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India - e-visas


joandian
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I am Michael and my experience was the same. Just under two weeks. We applied about 60 days in advance. Unlike Joe, my visa was good for only one year. My wife's was for the expected ten years.

Thank you Michael! Did you enjoy your India cruise?

P.s. "my visa was good for only one year. My wife's was for the expected ten years" Gosh. I wish I knew you better, because I'm sure there's a pretty good joke in there somewhere;)

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Thank you Michael! Did you enjoy your India cruise?

P.s. "my visa was good for only one year. My wife's was for the expected ten years" Gosh. I wish I knew you better, because I'm sure there's a pretty good joke in there somewhere;)

 

Hard to imagine why that happens. Visa Central just said, it happens. It is the prerogative of the employee processing the visa. Maybe they just figured a 70 something old many might not be around long enough to use a 10 year visa.

 

We enjoyed India. Four ports - Kochi/Cochin, Mangalore, Goa, and Mumbai. Not surprisingly Mumbai was the highlight. We were in port overnight and had a chance to do quite a bit. It can get hot and humid though. Several people didn't stay hydrated and got sick.

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Did you Mail your passport photo? Or does it have to be uploaded on a computer. Can I have the company that takes the photo upload it for me?

 

Sent from my SM-J320V using Forums mobile app

 

With most services you can mail or upload the photographs. Since we had to FedEx the application and our passports, we chose to include the photographs in the same package.

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  • 1 month later...

Went to VFS Hounslow on Tuesday 8th, handed over our paperwork and Visas arrived this morning via courier. Absolutely amazed. Last time we applied by post and it took two weeks. Both our visas valid for 12 months, so we can get on with planning our next trip to India for February next year. clear.png?emoji-smile-1742

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See this is what confuses people because I've looked at the paperwork and documents directly on the Indian Government website and it definitely says that an eVisa is valid for 3 designated seaports (i.e. Cochin, Goa, Mangalore). That is copied right off the website.

 

Our group are from Australia, Canada and the USA and we are all going to apply for the paper visas through the relevant Embassies and Consulates closest to us to make sure we have no issues.

 

Did you have any biometrics done when you applied for your visa? If not, were they done when you arrived at the port? This seems to be the hold up arriving with the eVisa as they are doing biometrics for everyone. I'm curious if those that didn't visit ether an Embassy or Consulate and get biometrics recorded have the same issues when they arrive at the ports.

 

Jo

 

Hi Jo, we are on the same cruise as you. I am still totally confused about whether to get e-visas and full visas. I don't understand why e-visas would need to go through biometrics at the port when it appears the full visas don't need to.

 

I think I will ring the Indian Embassy in Australia and try and get some clarification.

 

Diane

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Hi Jo, we are on the same cruise as you. I am still totally confused about whether to get e-visas and full visas. I don't understand why e-visas would need to go through biometrics at the port when it appears the full visas don't need to.

 

I think I will ring the Indian Embassy in Australia and try and get some clarification.

 

Diane

 

I'm guessing it's to get proof of identity since everything is done online with the eVisa and they don't see your actual passport.

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Hi Jo, we are on the same cruise as you. I am still totally confused about whether to get e-visas and full visas. I don't understand why e-visas would need to go through biometrics at the port when it appears the full visas don't need to.

 

I think I will ring the Indian Embassy in Australia and try and get some clarification.

 

Diane

There has been much discussion on this subject already, I suggest you read any of the Celebrity Constellation roll calls for December this year's sailings 7/12 or 19/12.

 

E-visas are not acceptable if your cruise includes Mumbai, you require a proper multi entry Tourist visa of whichever length your country allows, and must follow the application process for your country to the letter.

 

 

 

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Forums mobile app

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There has been much discussion on this subject already, I suggest you read any of the Celebrity Constellation roll calls for December this year's sailings 7/12 or 19/12.

 

E-visas are not acceptable if your cruise includes Mumbai, you require a proper multi entry Tourist visa of whichever length your country allows, and must follow the application process for your country to the letter.

