


RJ in AMM CAN tag your bags directly to KTM as they do have interline with 9W whether they do or not is upto the agent. I've found AMM staff to be very consistent on being INCONSISTENT.

One advice is checkin at Crown Class counter, the agents behind those seem to know what they are doing.

I did this on AMM-DEL DEL-BOM with latter being on separate AI ticket and had no problem but again head to Crown Class Checkin

If you do get your bags tagged to KTM, then on landing at DEL follow signs for International transfers and make sure you have your itinerary printout ready or better if you can checking online for 9w portion in AMM and have BP ready.

Now regarding re-entry within 60 Days, I'll recommend to go ahead and bite the bullet and get that exemption from Indian consulate. It'll serve as a backup plan if RJ doesn't thru check and you have to collect bags in DEL or you can wait and get that exemption at KTM consulate.

Irrespective of whether you can check your luggage through to KTM in AMM, you should explain your situation to the Indian consulate when you apply for your tourist visa and ask for double entry permission. I do not think you will face any difficulty obtaining such permission as long as you show them copies of both your itineraries.

Great...thanks for the information. I see some language that indicates that I might not need the double-entry permit, such as below:

If the visa holder is traveling to multiple countries on the same itinerary, no permit is needed as long as trip follows the itinerary exactly. The visa holder must carry a copy of the itinerary to show the Immigration Officer.

But...it's only $28 extra, so I will bring my entire itinerary when I apply for the visa and hopefully get it to have the peace of mind that I won't have problems.

I'm flying RJ Crown Class so I'll definitely be using those agents in AMM. Does Jet Airways have OLCI, even for int'l flights with checked bags? If so, I will be coming from a Starwood hotel (LM Amman) where I will theoretically be able to check in at T-24 or relatively close to it.

One other question: are the consulates strict about *only* serving residents of the states listed for each one? My home residence is Kansas. I'm likely to be in both San Francisco and Chicago this summer...but not Houston. I might also be in Washington DC but it's uncertain. (In a pinch, I know I can pay a visa service to do this for me...just figured I might not have to.)

Great...thanks for the information. I see some language that indicates that I might not need the double-entry permit, such as below:



But...it's only $28 extra, so I will bring my entire itinerary when I apply for the visa and hopefully get it to have the peace of mind that I won't have problems.
Definitely. I don't know if they would consider separately booked tickets as part of "the same itinerary" - it is a vague phrase that can be interpreted differently by different people.

I'm flying RJ Crown Class so I'll definitely be using those agents in AMM. Does Jet Airways have OLCI, even for int'l flights with checked bags? If so, I will be coming from a Starwood hotel (LM Amman) where I will theoretically be able to check in at T-24 or relatively close to it.

One other question: are the consulates strict about *only* serving residents of the states listed for each one? My home residence is Kansas. I'm likely to be in both San Francisco and Chicago this summer...but not Houston. I might also be in Washington DC but it's uncertain. (In a pinch, I know I can pay a visa service to do this for me...just figured I might not have to.)
In my experience, they are not strict about this, especially for walk-in visits.

Does Jet Airways have OLCI, even for int'l flights with checked bags? If so, I will be coming from a Starwood hotel (LM Amman) where I will theoretically be able to check in at T-24 or relatively close to it.



If you read this thread, nobody has any clue how those Immigration Officers will apply their own written rules. So its better to just spend $28 and buy peace.

9W does offer OLCI for international itineraries.

Why don't you use Travisa and submit it by mail, unless you travel international frequently.

https://indiavisa.travisaoutsourcing.com/consular-fees?id=16

If you read this thread, nobody has any clue how those Immigration Officers will apply their own written rules. So its better to just spend $28 and buy peace.

9W does offer OLCI for international itineraries.

Why don't you use Travisa and submit it by mail, unless you travel international frequently.

https://indiavisa.travisaoutsourcing.com/consular-fees?id=16

Agreed...I will definitely pay the extra $28. My regularly-planned travels should take me to the vicinity of a consulate, but obviously if not I'll go with one of the visa services via mail...

Just as a quick heads up, at least one US airline (Delta) is enforcing the 60-day rule at time of COMMENCING the journey rather than at time of ARRIVAL into India. They will not check you in for a flight that terminates in India unless you have been out of India for at least 60-days AT THE TIME OF CHECK-IN.

This has the effect of essentially creating 61-day or 62-day waiting periods due to journey elapsed time and time zones.

Can anyone tell me what to do if you're already in India?

A trip to Sri Lanka would count as a "neighboring country", but obviously the trip would not be on the same itinerary as the trip to India. We called the FRRO and they said that nothing is needed because it is a neighboring country, but I don't think they are accounting for the "same itinerary" requirement.

I know that we could apply for re-entry once we're in Sri Lanka, but I'd hate to gamble that way.

Anyone know if there's a place *IN* India to get a re-entry waiver?

Go to FRRO in person and speak to someone senior. If they too say that no special permission is required, ask them if they can give it to you in writing.

The best would be to have an endorsement of the FRRO from the port you intend to enter India again.

I'll be flying to BRU via India in a few months time, and was wondering if I need a VISA? I'm Aussie, on an Australian passport.

Not stopping at all (that's the plan anyway), so I thought a transit VISA if anything? But they seem to last only 15 days, and my return journey won't be for over a month. Would this mean I need a Tourist VISA?

Or, with only a few hours each way in the airport, will I be fine without a VISA, assuming I get checked in all the way to Asia at least, if not Australia? These are the flights, booked with Jet Airways:

(June 21st):
MEL - HKG: CX134 ~ Depart MEL at 7:40am. Arrive HKG at 3:15pm
HKG - BOM: 9W75 ~ Depart HKG at 7:55pm. Arrive BOM at 11:45pm.
BOM - BRU: 9W228 ~ Depart BOM at 2:20am. Arrive BRU at 7:50am (June 22nd).

(July 29th):
BRU - MAA: 9W225 ~ Depart BRU at 10:15am. Arrive MAA at 11:30pm.
MAA - SIN: 9W16 ~ Depart MAA at 1:15am. Arrive SIN at 8:05am (July 30th).
SIN - MEL: QF10 ~ Depart SIN at 8:20pm. Arrive MEL at 5:45am (July 31st).

I know you will be fine in BOM without a visa. I've done a similar transit before and not had an issue.


I am not too familiar with intl-intl transfers in MAA. If your luggage is checked in, I think you should be fine. I'll let others confirm.

I'll be flying to BRU via India in a few months time, and was wondering if I need a VISA?

No visa required for your itinerary. Nothing to worry about. Follow the signs and there will also be 9W staff on hand at both BOM/MAA to direct international transit passengers. Hundreds of people do it every day without an issue.

Jolly good! :)

I am not too familiar with intl-intl transfers in MAA. If your luggage is checked in, I think you should be fine. I'll let others confirm.

MAA is easy, even with luggage, 9W will take care of it. Just make sure you don't waltz into the immigration area and contact a 9W employee just after deplaning on what to do and where to go.