Visa expiry question - India
Sep 15, 2015, 1:31 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 1
Visa expiry question - India
Hello - Going to India on business on Sep/30 and returning on Oct/10. My India business Visa expires on Nov/5. There should be no issue, right? Unlike passport that has to be valid for 6 more months when I enter the country, there is no such issue with Visa, correct? This question is specifically for India. So long as I return before visa expires, I am assuming I should be fine. I have 5 year multiple entry visa. THANKS ALL.
Sep 24, 2015, 8:42 pm
#3
Join Date: Jun 2004
Programs: united airlines
Posts: 4,967
I'm joining a friend for a month in India starting the second week in November. I just started the visa application online, and what I am encountering seems to be different from what my friend did when he applied for his.
Is https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html a legitimate website I can rely on? Is it an official government website or some commercial party's website?
Tourist visas are routinely issued for 6 months? The cost of the visa is what? Is it possible to pay with a credit card?
Thanks for any relevant info regarding the visa.
Is https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html a legitimate website I can rely on? Is it an official government website or some commercial party's website?
Tourist visas are routinely issued for 6 months? The cost of the visa is what? Is it possible to pay with a credit card?
Thanks for any relevant info regarding the visa.
Sep 25, 2015, 12:52 am
#4
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
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The ETA/TVOA is for the casual/tourist visitor to India and is only valid for certain period from the day you apply online. That ETA costs 60$ uniformly for all. The website is legit and official.
You can get a traditional paper sticker visa in your passport from the local Indian consulate too, that one is valid six months from date of issue. The cost of that visa is dependent on the country of your citizenship. India usually reciprocates the visa fees of your country.
You can get a traditional paper sticker visa in your passport from the local Indian consulate too, that one is valid six months from date of issue. The cost of that visa is dependent on the country of your citizenship. India usually reciprocates the visa fees of your country.
Sep 25, 2015, 8:45 am
#5
Join Date: Jun 2004
Programs: united airlines
Posts: 4,967
The ETA/TVOA is for the casual/tourist visitor to India and is only valid for certain period from the day you apply online. That ETA costs 60$ uniformly for all. The website is legit and official.
You can get a traditional paper sticker visa in your passport from the local Indian consulate too, that one is valid six months from date of issue. The cost of that visa is dependent on the country of your citizenship. India usually reciprocates the visa fees of your country.
You can get a traditional paper sticker visa in your passport from the local Indian consulate too, that one is valid six months from date of issue. The cost of that visa is dependent on the country of your citizenship. India usually reciprocates the visa fees of your country.
One tip off was that my friend paid something like $123 in all and I was only being asked to pay $60. Also, he got a 6-month visa (he was expecting to receive a 10-year one) and I was looking at one good for on 30 days. Is 10-years an option?
Sep 25, 2015, 9:06 am
#6
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
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Previously the big complaint was that you had to give up your passport and pay a lot of money to get a simple tourist visa to India. The ETA system has simplified it dramatically, so the casual tourist can apply online and not worry about getting the visa in time and loosing his/her passport in the process.
You are not disclosing your citizenship, so its difficult to gauge what your other options are. US citizens have only the option to apply for a 10 year tourist visa, which is also granted easily, but costs 100+$ and may only be for 6 months at the consulates discretion.
https://www.indianembassy.org/pages.php?id=18
http://www.in.ckgs.us/visa/type-of-v...ist-visa.shtml
You are not disclosing your citizenship, so its difficult to gauge what your other options are. US citizens have only the option to apply for a 10 year tourist visa, which is also granted easily, but costs 100+$ and may only be for 6 months at the consulates discretion.
https://www.indianembassy.org/pages.php?id=18
http://www.in.ckgs.us/visa/type-of-v...ist-visa.shtml
Duration of Visa or No of entries is purely the discretion of the Indian Embassy / Consulate and CKGS has no role to play in the decision making process. Applicants must note and understand that Visa is not a matter of right and hence the Embassy / Consulates could deny the visa if not found eligible / or does not have adequate supporting documentation or grant a visa for a period lesser than what has been requested in the application and what the applicant has paid for. There shall be no clarifications in this regard and the decision of the Embassy / Consulate will be final and binding.
Non US passport holders will be issued visa with a maximum of 6 months duration.
Non US passport holders will be issued visa with a maximum of 6 months duration.
Sep 25, 2015, 9:17 am
#7
Join Date: Jun 2004
Programs: united airlines
Posts: 4,967
Previously the big complaint was that you had to give up your passport and pay a lot of money to get a simple tourist visa to India. The ETA system has simplified it dramatically, so the casual tourist can apply online and not worry about getting the visa in time and loosing his/her passport in the process.
You are not disclosing your citizenship, so its difficult to gauge what your other options are. US citizens have only the option to apply for a 10 year tourist visa, which is also granted easily, but costs 100+$ and may only be for 6 months at the consulates discretion.
https://www.indianembassy.org/pages.php?id=18
http://www.in.ckgs.us/visa/type-of-v...ist-visa.shtml
You are not disclosing your citizenship, so its difficult to gauge what your other options are. US citizens have only the option to apply for a 10 year tourist visa, which is also granted easily, but costs 100+$ and may only be for 6 months at the consulates discretion.
https://www.indianembassy.org/pages.php?id=18
http://www.in.ckgs.us/visa/type-of-v...ist-visa.shtml
I am a native born US citizen with no Pakistani or other SE Asian background. (The application asks the names of your parents and where they were born, which surprised me). I was being asked to pay $60, whereas my friend paid $123 in all, and it was possible to pay by credit card, whereas somewhere I thought I heard/read that one couldn't pay by credit card and had to use a postal money order or something like that for the purpose.
