Desi Cartman Posted October 29, 2012 Posted October 29, 2012 Getting a tourist visa for people of Indian origin is such a pain that I wonder how other people deal with it. Why would a foreigner wish to go through the below process to see Taj mahal To put in short here is what I had to do to apply for Indian visa * Fill out webform * Take a print out and fill the form * Take photos and upload * Upload again and this time make sure that its square and not even 171 vs 170 * Then take photo of the form with picture pasted and upload it. * Take pic of the sign on the form and upload it and even worse, force my 2 year old to give a thumb print in the space (rectangle) assigned for sign and it was clearly mentioned that the print has to be within the space else the application will be rejected. * Cant attach 2 applications together so use process twice and work on paying, postage etc. * The website doesnt accept credit cards but tells you an amount for money order. * Get money order, put all the application papers & passports together and send it * 7 days later I see a status update where they declare that more that than half the application money has been withdrawn. * I call for 2 days to only hear a beep. No ring nothing * Finally someone replies to my email mentioning that the website processed the estimate incorrectly and I will get rest of the money back. * in the last 5 days I have received an email stating that processing is delayed. Now my wife and daughter are supposed to leave this weekend and the process which I started a month ago is still going on. I am waiting and wondering that if I was a tourist would I really want to visit India ? :fishing:
Nova Posted October 29, 2012 Posted October 29, 2012 I applied for multiple entry visa a few years ago and it was quick and easy. Didn't have to go through all this. They have outsourced it now to a private company it seems.
Desi Cartman Posted October 29, 2012 Author Posted October 29, 2012 I applied for multiple entry visa a few years ago and it was quick and easy. Didn't have to go through all this. They have outsourced it now to a private company it seems. they outsourced sometime ago and I understand that there will be some delays but to get people to fill out 3 different webforms and 2 forms and upload photos and signs is really stupid. All this information can be sent in one form so I wonder WTF they are thinking.
Anonymous Posted October 29, 2012 Posted October 29, 2012 DC, with all due respect, its not exactly a breeze when Indian nationals apply for a phaaran veeja. I guess we are just giving back as good as we get. All said and done, its just a travesty when recently naturalised foreign citizens of Indian origin have to queue up with other foreigners for a bloody visa (for those without that NRI card or whatever its called)
Clarke Posted October 29, 2012 Posted October 29, 2012 Change the thread title "A westerner's experiences in the third world" coz there's more coming :P
Clarke Posted October 29, 2012 Posted October 29, 2012 All said and done' date=' its just a travesty when recently naturalised foreign citizens of Indian origin have to queue up with other foreigners for a bloody visa (for those without that NRI card or whatever its called)[/quote'] So you demand special treatment after dumping the Indian citizenship ?
Anonymous Posted October 29, 2012 Posted October 29, 2012 So you demand special treatment after dumping the Indian citizenship ? Atleast the govt can give them temporary priveleges whilst processing their PIO application in lieu of them holding an Indian Passport some months ago. P.S. Am still an Indian citizen
coffee_rules Posted October 29, 2012 Posted October 29, 2012 OCI, ftw. Took 2 months, but a lifetime of worry-free travel to India.
Desi Cartman Posted October 29, 2012 Author Posted October 29, 2012 So you demand special treatment after dumping the Indian citizenship ? Dear Sean, There is so much to tell but where do I start, cant apply for OCI from the US as you need to have a 2 year visa in the US but my work visa was for 23 months and 15 days and the Travisa said I cant apply from here. I have OCI but this is for my wife and daughter. The only option is to apply from Australia but its illegal to send your passport overseas. Its one thing to go through a process but its another when you have to pay extra and wait extra long because you have been an Indian citizen in the past. 2 years ago I had to pay 190 doillars for an Indian visa as opposed to 90 as it was different to tourist visa.At the counter they asked me that since my wife is an Indian citizen and I am OCI holder and the purpose is to meet family and friends, it can not be termed as tourist and there is another visa for that purpose (cant remember what they called it). This Even the filing process for a tourist visa is usually very simple as countries want foreigners to travel as opposed to what bharat sarkar has
Clarke Posted October 29, 2012 Posted October 29, 2012 ^ So now you understand big govt & communism ? If yes, send in your contributions to restore our future. BTW my friend applied for passport renewal & they returned the application asking him to additionally submit a "change of appearance affidavit" :hysterical:
Desi Cartman Posted October 29, 2012 Author Posted October 29, 2012 ^ So now you understand big govt & communism ? If yes, send in your contributions to restore our future. BTW my friend applied for passport renewal & they returned the application asking him to additionally submit a "change of appearance affidavit" :hysterical: hahahahahahaahahahah WTF ... did he get a makeover ?
Clarke Posted October 29, 2012 Posted October 29, 2012 Well, he looks different 10 yrs after he got his first passport, how rare is that!
Desi Cartman Posted October 29, 2012 Author Posted October 29, 2012 Well' date=' he looks different 10 yrs after he got his first passport, how rare is that![/quote'] my passport was for 20 years and the aussie customs couldnt believe it , they said no country can do that as your face would change. :P well they were right, Bharat sarkar stopping issuing 20 yr passports soon afterwards. my passport would have been good from the age of 21 to 41 :yess: btw my delhi driver's license is also valid for 20 years. I was 18 when I got that made, I look sooo different now
EnterTheVoid Posted October 29, 2012 Posted October 29, 2012 All visa processing, they outsourced to a private company called VFS Global. Unfortunately, these mofos use every dirty trick in the book to scrounge every penny from you, from asking passport photos with ridiculous dimensions to charging exorbitant visa "processing" fees. Getting my visa was an effing nightmare when dealing with these clowns.
Desi Cartman Posted October 29, 2012 Author Posted October 29, 2012 All visa processing, they outsourced to a private company called VFS Global. Unfortunately, these mofos use every dirty trick in the book to scrounge every penny from you, from asking passport photos with ridiculous dimensions to charging exorbitant visa "processing" fees. Getting my visa was an effing nightmare when dealing with these clowns. the worst part is that they have sent me 2 emails in the last 5 days stating that there have been delays and my application is still in progress but please dont contact us. WTF Im supposed to do when the flight is booked for this Saturday :dontknow: . I Started the process a moth ago and they have had this application on thier desk for nearly 3 weeks :wall:
Desi Cartman Posted October 29, 2012 Author Posted October 29, 2012 They dont understand my pain. After 6 years I will have a chance to live like a bachelor .. pls dont take away this 2 haftay ki azaadi
Nova Posted October 29, 2012 Posted October 29, 2012 They dont understand my pain. After 6 years I will have a chance to live like a bachelor .. pls dont take away this 2 haftay ki azaadi :hysterical:
Desi Cartman Posted October 29, 2012 Author Posted October 29, 2012 :hysterical: :(( Dude not only that, its also going to cost me 4-5k for cancelling tickets as I will get no refund.
Desi Cartman Posted October 29, 2012 Author Posted October 29, 2012 Don't they have tatkal system? This is the tatkal system :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: :((
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