Valid visa in cancelled passport
 

I have a valid 6 month tourist visa to India in my current UK passport, which expires in 8 months.

However, I needed to renew it early so have sent it for renewal. As far as I understand, they will snip the corners, but leave the visa intact.

Can I still travel to India using this tourist visa if I take both my new passport and my old (cancelled) passport, containing the intact visa?

I have searched around, but I am looking for some definitive evidence or at least the experience of anyone who has recently done this (positive or negative). I realise I could transfer the visa into the new passport, but this could take extra time that I might not have and it would also cost more than the original cost of the tourist visa!

Any guidance would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Generally, they should allow for you to carry both the new and expired passports with the visa, but it doesn't hurt to contact the Indian Embassy in the UK and even the airline you are flying to confirm.

Keep in mind, if you do decide to go to India, and leave to visit a nearby nation while you are there, you won't be allowed back into India within 30-days that you left, even if your visa is still valid.

I believe that rule has been revised, but I can't find anything to confirm this.

the short answer is 'yes'....similar thread exists below:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/india...ease-help.html

this is no longer true....

Thanks
 

Thanks for your replies, I feel a little better about it now. I have emailed the people who issued the visa (VFS), so hopefully I will hear back soon.

Reply from VFS
 

I had a reply from VFS (the company outsourced to issue visas), who have said

"We advise applicants not to travel with old passport and new passport as they may face problems at the immigrations or with the Airlines. We recommend that applicants transfer their old visa onto their new passport or apply for a new visa"

This isn't helpful as it doesn't actually answer the question of whether or not it is allowed. So I've emailed the high commission and hopefully they will give me a definitive answer!

I've done it with US passports, and it worked fine for me when dealing with airlines and Indian immigration authorities. As long as the names and other biodata info is the same in the relevant passports and the visa isn't damaged/defaced, it seems to work out.

This is not true
 

fly-guy,
It is best not to post INCORRECT outdated information.
This bone headed horrible stupid rule has been thankfully removed.

Apparently VFS has conflict of interest (they get fees only if you do something with them) or they are not competent (which is very likely)

Since Indian visa is for 10 years whereas under-18 US passports expire every 5 years, this is a very common occurrence for hundreds of families. Just carry both passports.

The FTer to which you were responding has a UK passport. I doubt that ten year visas are as common with UK passports as with US passports, but the point is still the same: an unexpired and undamaged Indian visa in an expired UK passport may still be valid for travel to India. As it most commonly is.

Under-16 years old persons' US passports generally expire every five years. 16+ = ten year validity in the main for US passports.

I had absolutely no problem to enter India with new and old passport. No questions asked at immigration or Check-In. Iam holding a European Passport. My collegue had the same experience with his Canadian passport.