Hi all,

I know this is OT – and feel free to move the discussion elsewhere – but as people are so helpful here (and I fly with BA), I will give it a go.
I am applying for an Indian Visa (Business). Our company uses an agency but due to bad past experiences, I prefer to apply myself.

There are 3 Indian visa application centres in London (Goswell Road, Paddington and Hounslow). If I exclude Hounslow, because of the distance, which office is the best to apply from? I am thinking in terms of shortest waiting line, efficiency at the desk, etc…

Any experience or tips to share?
Thank you.

Friend was at the Goswell Road centre last Wednesday. Took three hours before finishing at the centre. Then had to wait 10-15 working days to pick up the passport. It would only take 3-4 working days if they had remembered to bring a utility bill along.

Am going to india later in the year with BA. I gather they are now insisting you go in person to one of these centres. Sounds very draconian. At least one if the centres is round the corner.

I only have experience of the Goswell Road one and it’s about what you’d expect really. Show up, pick a number and take a seat. It was pretty busy but there was the odd seat to be had. I think the wait to submit was about 2 and a half hours and later on in the week the wait to collect was a couple of hours as well. This was all in the midst of an apparent IT failure that they said was slowing things down (the regulars in the crowd didn’t seem to think this was much of a surprise!). Once at the desk it took about 5 minutes to check everything and be on my way, though there are always people with seemingly ‘complicated’ situations in front of you that take ages.

While waiting I saw quite a few agents arrive and swan straight up to the desk with a folder full of applications, so they obviously have some kind of priority arrangement.

Don't exclude Hounslow if you have a car. its appointment only and has parking outside. The last time I used it last June. I was in and out in 5 min flat and had my passport returned with Visa in 5 days or so.

I've done Goswell Road twice (since the good old days of India House), as I too prefer to do it in person.

Once I did it as an express business visa, and just pitched up in the morning without appointment and had my passport back late that afternoon.

The second time I did it by the normal service and it took three days.

On both occasions, I had filled in the forms online, had scrupulous documentation, and the correct sized photos.

I've only used the Edinburgh location. Very expensive with the express service but just a few hours from start to finish.

Only used Goswell Road, it worked fine, though I did pay the extra to get the same day service. It is quite a lot more, but my passport was separated from me for the minimum time, which is how I like it.

The centres are run by an outsourced company, VFS, though all visa decisions are still made by consular staff.

Thank you very much for all the feedback.
I have now applied at the Goswell road centre. Let's see how it goes. I have not been able to select same day service during the whole online process. Is this something you can agree on only when you are there?

That is correct:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/de...gerprints.html

I tried Goswell Road for a tourist visa on a Monday and they couldn't guarantee I'd get it back by the Friday so I used an Agency, Scott's Travel Management (am I allowed to advertise that?) and they did it all for me and got it back on the Thursday. They do Business visas as well.

Seems like the e-visa scheme is beng extended to the UK by June this year, good news as I will be visiting in July.
http://indianexpress.com/article/ind...nasi-airports/

I travelled to India last year and used Scott's who are off Warren Street:

http://www.scottsvisas.co.uk

This thread was originally posted in the BA forum but has been moved to the dedicated section for India so that the thread may attract a more varied audience.

LTN Phobia
Moderator: BA forum

i spoke to a couple of friends who visit india regularly....even they said they use the goswell road center & have good experiences there....