sadiescotch

I am currently a US citizen travelling in India on a six month tourism, triple entry visa, set to expire on January 4 2014. I plan on going to Sri Lanka at the end of December for at least one month, and I want to know if it is possible to apply for a new Indian tourism visa. I want to know how long I need to wait before re entering India, if there would be any complications, how long the new tourism visa would be for.
Thanks!

Kathie

India has a "no re-entry for 6 months" rule. They have been willing to allow exceptions for people visiting India with a side trip to say, Nepal, Sri Lanka or Bhutan. But it sounds like you've already been there for 6 months, so getting an exception may be impossible.

thursdaysd

According to http://www.visa.blsindia-usa.com/touristVisa.php (the agency currently handling Indian visa applications in the US):

"<b>Tourist Visa</b> is issued to people who wish to visit India for tourist purposes i.e. Recreation, sightseeing, casual visit to meet friends and relatives etc . <b>The visa is non- extendable and non convertible.</b> No other activity is permissible on Tourist visa."

Emphasis in the original. Looks like you needed a five or ten year visa.

kikiv

Kathie I thought India had a two month re-entry rule for US citizens. Is that no longer true?

kikiv

Assuming the current visa is still valid and
multiple entry.

Kathie

kikiv, you are quite right. The restriction was for two months, but the page thursdays links to says they have rescinded that restriction.

The OP has an expiring visa and will need a new one to re-enter India. I don't know whether she can get a visa for India in Sri Lanka or not.

thursdaysd

Right, it says:

"The provision relating to 2 months gap between two visits of a foreign national to India on a tourist visa was reviewed by the government and was decided to lift the restriction of two-month gap on re-entry of foreign nationals coming to India "

However, it isn't clear that you can get a new visa immediately after the first one expires, regardless of which country you're in (foreign nationals can get Indian visas in Sri Lanka). This is the site for Sri Lanka - http://www.ivsvisalanka.com/en/type-.../tourist-visa/ It will take a minimum of six working days.

kikiv

Thanks Kathie. I just freaked out for a second because my daughter is returning to India at the end of this month after having traveled there in June for 3 weeks.
She has a multiple entry 6 month tourist visa which expires 3 days after she leaves India in October. I had checked the Indian Embassy site as well as BLS's prior to buying her ticket and realized that she would be well outside the 2 month gap required at that time.
The Dept. of State suggests checking India's visa rules regularly because they can change suddenly without warning.
If the OP's visa expires while she is in SL I would make sure what the rules are before leaving the country.