urgent- apply for Indian visa in Paris as American??
 

Hi all,

I need your informed advice! I am moving to India to volunteer and my visa was denied today in New York after nonstop incompetence on the part of BLS. They have informed me that if I attach one more affidavit my application (which I have already obtained), it will be approved. The issue is that I have a flight booked to Paris for this Sunday and there is no way that my visa and passport will be in my hands by then. I had originally planned to spend 3 weeks in Europe visiting family before moving to India in early September. I have looked into changing my flight and it seems that the *minimum* amount it will cost me to delay my plans at such a late date is absurdly $1,000... which I cannot really afford. The only other option I see is applying for the visa in Paris and staying there for the 3 weeks before my flight to Bombay. Does anyone have any idea if this is possible and how long it would take? The website of the company the consulate contracts out to (http://www.vfs-in-fr.com/english/touristvisa_time.html) shows different processing times and mentions additional documents for non French nationals applying for visas at the Indian consulate there so clearly it is possible to apply as a US citizen. However, one of the documents they require is proof of residence in France.... I have seen mixed information online about this and when a friend called the "call center" the other day, the man at the company seemed to think it was possible to apply without having lived in France for a significant period of time.

Does anyone have information or experience with this?? Unfortunately by the time I found out about my visa rejection the French consulate was closed for the night and I just saw that Friday August 9 is a holiday for the consulate so I must make this decision about whether or not to delay my flight without speaking with the consulate!

I have been a total wreck trying to figure out what to do so any help would be beyond appreciated!

Yipes! Another testament to the problems of BLS.

Do you live close enough to a BLS location to walk your paperwork to them? Otherwise, I think you are stuck applying in Paris.

Sometimes, ironically, it is easier to get a visa outside your own country. I hope this will be the case for you.

Good luck and please do come back and tell us how it went.

it might be worth a telephone call to the indian embassy in paris to see if they would process it for you in those time frames... they would be closed now however for the weekend

I doubt you will be allowed on the plane to india without the visa

Unfortunately because the Indian embassy in Paris is closed until after my flight to Paris takes off, I do not feel comfortable gambling that I will be able to get the visa in Paris as a non French resident. BLS is such a nightmare. I cannot believe at this point they are costing me so much money in flight change fees.

So sorry to hear this. BLS is in it for the money only. Customer service? Forget it. Best of luck.

When my daughter applied for her visa the volunteer organization she went with told her not to apply as a volunteer but rather apply as a tourist because apparently it is more difficult to get a visa that way. At that time Travisa was still the processing company and she received her visa in a week.
I wonder if it would be possible for you to apply in Paris for a tourist visa instead.