How long to get a working visa for India?
 

My son has been living in India for the past 6 months doing an internship on a tourist visa. He has been told that he now must come all the way back to the states to get a work visa instead of going to a neighboring country such as Nepal.
His employer had been trying to help but cannot change the situation. Does anyone know how long it takes to get a work visa for India?
I am going to have to try and use miles to get him home next week but he says he has no idea how long it will take. We live in Chicago so he would apply to the embassy in person. Thanks for any help as we can only get whats on the website.

I get a working visa in 4 days, but I cannot say that that would apply everywhere.

I believe that, as I am resident in Thailand, the time is a minimum, those resident elsewhere may take a little longer, but it is possible, so I think it is worth checking again that he cannot get one from somewhere closer -- maybe not Nepal!

Thanks for your reply. He was under the impression from the beginning that if he was to stay longer and change to a working visa that he could just leave India and apply elsewhere but now they tell him NO.Seems like such a hassle!

I didn't realize he was going in on a tourist visa, he should have gone in on a long stay tourist or business visa before he arrived, they are not hard to obtain. You should obviously consult the Indian embassy or see the website yourself, but from what I see on the website, as a US citizen he SHOULD be able to obtain the work visa in 1-2 days, see http://indiavisa.travisaoutsourcing.com/requirements. Then click on the type of visa, and your location and all the info you need will come up. He can also apply by mail, apparently they take about 5 days to process.

Be sure he has all the stuff he needs for the application, i.e. the letter from his employer and proof of address, before he leaves India.

It is my understanding that you do have to go to your home country to have the visa is issued, and not any nearby country. It is a pain. I don't have an Indian work visa, but know UK people who do, and they had to ultimately go back to the UK to have the visa issued, although they made the applications from India. (I hold an ID card here in Hong Kong, so I can get an India visa here.)

Another option is for him to simply go to a neighboring country and get ANOTHER tourist visa which is good for another six months, and then go back to India and continue working on the tourist visa. I believe there is little risk in this, as I assume his pay is quite low and he is not trying to evade a huge income tax by not having a work visa and being liable to pay Indian tax. Therefore, the tax and immigration people are unlucky to look out for him. He might want to discuss this risk with his employer.

Finally, according to the website of the Indian Consulate General in Hong Kong it IS possible for a person who does have a Hong Kong identity card to obtain an Indian visa here, provided he obtains the permission from the Indian Embassy in his home country and pays an extra "processing fee". See the info at http://www.indianconsulate.org.hk/ quote below:

"Visas can also be issued to applicants who are not normal residents of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan only after obtaining clearance from the Indian Missions in countries of their normal residence. A time period of 4 to 5 working days is required for processing the request of such applicants. Applicants under this category are required to pay HK$100/- towards telex/fax charges. The visa fee is to be paid after the clearance is received.

I would imagine that the Indian consulates/embassies in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand would have the same procedure. Frankly I am not sure it is worth the hassle of obtaining the OK of the Indian Embassy in the US, but you could try. It might just be easier to have him fly back to the US if he doesn't want to just try to get another tourist visa and continue to work on that.

Sorry, the above should say that it is possible for a person who does NOT have a Hong Kong identity card to obtain an Indian visa from the Indian consulate here if you follow certain procedures and get clearance from the Indian embassy in your home country.

Thanks Cicerone for your reply-very helpful!Ironically, he went in on the tourist visa as he was on an upaid internship and had planned on being home in the states by Christmas.
Well,he fell under the spell of India along with a company that has offered him three different work projects to stay.
Part of me would love for him to come home to the states in time for Christmas but after flying the US-India flight last month, I now realize how long and trying it is.
I tried to talk to someone in the Indian Embassy on the phone but the guy literally hung up on me. Numerous phone calls to other numbers just keep ringing...