Electronic vs Paper Visa - ease of one time entry - function of airline/airport?

My wife and sister in law earlier this year went on AC from YYZ to DEL - with a one-time electronic visa. There was a long delay in going through Indian immigration - the officer had a great deal of trouble with the electronic visa.

More recently , my wife took an paper (multi-entry) visa - arrived in DEL from BKK via TG. No problems this time.

My wife, and my 20 yr old daughter, and I will be taking a LX flight from ZRH to BOM around the holiday season - my wife still has a multi-entry visa valid for this trip. My daughter will take a single entry one time visa. My wife is suggesting we get a multi-entry visa - more expensive, but perhaps less hassles on entry.

Does it take more time for an immigration official to process an electronic visa over a paper visa? Does the airport matter - ie is it easier to get entry to BOM than DEL via an electronic visa? Does it help in getting an electronic visa processed if one is on AI (or another India-based airline) when flying in from an international destination.

By the way, all 3 of us are Canadian citizens, but of Indian origin.

I can't directly answer your question but at present there are dedicated lanes and officers for eVisa entry at DEL T3. During my last two trips the queue for eTV was just one or two minutes vs a very long line in the general "foreign passports" lines. The actual processing took perhaps one minute. It's possible that there were some early teething issues with the process when your wife first visited but right now it is very smooth at DEL. I flew with NH both times.

Perhaps someone else could comment on recent experiences at BOM.

The eta/etv sometimes takes ages depending on the system status. Instead of a multi year visa get an OCI card. Its rather cheap and valid for life.

i agree....an oci is the best option....

having said that, i picked up a friend from the airport recently who came in with an e-visa & he said the process was very smooth & he was through immigration in a matter of minutes....

I used e visa at Delhi last month, 1am arrival, and there was literally not a single person in front of us (i.e. no line at all!) The queue for the non e visa was not terribly long, but obviously the e visa was quicker on that occasion.

The guy said he has 20 yr kid. That means he may be in his 40s or 50s.

If age is over 50, certainly go through the pain of idiotic OCI process. It is worth it.

If age is in 45-50, PLEASE DO NOT apply for OCI card. Stupid idiotic indian beuracrats have come up with some really pathetic reasoning that
- you are security risk when you turn 50
- you are NOT security risk in 29 years between age 21 and 50 but moment you turn 50, you are security risk
- of course after age 50 you are never security risk
- another typical indian nonsense: your security risk at age 50 is dependent on expiry of your canadian passport (if your passport gets expired at age 51 then "security risk at age 50" rule is triggered at age 51 but if it expires at age 58 then india's secuirty can wait until then

if you cross age 50 while holding OCI idiots babus will want you to get OCI re-issued when you get new passport in your current country. "LIFELONG VISA" is not really true. You wil have to bear with about 2-3 months when you can not travel to India in addition to go through torture all over again.

This question was asked to NaMo at NY meeting and he just stared - most likely didnt believe or probably didnt even understand.

Indian bureacrats have a powerful gift of turning any well-intended initiative into irritating nightmare. Just look at currency fiasco...