 

 

 

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Forums mobile app

We are going to Cochin and Goa. The e-visa information for Australia says we can use it for those 2 ports

 

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

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Hi Jo, we are on the same cruise as you. I am still totally confused about whether to get e-visas and full visas. I don't understand why e-visas would need to go through biometrics at the port when it appears the full visas don't need to.

 

 

 

I think I will ring the Indian Embassy in Australia and try and get some clarification.

 

 

 

Diane

 

The biometrics are part of the eVisa, not the regular visa.

I would call the cruise line. We were in India March 2017 on RCCL cruise and eVisa not accepted. The immigration check was done at sea. The Indian immigration officers boarded in Malaysia and performed the check at sea the day before arriving into Cochin. No checks at arrival in Cochin. Not sure if immigration will be able to handle the eVisa onboard the ship. And the Indian embassy in Australia will not know your cruise line immigration procedures.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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I have an Indian friend who owns a tour company in Cochin

Lijo Jose... one of the top tour operators over there( if not the best !!)

we are going to India again next yr.. 7TH April on Celebrity Constellation

. .Lijo asked me to alert anyone going that the E visa does not allow people in who are going by sea.

it is for airports only....regardless of what the visa website says..

India has not perfected the e visa system for PORTS yet..

just last month LIJO had 40 people on the Majestic Princess have to cancel their tour for the day as they only had e visas and Indian customs caused severe dramas

 

I posted this on my rollcall

 

UZJDUr.png

 

jc03NL.png

Edited by jannandjohn
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I have an Indian friend who owns a tour company in Cochin

Lijo Jose... one of the top tour operators over there( if not the best !!)

we are going to India again next yr.. 7TH April on Celebrity Constellation

. .Lijo asked me to alert anyone going that the E visa does not allow people in who are going by sea.

it is for airports only....regardless of what the visa website says..

India has not perfected the e visa system for PORTS yet..

just last month LIJO had 40 people on the Majestic Princess have to cancel their tour for the day as they only had e visas and Indian customs caused severe dramas

 

I posted this on my rollcall

 

UZJDUr.png

 

jc03NL.png

We used Lijo Jose on three of our tours and they were awesome.

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We used Lijo Jose on three of our tours and they were awesome.

as I said... he is the BEST !

and the main thing about him, is that he really cares about people... he has a beautiful way with people.

I just love him , can't wait to see him again. we are doing the private Taj 2 nt Mahal trip with him and Mumbai too

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  • 2 months later...

Can anyone give us some advice

 

Our friends and my wife and I are going on Sapphire Princess from Sing to Rome in Mar 18, stopping in India for 1 day

 

3 of us have Australian passports and one has a Canadian passport, can someone give us good advice on which is the easiest way of obtaining the relevant visa/s

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We are from the U.S. We had 4 ports in India last month. E-Visas were not an option and as some have said applying for an Indian visa can be complex and confusing. Even though the form has a check box for the 120 months multiple entry visa and you check that box, you may not get a 120 month visa. My wife got a 120 month visa. Mine was only good for 12 months. I met a couple of others on our ship that experienced the same thing. When I asked Visa Central about it, they simply said it is up to the person processing our visa to decide when your visa will expire. One thing for sure, it costs the same whether it is good for 10 years or only 1 year.

 

DW and I just had a good laugh! We live near Washington D.C. and handled (with ease) our multi-entry Indian Visas directly with the Embassy's agent in downtown D.C. When passports were returned, we found that she had gotten 10 year Visa while mine was for 12 months. We were mystified although I had filled out all the paperwork the same way - she went to the a different agent at the Visa counter.:)

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  • 2 weeks later...
I have an Indian friend who owns a tour company in Cochin

Lijo Jose... one of the top tour operators over there( if not the best !!)

we are going to India again next yr.. 7TH April on Celebrity Constellation

. .Lijo asked me to alert anyone going that the E visa does not allow people in who are going by sea.

it is for airports only....regardless of what the visa website says..

