I’m going to be traveling from London to Mumbai/Bombay to Chennai/Madras (thread about this) on to Kuala Lumpur. Even though I’ll not be doing anything in India other than changing planes, it looks like I’ll need to clear customs and immigration and all that good stuff.
This means that I need a visa. The Indian consulate website is, to put it lightly, confusing and unhelpful. I’ve emailed the consulate asking what paperwork and fees are required, but if anyone has any experience with this, I’d love the help.
Mods: Not sure if this is GQ on not, but it seems like most travel stuff goes in IMHO. Please move if appropriate.
I got one at the Vancouver consulate in 24 hours. The place was almost empty, I waited maybe 10 minutes to see someone. If all the visa offices are like that you will have no trouble, but double check and see if there is a ‘transit visa’ for stays <24 hours. Hey, they do offer transit visas but check for costs etc, since it may be just as fast/cheap to get a regular one.
I got one for a business visit to India at the Chicago office. The forms were available on line and I just needed those, my passport, 2 passport photos (not attached to said passport) and $60. Additionally I provided a letter from the company inviting me in.
The organization of the consulate was not the best, but I did get my papers handed in, they pointed out a few things I missed and told me to come back after lunch. Lunch at the Chicago Indian Consulate is 12:30 to 3:30. Ugghh. So, I hung around the Miracle Mile for a few hours, came back and got my passport with visa in about 15 minutes.
My experience at the SF consulate was similar to kidchameleon’s, except that I was getting a 180 day tourist visa, so I didn’t need an employer letter.