India - visa question
 

Will you please help me understand this. I have POURED over the US India Visa site AND the France India visa site but it's still not clear.

I am a US citizen. I was living in Texas until recently-
but am now traveling in France for another month.
Then I'm going to the UK for a month and a half.
And then I want to go to India.

I can't tell i can apply for an Indian visa in PAris - where I'd rather do it becase it will take less time.

Or, if I must apply in Houston - where I must mail my passport in and where it takes three weeks or more- and that means I will miss my flight to London on November 15th.

I have mailed both places and have not received information back. As I understand, I can only apply at one place. Please advise me.

Thank you
MC

I forgot to add that I only want to go to India for 45 days and then I will return to France. This is to honor the requirement of only staying in the schengen countries for 90 days and then leaving for at least 90 days.

Thanks
MC

This is one of those situations where you should only rely on info from the relevant embassy - the Indian visa regulations have been significantly tightened since the Mumbai bombings.

But I don't see the problem with mailing to Houston if you're going to be in the UK for six weeks, do it after you get there. Plus turn-round can be really fast.

why not just go to the paris indian embassy and ask them

Sometimes embassies give more scrutiny (that means more time) to visa applications made in a third country -- i.e. the traveler is a citizen of country A and wants to travel to country B, but applies for a visa in country C. At least this is true with US embassies. The traveler (not you, of course!) may hope the embassy in country C doesn't notice that there are concerns about him/her in his home country (A).

But the most direct thing is to GO TO the Indian Embassy in Paris and ask them if you can apply there (and still depart for the UK on schedule). You are more likely to get an accurate answer face-to-face.

Hi MariaCallas.

YOu probably already know this (based on what you wrote above) so forgive repetition if so.

Travisa is the company that the INdian embassy outsources to for US citizens.

I HIGHLY recommend that you PHONE Houston instead of mailing or emailing. (Get a UK international calling card to save money, if you dont already have one)

Ask if you can apply by mail to the Houston office, and if you can enclose additional US postage so that the docs (the visa in your passport) can be sent to your UK address?

"Houston Processing Time Alert
Due to the Houston Consulate being inundated with visa requests, processing times for Houston applications is at a minimum of 3 weeks. We strongly advise that tickets should not be purchased until all visas are granted and in your possession."

Send documents to:
4100 Westheimer Road, Suite #113
Houston, TX 77027
USA

Phone: (713) 840-0489
Fax: (713) 840-0472

Good luck!!!

Have you phoned the Indian embassy in Paris? They could probably answer your questions. Paris tel: 01 40 50 71 71.

According to the websdite for the Indian embassy in Paris (see http://www.ambinde.fr/en/consular-se...al-information), in France the Indian embassy outsources the visa work to VFS Services (UK) Ltd, see http://www.vfs-in-fr.com/. From my quick review of their website there is no indication that only French citizens or residents are permitted to apply. In fact, <b>there is a specific section on how to apply if you do <i>not</i> have a French Passport</b>:

“<i>You are holding a non French passport and wishing to make a visa application. Use the pages in the Preparing Your Application section of this site to find out about your visa application, how to download the forms and how to prepare your documents. Additional documents will be required depending on your nationality or your origin; they are available on the Additional Forms page. You may then choose your preferred mode of submission on our Submitting Your Application pages. The processing times vary considerably from one country to another, hence you are strongly advised to check the Processing Times page to obtain an approximation of the minimum processing time required by your application.</i>”

I don’t believe you would have any issue applying for the visa in France. You can submit your application and collect the visa in Paris or other parts of France.

I can also say from my own experience as a US citizen living outside the US, that I have never had an issue applying for a visa to a third country from an embassy outside the US. That incluces four visas issued by the Indian embassies in both Singapore and Hong Kong. It is quite routine. Many people come to Hong Kong as tourists and obtain PRC visas, many people go to Thailand and obtain visas for Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam, etc.

I would <b>never</b> mail my passport to the US while traveling as a tourist outside the US on that passport. You may need that passport for many reasons while in France, and you should never put yourself in a situation where you don’t have immediate access to it.

I should also point out that you could also apply for an Indian visa while you are in the UK. See http://hcilondon.in/visa.php. In the UK, the Indian High Commission has also outsourced its visa work to VF Services UK Ltd, see http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk/. The application procedures seem quite similar. As you hold a US passport, you can submit the application in person in London, Hayes or Cardiff. You can also apply by mail to their general postal application centre.

Thank you very much to all who responded. I LOVE the idea of applying in UK. That seems to be the perfect solution since things can get so convoluted in Paris. Bowing in gratitude. MC