India - Visa for US Citizens-Time to Get?

We are taking our first trip to India--leaving July 28. And, I was surprised to learn, US citizens have to get visas (my bad, I've been a lot of places and the only place I had to get a visa in advance was China, so, guess I was just uninformed about India).

So, is there likely to be a problem if we overnight our apps and two pics with passports to San Francisco counsel office for arrival on July 12?

Or, should I put the tickets on hold?

if you have no ties to pakistan then you should get your visa fairly quickly, well before july 28th....

but if you or any family member of yours was born in pakistan or is a pakistani citizen then the visa process takes about 6 weeks to clear....

Thanks for the info.

No Pakistan connection, so, I guess, no problem.

On to Costco for visa photos!

Thanks for the info.

No Pakistan connection, so, I guess, no problem.

On to Costco for visa photos!

18 days? Cross your fingers. If there's an expedite option, I would use it.

18 days? Cross your fingers. If there's an expedite option, I would use it.
+1

This is India you're dealing with. (You'll find out what that means when you get there...;))

18 days? Cross your fingers. If there's an expedite option, I would use it.

+1

This is India you're dealing with. (You'll find out what that means when you get there...;))

:confused::confused:

i have clients & family members traveling to india all the time....it has never taken them 18 days or longer to get their visas....

:confused::confused:

i have clients & family members traveling to india all the time....it has never taken them 18 days or longer to get their visas....
I would be pretty reluctant to apply for any country's visa using standard service if I had only 18 days before my departure. There are any number of snags that can screw things up, not just the issuing consulate's relaxed attitude toward on-time customer service.

Thanks for the additional input. I sent the application of Express Mail yesterday. So, should be at the processor on Monday morning with the FedEx overnight return paid for.

Based on what I saw on the Travisa website I am optomistically thinking we are okay. And, thanks to Kayer for his never over eighteen days info which is comforting.

If not, fortunately, we have changable tickets (which I hope never comes into play).

We applied in March (our trip is in July as well) and from mail date to return to me, the total time was 7 days. We had 3 US-born applicants and 1 Indian-born US citizen (that application was more involved than just a straight US-born applicant). I overnight mailed in both directions and the Chicago consulate was very fast. Just make sure every last T is crossed on the checklist - a cousin forgot some paperwork and entered some bureaucratic Indian purgatory.

I would be pretty reluctant to apply for any country's visa using standard service if I had only 18 days before my departure. There are any number of snags that can screw things up, not just the issuing consulate's relaxed attitude toward on-time customer service.

i don't know how things work in the US but i have applied for countless number of visas here & have never had to wait 18 days or over to get it....the maximum has been 10-12 days....

i don't know how things work in the US but i have applied for countless number of visas here & have never had to wait 18 days or over to get it....the maximum has been 10-12 days....

I have had several occasions where visas took much longer than expected/promised (just in the last year or so, I can point to Russia and Nigeria as examples). Things happen.

I have had several occasions where visas took much longer than expected/promised (just in the last year or so, I can point to Russia and Nigeria as examples). Things happen.

i guess i can agree with the russian example....a colleague from my firm had to travel to russia & his visa took a little under a month....

personally i have never had an issue with a visa & have always got it in under 2 weeks....infact, i know a bunch of people in the US who managed to get their indian visa in under 48 hours....18 days is long enough....

Glad I read this thread. I was considering visiting India in a couple months and for some reason, it never crossed my mind that Canadians needed visas.

India has outsourced the visa process to a private company. http://india.travisa.com/VisaInstructions.aspx?CountryID=IN&.

It takes 7 business days to get your Passport back with the visa.

They have outsourced visa handling, which is not the bottleneck. The bottleneck is in the adjudications and issuances of the visas. It's well known that time depends on a number of variables. Some, such as the consulate/embassy used, are within your control, while others, such as the entire operation took a tea break, are not. The shortest I have heard is 7 or 8 days. The longest we have had is about 2 months. Mine was about a month. You learn to be patient dealing with the Government of India. Oddly, the most vocal about the problem is the Indian-American diaspora who have to wait absurd amounts of time for their visas.

The shortest I have heard is 7 or 8 days. The longest we have had is about 2 months. Mine was about a month. You learn to be patient dealing with the Government of India. Oddly, the most vocal about the problem is the Indian-American diaspora who have to wait absurd amounts of time for their visas.

Try 45 minutes. After paying the expedited fee. For the "Entry Visa".

They have outsourced visa handling, which is not the bottleneck. The bottleneck is in the adjudications and issuances of the visas. It's well known that time depends on a number of variables. Some, such as the consulate/embassy used, are within your control, while others, such as the entire operation took a tea break, are not. The shortest I have heard is 7 or 8 days. The longest we have had is about 2 months. Mine was about a month. You learn to be patient dealing with the Government of India. Oddly, the most vocal about the problem is the Indian-American diaspora who have to wait absurd amounts of time for their visas.

True. Travisa does a pretty good job of handling the paperwork and sending the passports back. At the very least, you can reach a live person at Travisa and get updates on the application. They're also good at sending status emails. However, it's up to the individual Indian consulates to actually issue the visa and get them back to Travisa.

I flew to Houston in January, applied in person Mon AM, received approval Tues AM, and got it via Fedex Wed AM. Flew out to India Thurs.

Mailed apps to Houston for my wife and kids in March, took over 3 weeks to receive the visas. My sister also mailed her app to Houston in March, took about a month to get it back. Luckily our trip was not until late May.

My sister in NYC applied in person, and received her visa the next day.

Heard the consulates in NYC and Washington, DC are good. Houston for me was hit-or-miss.

FYI, we sent visa apps to SF Travisa and they arrived on Monday, just got the passports back with the issued visas this morning (Friday) via FedEx so, it took four days for processing and issue of the visas.

Pretty good, I'd say.

Thanks Travisa--and FTers who chimed in on my original request for info.

FYI, we sent visa apps to SF Travisa and they arrived on Monday, just got the passports back with the issued visas this morning (Friday) via FedEx so, it took four days for processing and issue of the visas.

Pretty good, I'd say.

Thanks Travisa--and FTers who chimed in on my original request for info.

AWESOME!!! Enjoy your trip!

True. Travisa does a pretty good job of handling the paperwork and sending the passports back. At the very least, you can reach a live person at Travisa and get updates on the application. They're also good at sending status emails. However, it's up to the individual Indian consulates to actually issue the visa and get them back to Travisa.

I have to disagree with that. Travisa is very troublesome to deal with. I will give you my experience. I applied for OCI (new passport) for my kid. It was nothing but nightmare. First, their own checklist is not accurate. E.g. I was reluctant to send my kid's old passport, checklist says a copy is OK, but not. So, they ask me for my kid's passport. I send it in and than wait. After a few days, they say that we (as parents) have to send our IDs. I point them to their own list. Clearly it says that "Parents' IDs are acceptable in place of kid's ID" and I had send my kid's ID. I asked them as to why they did not tell me that when I send my kid's passport and wasted a month or so. Their response "different people go over different parts of the application". Secondly, when you call them up, you would be lucky to get someone within the first 30 minutes (maybe visa section is better, I don't know)

If you go to forums.immigration.com (make sure your AV software is up to date, they had issues lately), you will see complaint after complaint with these guys.

I do have to say that their tracking system is good and you get regular updates about your application.