My friend was expecting a 10-year visa, but got a 6-month one and concluded it must have been because he indicated he had prior military service. The language they quote says they can be as arbitrary as they want and aren't going to explain themselves if they issue the shorter one, which leaves me wondering why he wound up with the 6-month one and what I will get. (Might want to return within a year and would rather not go through it all again if could be avoided.)
Sep 26, 2015, 8:57 am
#8
Join Date: Jun 2004
Programs: united airlines
Posts: 4,967
Hi, itsme again. I'm going nuts trying to complete the visa application. Will have to wait until Monday to get back to the CKGS people to ask for help with it. They weren't all that clear when I spoke to them the other day, though.
Have others had problems marching through it? It asks what date I will be arriving, I put in something like 10/11/2015, and it stops me dead, saying that journey should not be more than 34 days from today's date?! If I plug in a close-in date, I can get further along in the application, until I come to the point where it asks how long the stay will be and has already filled in "30 days" as the inflexible answer. (I want the up-to-10 year tourist visa option for $100, not the quickie shorter one-time tourist visa for $60, but can't tell what page I have been sent to, if there are different applications for two different types of tourist visas.)
Anyway, if anyone has been through this silly process, which should be very straightforward and easy, but isn't, at least not for me, I'd be interested in hearing from them. Did they encounter problems or just fly through the application? Do they know what that 4 day (not later than) to 34 day (not sooner than) window of time business is about? How about that Procrustean choice of 30 days, when other places they talk about up to 10-years, depending on the counsel's discretion? (What gets you 10 years rather than 6 months?)
I look forward to my trip, but this visa stuff is frustrating. Hopefully it isn't a harbinger of bigger things to come.
Have others had problems marching through it? It asks what date I will be arriving, I put in something like 10/11/2015, and it stops me dead, saying that journey should not be more than 34 days from today's date?! If I plug in a close-in date, I can get further along in the application, until I come to the point where it asks how long the stay will be and has already filled in "30 days" as the inflexible answer. (I want the up-to-10 year tourist visa option for $100, not the quickie shorter one-time tourist visa for $60, but can't tell what page I have been sent to, if there are different applications for two different types of tourist visas.)
Anyway, if anyone has been through this silly process, which should be very straightforward and easy, but isn't, at least not for me, I'd be interested in hearing from them. Did they encounter problems or just fly through the application? Do they know what that 4 day (not later than) to 34 day (not sooner than) window of time business is about? How about that Procrustean choice of 30 days, when other places they talk about up to 10-years, depending on the counsel's discretion? (What gets you 10 years rather than 6 months?)
I look forward to my trip, but this visa stuff is frustrating. Hopefully it isn't a harbinger of bigger things to come.
Sep 26, 2015, 11:44 am
#9
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
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Hey this India, nothing is simple there 
Take a chill pill and do the ETA/TVOA... the 10yr thing is too cumbersome.
Take a chill pill and do the ETA/TVOA... the 10yr thing is too cumbersome.
Sep 26, 2015, 11:50 am
#10
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Hi, itsme again. I'm going nuts trying to complete the visa application. Will have to wait until Monday to get back to the CKGS people to ask for help with it. They weren't all that clear when I spoke to them the other day, though.
Have others had problems marching through it? It asks what date I will be arriving, I put in something like 10/11/2015, and it stops me dead, saying that journey should not be more than 34 days from today's date?! If I plug in a close-in date, I can get further along in the application, until I come to the point where it asks how long the stay will be and has already filled in "30 days" as the inflexible answer. (I want the up-to-10 year tourist visa option for $100, not the quickie shorter one-time tourist visa for $60, but can't tell what page I have been sent to, if there are different applications for two different types of tourist visas.)
Anyway, if anyone has been through this silly process, which should be very straightforward and easy, but isn't, at least not for me, I'd be interested in hearing from them. Did they encounter problems or just fly through the application? Do they know what that 4 day (not later than) to 34 day (not sooner than) window of time business is about? How about that Procrustean choice of 30 days, when other places they talk about up to 10-years, depending on the counsel's discretion? (What gets you 10 years rather than 6 months?)
I look forward to my trip, but this visa stuff is frustrating. Hopefully it isn't a harbinger of bigger things to come.
Have others had problems marching through it? It asks what date I will be arriving, I put in something like 10/11/2015, and it stops me dead, saying that journey should not be more than 34 days from today's date?! If I plug in a close-in date, I can get further along in the application, until I come to the point where it asks how long the stay will be and has already filled in "30 days" as the inflexible answer. (I want the up-to-10 year tourist visa option for $100, not the quickie shorter one-time tourist visa for $60, but can't tell what page I have been sent to, if there are different applications for two different types of tourist visas.)
Anyway, if anyone has been through this silly process, which should be very straightforward and easy, but isn't, at least not for me, I'd be interested in hearing from them. Did they encounter problems or just fly through the application? Do they know what that 4 day (not later than) to 34 day (not sooner than) window of time business is about? How about that Procrustean choice of 30 days, when other places they talk about up to 10-years, depending on the counsel's discretion? (What gets you 10 years rather than 6 months?)
I look forward to my trip, but this visa stuff is frustrating. Hopefully it isn't a harbinger of bigger things to come.
Sep 26, 2015, 1:19 pm
#11
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My 10 year Indian visas have been a walk in the park, but that varies a lot by consulate/embassy. But the evisas are more convenient than having to do the passport submission to an Indian consulate/embassy/submission-delivery contract agent.