Habsfan10

We are 2 Canadians who are travelling to India and Sri Lanka for 9 weeks in late January. I have been advised to apply, via an official Indian government website, for a 60 day Indian tourist visa which is then issued, and activated when we arrive. Sounded good I thought.

At the beginning of our trip, we fly from Canada to Mumbai and are 'in transit' at the airport for a few hours before continuing our journey on to Colombo, Sri Lanka for 3 weeks. In mid February, we fly from Colombo to Chennai where we start our 6 week (42 day) trip in India. My question is the following: Are we allowed to activate our 60 day visa when we arrive in Chennai on February 14th OR does it need to be 'issued' upon arrival in Mumbai during our 'in transit' time at Mumbai Airport? My thinking -and hoping! - is that the 60 day period would start when we arrive in mid February. Unfortunately, if the Indian 'authorities' consider that Day 1 of the 60 day period is the day we arrive in Mumbai (January 23rd), we need to consider another visa because we would be over the 60 day lifetime of the visa.

I'm looking for guidance and advice. If anyone out there in Fodorland has any first-hand experience or an opinion on the circumstances I've described please let me know. In the meantime, happy travels!

jacketwatch

As you are not exiting the airport I would think you do not need the visa while you are in transit.

However dealing with the Indian govt. can be weird and sometimes airport officials are little dictators making up their own rules.

I am not sure about your visa as we got a 10 yr. visa which wasn’t that costly as I recall. I would think it should be the same for Canadians as for us.

Our experiences getting visas here (Chicago) were nightmarish but things have changed since then. I say get a longer visa and be 100% sure.

Kathie

As jacket watch says, you should not need a visa while you are in transit. In this case DO NOT exit the secure area of the Mumbai airport. This is the way it should work.

That said, Larry's cautions, above are valid. We cannot guarantee anything.

CaliNurse

I agree..if possible, get a longer visa. (I don't now what the periods are for Canada- they may differ from the USA, where my ten year visa was issued. it isn't that much more expensive (or wasnt when I last got it) and it will cover any future trips to India in the next decade!

If you haven't already, post this same question on Indiamike, a site which has far more India traffic (and, for trip info in general, a wider variety of travel styles) than does Fodors.

As Jacketwatch said above, since you're merely transiting via Mumbai for a few hours, it is doubtful they'd stamp the visa. BUT there are two separate terminals at Mumbai Airport. Do you have to exit the big international one to get the ongoing flight to Sri Lanka? is your ticket all with one airline?

thursdaysd

It is not clear from the Mumbai airport website that it is possible to transit airside.

http://www.csia.in/passenger/transit.aspx
http://www.csia.in/passenger/immigration.aspx

Agree with checking at indiamike, and also with getting a longer visa if available.

AroraV

Nice to hear of Indiamike in a positive light. I'm a moderator there - been on that site for perhaps 9 years i think. Anyhoo, Habsfan10, your problem is unique - what you need to carefully check (as Calinurse says) is what terminal your flight arrives on in Mumbai and what terminal your flight departs from in Mumbai. If you're not going through customs, you do not need a transit visa. I'm wondering if you can defer applying for the eVisa till after
if you'd like to go the evisa route due to cost considerations of the 10 year visa.

@jacketwatch - the 10 year india visa is a US India reciprocal privilege. It was extended only to americans as they have granted the same to Indians (10 year B1/B2). This changed in 2015 - https://www.hciottawa.ca/press_detail.php?nid=49 so habsfan10 can use this option now, it is a bit more money though.

Habsfan10

Thanks to all for your replies and for the suggestion, CaliNurse, to post my question on Indiamike. I don't know the site but it sounds like a good idea.

jacketwatch: Thanks for your information and it seems logical -which may be the reason it isn't allowed given the reputation for Indian officialdom's bureaucracy. Good to infer from your comments that things may have improved on that front!

Kathie: Duly noted! We won't set a foot outside the secure area!!

CaliNurse: We fly Air Canada from Toronto to Mumbai and our ticket doesn't indicate which terminal ...but I am going to contact Air Canada today and try and find out. Our onward flight is with Jet Airways India and it's Terminal 2. I'm guessing that the flight with Air Canada is terminal 1 (international terminal?) but that's just a guess. I'm actually surprised that the terminal isn't noted on my eticket. That would be too logical and easy, I guess!!

thursdaysd: Thanks for your input and the website for Mumbai airport and the Indiamike suggestion.

AroraV: Yes, it does seem a unique situation and good to hear positive comments about indiamike. I'll look into that today. My guess -for what it's worth - is that we might have to change terminals which would be bad news I'm guessing as it relates to the visa issue?

Thanks to everyone for your help and input!

AroraV

That helps. On Air Canada / Jet Combination, you will be in and out of T2 - which is the new international terminal building for Mumbai. https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/ACA46

Contacting the airline to reconfirm that there's no exit needed is a good strategy.

Changing terminals would be bad news only if you don't get the ten year visa now available to Canadian citizens. In that case you can enter and exit as you please. If you plan to return to India anytime in the future, it'd be worth investing in.

jacketwatch

AroraV good info. Thank you.

When we got our 10 yr. visa the horrid BLS company was processing them then. Suffice it to say it was a total mess and they lasted less than a yr. BLS even planted shills here on Fodor’s to laud BLS in threads about their gross mismanagement.

Is there a visa available to Canadians for say 1 or 5 yrs. for less $ than the 10yr?