India has not perfected the e visa system for PORTS yet..

just last month LIJO had 40 people on the Majestic Princess have to cancel their tour for the day as they only had e visas and Indian customs caused severe dramas

 

I posted this on my rollcall

 

UZJDUr.png

 

jc03NL.png

With all due respect, the above post is a bit contradictory.

 

On the one hand, your Indian friend states the E visa does not allow people in who are arriving by sea (even though the Indian Government website states that it DOES allow a maximum of two entries, namely via Cochin, Goa and Mangalore), and the messages you quoted clearly show that the E visa has been accepted on a cruise as the Indian immigration officials are bussing those with E visas for biometrics.

 

Granted, the E visa will cause a delay on the first port of call whilst the biometrics are taken, but I would suggest it is the tour operators or the cruise lines themselves who are causing the confusion over whether or not the E visa is sufficient purely because of the delays in picking up the tours in that first port of call.

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We had four ports in India on our cruise this past April/May. We cruised on Oceania. We were explicitly told that e-Visas would not be acceptable and that we would be required to obtain a regular visa. Typically the regular visa is for 120 months. Several of us learned that the expiration date was merely a suggestion. The consular employee issuing the visa decided the term of the visa. Several of us wound up with 12 month visas. The cost was the same.

 

Michael

Plano, TX USA

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We had four ports in India on our cruise this past April/May. We cruised on Oceania. We were explicitly told that e-Visas would not be acceptable and that we would be required to obtain a regular visa. Typically the regular visa is for 120 months. Several of us learned that the expiration date was merely a suggestion. The consular employee issuing the visa decided the term of the visa. Several of us wound up with 12 month visas. The cost was the same.

 

Michael

Plano, TX USA

That's because an E-visa is only good for double entry, that is two ports of call out of the three valid ports (Cochin, Goa and Mangalore).

 

You had four entries therefore requiring a full tourist visa.

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  • 3 weeks later...

We just got an email from our cruise agent pretty much saying that eTourist Visas were causing a hold up and big delay for passengers going ashore in Cochin for our trip on QM2 next April.

 

However we have decided to cut short our cruise from Hong Kong to Dubai and disembark in Cochin due to work commitments. This means we will stay an extra night in India before flying home the following morning.

 

We really don't care if there is a delay disembarking because we will not really miss a lot. The full Visa will not only cost an extra £100 or so for two of us but it will also require a 250 mile round trip to a consulate and waste us a whole day doing so.

 

So do we go for an eTourist Visa or not?

Edited by Apial
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Hi Apial,

Check with your cruise company. We're on a Celebrity cruise next month, and have recently had an email from Celebrity telling us we must have a full tourist visa, otherwise we will not be permitted to board in Abu Dhabi. Technically you should be OK with an E-visa, but our experience of Indian beaurocracy is that things can change depending on the mood of the officials on the day!

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We just returned from a 3 week cruise with stops in India and I can only tell you that we were very glad we listened to the cruise line and and obtained a regular multi-entry visa.

 

The waits for those with an e-visa were horrendous. We breezed right through every where we went. We got our visas through the cox and kings website and sent them all our documents. We received the our passports back within the week.

 

They are very helpful on the phone if you have questions.

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  • 3 weeks later...
We are in Australia and only have the option of 1 year visas for basically the same price you in the US pay for a 10 year or the new e-visa, which say on them they can be used in both Cochin and Goa ports. We also have to travel to either Canberra or Sydney to apply in person and that is quite some distance from where we live.

 

Having said all that, we are prepared to do this if it reduces the risk of missing the private tour to the Taj Mahal we have set up.

 

 

....We're going in Nov and our cruise line made it very clear that we would need a multiple entry visa. I know it's more detailed to get but I prefer not to be surprised when I get there! ....

 

Agreed! If you think of it, would you mind posting of your experience going through immigration at the ports. please? I would like to hear first hand how quickly you get through with the regular paper visas. Thanks!

 

Hi there, are you able to give us any feedback re the India visa, ther are so many different reports it's just confusing.

Any help is much appreciated.

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