Planet Trash Blog Why we won't be going to India

The original post was written quickly to warn fellow backpackers not to head to Bangkok to apply for an Indian visa. Foreigners travelling on a tourist visa (backpackers) are no longer allowed to apply for an India visa in Malaysia, Indonesia or Singapore. Many, ourselves included were redirected to Bangkok. An inconvenience as we had just come from there but still. After a long train journey and a lot of form filling we got to the Bangkok visa office to find the rules had been changed again and that non thai nationals on a tourist visa, (i.e. foreign backpackers), cannot apply for a 3 - 6 month Indian visa in Thailand, (if you have a Thai residency the rules are different). Since then I have updated it to take into account additional information such as why, if you are on a long trip, you cannot apply for an Indian visa in your own country, discuss the online Indian E visa option and explain how I think it fails the tourist, the environment, the travel experience, small towns and local business. And Nepal. It is possible by the time you read this the situation may have changed again. Our story .... We are currently backpacking and our time in Malaysia was coming to an end. The gloomy weather was closing in and the monsoon storms becoming more frequent. Time to plan our next leg of the journey. There were cheap flights from Malaysia to India (Easy Jet) and you don't even have to stay in the more difficult KL to get them. You can get a bus to the airport from Mallaka which is a far nicer town. The fly in the ointment? Getting an Indian visa. It seems the Indians are doing their best to prevent visitors from visiting. Problems With The Indian Visa Why I Couldn't Apply In the U.K. We wanted a 6 month multiple entry Indian visa. Such visas begin the day they are issued and not the day you arrive in India. You cannot ask for the visa to start on later date. By the time we get to India we will have been traveling for 4 months already. So getting the visa in the UK was not practicable. Especially as there is no guarantee you will get what you ask for. Last time we applied for a visa, in the U.K., we asked for 6 months and were given 3. Because we traveling overland this meant we could only spend 6 weeks instead of the 3 months we planned to in India. Add to of that we had to get there more quickly. We had to replan our trip and cut short other places. If you don't get what you ask for, your visa fees are not returned. From the website "Fee once received are non refundable even if the visa application is withdrawn, the visa is not granted, or if visa issued is of shorter duration of period than applied for or otherwise issued or returned at a time or on terms and conditions that may vary from those sought by the applicant." At 6 weeks for £82.00 this visa was expensive too. Getting A Visa Abroad..... Or Not However it is, or at least it was, possible to apply for an 6 month Indian visa in the country you are currently visiting. So we decided to wait until we got to Malaysia before we applied for our visa. So we got to Georgetown and went to the Indian Consulate to double check procedure only to be told that UK passport holders (and others) can no longer apply for a 6 month Indian visa in Malaysia Indonesia Singapore But, we were assured, by the consulate, this could be done in Bangkok. We sighed because we had just come from there but could see nothing for it but to get back on the train. Of course we double checked the information. Massive Misinformation & A Long & Pointless Journey Travel fish say "Getting a visa to India in Bangkok takes a little longer and is a bit more complicated than for most other Asian countries, but it's not rocket science if you know where to look.....The updated embassy site now provides reliable information and working links to the India Visa Thailand page run by IVS Global." Not blaming them as this was the case and to keep up with the vagaries of the Indian visa system is difficult. IVS Global Indian Visa website says " Tourist Visa is granted to a Thai National / Foreigner who does not have a residence or Occupation in India and whose sole objective of visiting India is recreation, sight-seeing, casual visit to meet friends and relatives. No other activity is permissible on a Tourist Visa. The Tourist Visa is non - extendable and non-convertible. They also clearly state that because the Indian Government is collecting biometric data you need to submit your application in person. You need to take your printed out forms to their office in Bangkok. And on the Indian Embassy Website for Bangkok Non-Thai Nationals Documents Required: Completed Visa Application Form, 2 recent colour photographs - 2 inches X 2 inches, 2 photocopies of passport, to include current Thai visa page and the filled out reference form. A copy of return flight ticket and a copy of hotel booking For Non-Thai nationals visa is issued on the 6th working day. So while it sounded stringent and a lot of bother, it seemed that visas were definitely being offered to non Thai nationals. So we decided to go for it. We got the train from Malaysia to Bangkok made a hotel reservation in India(refundable) filled out an e form on line, took the photos then downloaded the files from the website found a printer shop and printed the application forms stuck the photos on got the required photocopies, to take to IVS visa application centre, Then you get to the purchasing flights. This is another nasty twist in the application process. It is already stressful paying for a flight before you have...