Indian Visa Application in Edinburgh Scotland

Help I'm confused! :(

Can I ask if anyone has gone in person to the Indian Embassy in Edinburgh for a tourist visa? We are docking in Cochin India for 1 day on our cruise in April 2016. We would prefer to go in person to Embassy rather than applying online. I had a look at their website but I'm unclear if you can go in person? :confused:

Help I'm confused! :(

Can I ask if anyone has gone in person to the Indian Embassy in Edinburgh for a tourist visa? We are docking in Cochin India for 1 day on our cruise in April 2016. We would prefer to go in person to Embassy rather than applying online. I had a look at their website but I'm unclear if you can go in person? :confused:

That sounds like a good Idea, I hope some one knows ...

You have to fill the form in online then book an appointment once application completed. You each need an separate appointment, see below:

The new online appointment system will be applicable from 16th March 2015.

With effect from 16th March 2015, all Visa , Passport, OCI, Consular Services at VFS Application Centres in London (Goswell Road, Paddinton and Hounslow), Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool, Bradford, Newcastle, Belfast, Cardiff, Bristol, Glasgow and Leicester will be granted on the basis of appointments only.

Applicants must book an online appointment for all Services (Visa, Passport, OCI, and Consular Services) before visiting VFS Application Centres.

Only one person/applicant is allowed per appointment. For family applications each applicant will be required to book a separate appointment.

Appointment can be booked by visiting after completion of the Online Form via VFS website: http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk/

All applicants will be required to bring the printout of the appointment letter along with the application form at the time of submission. No applications will be accepted without appointment after 16th March 2015.

All applicants must reach at the above VFS Application centres 15 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment.

No applications will be accepted by post.

Info found on following link: http://www.hcilondon.in/pages.php?id=28 then click on link http://www.cgiedinburgh.org/pages.php?id=17

Hope this helps

P&O have this on their site:

Although you may only be visiting India once on your cruise, Multiple Entry Tourist visas for India are now issued as standard in the UK and are the same cost as a Single Entry Tourist visa. In the unlikely event that you apply for a Multiple Entry Tourist visa and receive a Single Entry Tourist Visa this will suffice as long as you are only visiting India once on your cruise and the visa is valid for the duration of your visit to India.

Also just found some info about the e-visa that UK citizens can now apply for. Unfortunately this is only valid for certain airports so cruise passengers still have to apply via the VFS website.

You don't go to the Embassy, they have contracted the process out to VFSglobal who have offices around the country. You still need to fill in the application on line then print it out. You can make an appointment online after filling out the application. We did the same earlier this year and went to the Cardiff office. Easy in the end, if you need any help filling out the form just post a question here and I'll try to help. They let you print out a sample form so you know what info you need. I filled this in manually first then copied it to the online form.

Do not go to the Edinburgh centre - far more grief than you need. The online system works really well, better than most countries (and no need to be ripped off by handling agents such as visa central either )

Do not go to the Edinburgh centre - far more grief than you need. The online system works really well, better than most countries (and no need to be ripped off by handling agents such as visa central either )

By 'The online system' do you mean filling in the form and sending it in the post? Or do you mean filling in the online form and then submitting it in person?

I am very interested in how this turns out as at the moment I almost too worried about getting the indian visa to book my holiday. It doesn't help that for the time being I am not even in the UK to pop-in to their stupid offices.

You don't go to the Embassy, they have contracted the process out to VFSglobal who have offices around the country. You still need to fill in the application on line then print it out. You can make an appointment online after filling out the application. We did the same earlier this year and went to the Cardiff office. Easy in the end, if you need any help filling out the form just post a question here and I'll try to help. They let you print out a sample form so you know what info you need. I filled this in manually first then copied it to the online form.

Hi, I am originally from 15mins north of Newport and am thinking I may visit my family there and sort this out at the same time. How long did it take you from start to finish, from doing the online form to getting the visa and them returning your passport? 2 weeks?

