What's the current India visa situation?
 

Has anyone applied for an India visa in the last couple of months?

I'm wondering how long it currently takes for a US citizen to get their India visa? Have the "start up" problems of the new agency been resolved?

I wish I knew, Shelley. I heard that the contract had been taken away from the problematic contractor, but I've heard nothing else.

Where in India are you two headed?

I heard they may be implementing a visa on arrival program in October. I am traveling in December and am wondering the same thing. Anyone know when is a good time to start the visa application process?

Not sure where you heard that, Kathie, but the Washington embassy website still lists BLS.

a couple of months ago, i used travisa, and got my visa in two weeks. i've used them before.

kuranoske, Being able to use travisa is a great improvement! And where in India are you going?

Thursdays, I read a short article in a newspaper about it - which paper? Who knows. I hope what I read was correct!

Hi Kathie-I'm at the "thinking about it" stage of planning for a winter vacation and am considering Sri Lanka, possibly combined with southern India. However, if the visa situation is still a mess by the time I need to apply for it, I will just skip going to southern India as I'm not going to send off my passport and worry about whether or not I will get it back.

Someone had linked an article here on fodors saying that BLS
was finished. Here's one from January:
http://www.telegraphindia.com/114011...p#.U18Oi1e-Fl5

It seems to say that BLS will not complete its contract and will end its service as the contracted visa provider for India in July of this year. . . .

It seemed that they were resolving some of their issues as the months went by .. . . but now that they're sort of "lame ducks" who knows about the service. Because of all the problems we'd read about we applied in person to BLS in DC in September for our January trip. We got the visas within a couple weeks or less - but with an error that was fairly quickly resolved . . . once I became a thorn in their side.

So Shelley seems like you'd apply through BLS if you plan to apply before July . . .

We're going in December and planning to use Travisa.

Avoid the BLS drama. There's just way too much risk to not pay the extra money...and to have the extra peace of mind (and accountability) of using Travisa.

aloha kathie, i just returned from a fabulous trip to mumbai. hopefully, i can return to explore goa, kerala, and kolkata, and maybe fly to sri lanka.

where are you heading next?

We are flying to Paris on Tuesday, Kuranosuke. Can't wait! And you know about our Peru trip for November. I'd love to hear more about your India travels.

Shelley, I do remember reading about your Sri Lanka/Southern India idea. Hopefully the visa situation is now straightened out.

We got 10-yr visas, so still have time to get to India another time or two before it expires. We were just talking this weekend about where we might want to go.

I hope you have a wonderful trip to Paris, Kathie.

Jim and I spent 16 days in Peru several years ago and loved it. Book your tickets early for the train to Machu Pichu, as they sometimes sell out in advance for the more convenient times on a given day.

Thanks for the advice, Shelley. Actually, we have an agent in Peru booking all of this for us, so we will be fine.

Use Travisa.

Got my visa in about 10 days. Super easy, worth the $60.

Hello, I have just received an Indian visa a week ago- I worked with the agency listed on their website and it was quick and painless, and they are easy to reach by email. Hope that helps!

Hello i haveIt seemed that they were resolving some of their issues as the months went by .. . . but now that they're sort of "lame ducks" who knows about the service. Because of all the problems we'd read about we applied in person to BLS in DC in September for our January trip. We got the visas within a couple weeks or less - but with an error that was fairly quickly resolved . . . once I became a thorn in their side.

So Shelley seems like you'd apply through BLS if you plan to apply before July . .

The agreement with BLS has already ended. Indian visa applications are now being serviced by a new outfit, Cox and Kings, although it seems like the first few weeks have been rough.

BLS was out as of May 21st. India is planning a visa on arrival system for 40 some countries the US. It's good for stays under 30 days and this was announced last Oct. I think they plan to have this in effect by the fall of this yr. Hopefully. :S-

A US citizen, I applied yesterday (Saturday), completing at about 7:45 p.m. my application online for a visa on arrival. At 12:31 a.m. the next day, Sunday, less than 5 hours after completing the application, I received an email that my application status was "Granted". I paid online using a credit card. The website I used was:
https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html
I clicked on the "Visa On Arrival Application", and completed the steps within about 15 to 20 minutes, not counting time to shoot a passport photo (jpeg file), and create a copy of my passport (pdf file).

are we sure that this is a valid source? kurt is new and never contributed before???