Habsfan10

Thanks so much Arora (and everybody else who weighed in on our visa issue). Good to know that our flight from Toronto does, in fact, land at Terminal 2 in Mumbai which is the terminal from which we fly to Sri Lanka. I checked out the link, Arora, and it is great and very informative. I just got off the phone with a very helpful and patient Air Canada guy named Daniel and he was able to confirm the terminal 2 arrival information. He also confirmed that we do not go through customs in Mumbai because we are not 'officially' in India rather we are in transit to Sri Lanka.

AroraV

@jacketwatch - I'm not aware of any intermediate term (1 or 5) year visa - the ten year was in the news due to reciprocity courtsey extended to Canadians which was earlier reserved only for the Americans.

jacketwatch

Thanks AroraV.

Good deal for the OP!

jacketwatch

BTW you must a Montreal Canadians fan.

Blackhawks for me. Love the original 6.

. Larry

CaliNurse

Habsfan10, great news that should put your mind at east about where (and where not) the visa will be "activated."

AroraV, welcome to Fodors. Your presence here and experience on Indiamike will be a huge benefit to this site. I first joined IM ten yrs ago and especially in the first couple years, gained a tremendous amount of knowledge for which i am forever thankful. (For starters, if not for Indiamikers' advice, I'd not have known of many off the beaten track places, what to see or not see, and about a fantastic Tamil Nadu-based travel company that I've used many times since.)
So, thanks for being here and contributing on the India threads!

Habsfan10

Hi again! Yes, jacketwatch I am a Montreal Canadiens fan but not a happy one at the moment because of a bad start to the season. But I am an optimist...things will improve. Good luck to your Blackhawks this year! Toews is one of the best and classiest players!

AroraV...let me add my thanks for your information and for introducing me to IM. Much appreciated!

And CaliNurse...we are dealing with a Tamil Nadu based company, Indian Panorama. Very impressed with their communication and planning for our upcoming trip...our first to India.

Yes, my mind is SOMEWHAT 'at ease' re: my 60 day visa concern. However, I did check last night the actual application form for the on-line travel authorization (which we present to get the visa when we 'officially' arrive in India) and it asks for point of entry and date of entry to India. Since we DON'T CLEAR CUSTOMS and we don't CHANGE TERMINALS when we are transiting through Mumbai en route to Sri Lanka on January 23, I'm now wondering if I can legitimately and legally put CHENNAI and FEBRUARY 14 on the form as the point of entry and date of entry into India when we return from Colombo. My guess is YES but clearly I don't want to run afoul of rules and regs. I might call Air Canada and see what they would say.

Opinions?

jacketwatch

Well Habs fans over the yrs. are used to success so yes I understand your frustration. Hockey in Canada is practically sacred! I well recall the told days of the Flying Frenchmen in the forum! Toews is a class act but the Hawks so far are a bit disappointing too but its a long season and there are a lot of new guys. Lets wait and see. Quennville is a great coach.

Do call AC but as you are not entering the country, just the airport in transit I think your point of entry is Chennai.

Good luck!

Larry. .

julies

If you still have the option to go for the 10 year visa, do it!

We took our initial trip (six weeks) to India about 6 years ago. We had never been to India and assumed this would probably be our only trip there. But, it was such a huge hassle to fill out the visa form that we decided to just pay the extra money (can't remember how much, perhaps $30 or $40) to get the ten year visa just in case we'd ever want to return. We are so happy we did that since we've now made two return trips to India, and on one of them we used India as a gateway to go to Nepal. It was so nice not to have to worry and fret about how we'd deal with the visa issue going to and from India to get to Nepal.

Now, we haven't decided yet, but we may be making a fourth long trip to India this winter. We'll have to carry two passports since we had to renew our US passports, and the ten year visa is in the old one but in the long run it is much less application hassle and much cheaper to have the extended visa.

India is not for everyone, but for those who really like it (it is our favorite country out of 30 or 40 we've visited), it keeps calling for a return trip.

CaliNurse

Habsfahn, coincidentally, that's the company I've used over the last ten yrs. First heard of them when its co-owner Faith Pandian, was mentioned by name in the most glowing terms by several Indiamikers. (There were no listings yet for it on other sites, e.g. tripadvisor.) After four disappointing experiences in preplanning stages, with other India-based agencies, I at last found someone who "got" it! Have also booked parts of briefer trips to India on my own, where I later regretted not having their help.
In India, it sure helps to have a conscientious agent/planner --whomever you use--who will have your back. A 100% snafu-free seamless trip is probably not going to happen in the "real" India, but this company will get get you as close to hassle-free as possible. So at least about that part of your trip, you can relax!

Like Julie S, I find India addictive in a way that few other countries are!!!! I love it, so the hardest part of trip planing for me is the choice between a return to India or seeing a new place!

Habsfan10

Thanks to everyone for your help, advice and suggestions about our visa concerns. I did hear back from Canadians who used Indian Panorama -and Tim -for a long India trip a year or so ago (they were totally impressed with IP and Tim!!) and they had a good experience with BLS so I think I will contact them and ask about a 10 year visa for possible future use.

jacketwatch

Dear sir please reconsider contacting BLS. Though your friends experience was ok most by far were horrible. There were numerous stories about no replies to emails or phone numbers, lost passports even when sent to them via trackable mail, say 4 passports sent, 3 received back, the list is endless.

I had an immigration lawyer get mine. He went to the BLS office in Chicago, got number 12 and the next number called was 33. When he finally got served they said they needed a copy of my drivers license so he calls he. However I can’t fax a pic as they don’t have a fax machine, imagine that! Later he wanted a print out but their printer was broken. He spent 4 hours there! There were so many complaints the Indian govt. pulled them about a yr, after they got the contract and gave it to Cox and Kings.

Fellow hockey fan PLEASE DO NOT USE BLS!

Larry