Thankyou for any advice you can offer! :)

Hi, I am originally from 15mins north of Newport and am thinking I may visit my family there and sort this out at the same time. How long did it take you from start to finish, from doing the online form to getting the visa and them returning your passport? 2 weeks?

Thankyou for any advice you can offer! :)

I was able to get an appointment for 2 days after filling out the online form, printing it out and then immediately booking an appointment via their website. The appointments show up in 15min slots, so you need to book a slot for each person. When I booked, none of the slots for that day were booked. Once I got there I had to wait about 15mins. (They deal with other issues for Indian Nationals and residents). Once we were seen, we both went up at the same time, it took the girl approx 10-15mins to go through paperwork to make sure it was all fine. This was on a Monday, we had our passports with visas back by Friday the same week.

If you need any help filling out the form, just ask here. I kept a copy of my application form. They also allow you to print off a sample application form, So you can get all the answers required before hand. There's a excellent guide on the Goa forum of TripAdvisor for UK citizens. I'll try to find a link.

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Here's the link for the visa guide on TripAdvisor

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Travel-g297604-c220098/Goa:India:Visa.Guide.html

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I have just done the same thing but in London.

Process is reasonabilly straight forward

Complete the form on line

book appointment

rock up with form, Photos ( remember 50 x 50 not normal Id photo size), Passport, booking conformation and Itineraries showing port of call with your name on them, and Special delevery envelope if you want VFS to return you Passport by post

You may also need a note explaining why you need the visa so early, note should be addressed to the High commission of India explaining you are on a cruise and will leave the uk in XXXX (application in November for arrival in April may be questioned)

Initially VFS did not want to accept the application due to the April arrival, once we explained that we lave the UK on a cruise in January and we wrote the letter explaining the situation they accepted the application.

Overall process took 3 working days Application drop off Thursday Visa back on Tuesday.

Good luck

rock up with form, Photos ( remember 50 x 50 not normal Id photo size), Passport, booking conformation and Itineraries showing port of call with your name on them, and Special delevery envelope if you want VFS to return you Passport by post

Dave thankyou for all the information, I feel much more certain about the visa now, hopefully that means if I leave it until just 3 weeks before the holiday I should still have plenty of time.

Did you take along a Special delivery envelope for return of your passport?

I some how assumed that for £90 they would pay the postage....

Thankyou for all the tips Poole Boy, are you doing a world Cruise, I would love to do the full world cruise!! :)

Did either of your print the 50x50 photos at home? Or where did you get them from?

Many Thanks

Dave thankyou for all the information, I feel much more certain about the visa now, hopefully that means if I leave it until just 3 weeks before the holiday I should still have plenty of time.

Did you take along a Special delivery envelope for return of your passport?

 

I some how assumed that for £90 they would pay the postage....

 

Thankyou for all the tips Poole Boy, are you doing a world Cruise, I would love to do the full world cruise!! :)

 

Did either of your print the 50x50 photos at home? Or where did you get them from?

 

Many Thanks

Yes i am doing the full world cruise all 121 days of it, a moment of madness

I had the photos done at Boots, choice of the machine 3 photos for £5 or £5.99 each from the photo department. they did look at the quality and people were being sent away to get new photos on the day I applied ( they also have a photo booth in the London application center)

For the passport return there are 3 options, collect in person ( free), supply a Special Delivery SAE ( £6.50 from any post office) or they will post back for only £13.00

Dave thankyou for all the information, I feel much more certain about the visa now, hopefully that means if I leave it until just 3 weeks before the holiday I should still have plenty of time.

Did you take along a Special delivery envelope for return of your passport?

 

I some how assumed that for £90 they would pay the postage....

 

Thankyou for all the tips Poole Boy, are you doing a world Cruise, I would love to do the full world cruise!! :)

 

Did either of your print the 50x50 photos at home? Or where did you get them from?

 

Many Thanks

We got our photos from the photo booth in local ASDA. They have an option for Indian Visa photos. We took in our own Special Delivery envelopes from the Post Office. Don't think we had to the option to collect. We did ours about 1 month before we went, as they are valid for 6 months from date of issue.

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