Visa for US Citizens-Time to Get?
Jul 14, 2011, 7:45 pm
#16
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: cbr
Programs: QF WP (OWE) / LTG (LT OWS) | Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 4,972
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.
Jul 15, 2011, 9:23 am
#17
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: ATL
Programs: Delta Gold, Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond, Hilton Honors Gold, SPG Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 144
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.
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.
Jul 15, 2011, 1:42 pm
#18
In memoriam
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,020
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.
Pretty good, I'd say.
Thanks Travisa--and FTers who chimed in on my original request for info.
Jul 15, 2011, 2:55 pm
#19
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: ATL
Programs: Delta Gold, Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond, Hilton Honors Gold, SPG Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 144
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.
Pretty good, I'd say.
Thanks Travisa--and FTers who chimed in on my original request for info.
Jul 18, 2011, 8:10 pm
#20
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: San Antonio, TX
Programs: OP, SPG, Amex MR
Posts: 318
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.
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.