# HELP! Brit Citizen but need to travel to India - How to get a visa?



## rosy83 (Jul 18, 2012)

OMG 
this is proving to be the most stressful relocation ever

Hopefully someone has had an experience or can advise:

Basically I will be going to Dubai to join the bank I work for next week on an employment visa.

In december however I have a holiday to India booked

My question is do i get the visa for india whilst i am in UK or when I get to Dubai?

I am a British citizen

I am really worried now that because I am now flying from Dubai to get to India in December I dont understand which country needs to issue the visa


HELP!

Does anyone know about this kind of situation?


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

You can get it done in Dubai at the Karama Post Office, you'll need a letter of invitation or something from someone in India. Takes about 7 working days to process (as I found out 5 days before my planned trip).


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## XDoodlebugger (Jan 24, 2012)

rosy83 said:


> OMG
> 
> I dont understand which country needs to issue the visa
> :


India needs to issue the visa, so it doesn't matter what country it is issued in. As Gavtek mentioned you need an invitation letter (at least I did). I have one that lasts for 5 years and it took about a week to get.


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## Canuck_Sens (Nov 16, 2010)

I would call the embassy if I were you. The general rule that applies is this:

Visas are granted from the country of residence. If you are legally living in a different country the embassy of the country that you want to visit will issue a tourist visa in the country of residence but in your case you are not yet a legal alien in the UAE.

I would be really surprised if the Embassy of india in the uae issued a visa to you.

Better be safe than sorry


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## XDoodlebugger (Jan 24, 2012)

Canuck_Sens said:


> I would call the embassy if I were you. The general rule that applies is this:
> 
> Visas are granted from the country of residence. If you are legally living in a different country the embassy of the country that you want to visit will issue a tourist visa in the country of residence but in your case you are not yet a legal alien in the UAE.
> 
> ...


Is this specific to India? I've received visa's to Thailand at their embassy in Singapore for example (of many) and visa's from the US embassies of other countries when I was a residence elsewhere.


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## Canuck_Sens (Nov 16, 2010)

XDoodlebugger said:


> Is this specific to India? I've received visa's to Thailand at their embassy in Singapore for example (of many) and visa's from the US embassies of other countries when I was a residence elsewhere.


I honestly dont know. When my dad came to Canada I thought taking him to Niagara Falls and visit the US site too. The US embassy would not issue any visas because he was not a resident in Canada.

When I took my wife to Canadian embassy they wanted to see in her passport that she was legally in the UAE or she had to go back to brazil and apply from there.

So I was told that if you are a legal alien in the country where you want to apply for the visas there should be no problems, but based in your comments there appears to be a different treatment given by some countries. I would give the embassy a call either way.


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## xchaos777 (Dec 15, 2010)

Yes, technically you are suppose to apply for a visa in the country you are resident. I have seen ways around this, but it is risky when in a pinch.

Since you are coming next week to Dubai, you should be able to get your resident visa here within a month depending on how efficient your company is. You will have plenty of time to apply for your tourist visa to India once you get passport back with the UAE residency.


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## m1key (Jun 29, 2011)

A visitor type visor for India has to be used within about 3 months from memory (could be 6 months). You don't need an invitation for this. A 5 year one I think is a business multiple entry one and would be different. I would assume the Indian Embassy in Dubai can issue the visit type visa, but definitely worth checking. I'll try and find my old passport and get back to you on the validity. Whether the visa is issued in London or here wouldn't matter, as long as date wise it is still valid.

Warning - If you get the visa in London. There is a downstairs hall and an upstairs hall. They give you a number when you arrive, just make sure you are clear which hall it is for. They sent me to the wrong one the first time  Took about an hour for them to put the visa in my passport and it is a real bun fight (bit like queuing here) in the area upstairs where you collect your passport. They come up with some interesting pronunciations, so listen out carefully! Make sure you get there for opening time as well. The queue just to get in the building can be very long if you leave it late.


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## Robdon (Sep 12, 2012)

Hi,

As others have said, you need to get it from your resident country or the UK.

I'm from the UK, and am on a trip around the world at the moment.

We were in Spain for 3 months, and we needed to apply for a Visa for India.

We had to do it through the UK, and they easiest way we found to do it was to use a company like visahq to get our Visa with.

There seems to be a funny block where I cant post a URL until 4 posts to help you, but just google that name and its at the top for thier web site... make sure you use the co.uk one though.

You use someone like DHL to post your passport to them, and they send it to the UK Indian embassy and then they send it back to you once its all complete via DHL again.

Its a little costly, but it gets the job done with little to no fuss.

They can issue 180 day visas for India. But, remember that its 180 days from when the Indian embassy put the Visa in your passport, NOT from when you enter India, so dont apply for it too early.

I would recommend this service, as its all controlled online and you can get status updates and such from their site, and they also have phone lines that you can contact them on.

Rob.


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## rosy83 (Jul 18, 2012)

Guys
I contacted the indian embassy in UK and they no longer do on the day turn up for the visa services

They in fact have outsourced it to some company called VFS


VFS advised I check with the UAE Indian embassy which i found to be called BLS

BLS have silly weird numbers on their site and I cannot figure out the code to ring from here

As I cannot get it done here in the UK whilst I am here I have no choice but to use the UAE service


Also i have no 'invitation' 

I booked a 3 week tour with a travel company for a holiday


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

The travel company will give you a letter, it's not worth worrying about, as long as you give yourself plenty of time, it's incredibly easy.


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## Canuck_Sens (Nov 16, 2010)

You are joining the UAE next week. Push your employer to sort your work permit asap pay even if you have to... Then get your Indian visa in the uae


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## creative4art (May 3, 2011)

You can definitely get it done while you are in the UAE. Just make sure you have all the copies of the documents you need. It's probably the easiest country to get a visa to . 

The BLS helpline number for Passport & Visa services is +971 4 2555530


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## Laowei (Nov 29, 2009)

creative4art said:


> You can definitely get it done while you are in the UAE. Just make sure you have all the copies of the documents you need. It's probably the easiest country to get a visa to .
> 
> The BLS helpline number for Passport & Visa services is +971 4 2555530


Agree, i have had multiple Indian visa's over the years getting a business visa is a lot more complicated than a toruist visa. As Gavtek has said dont stress about it, its not a big deal. Get over here, your residence visa should be done in a month allowing you plenty of time to get the visa. I did my famalies toursit visa in about 3 days last time.

All you need is a confirmation letter from the travel company, a few photo's the completed form and a bit of cash. Turn up at the BLS office in Bur Dubai in the morning take a ticket and smile. Dont worry about it.


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## Tropicana (Apr 29, 2010)

IIRC, even if you get a 3 or 6 month visa, they can stamp "entry within one month of issuance".


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## rosy83 (Jul 18, 2012)

Thanks everyone
I had a complete meltdown yesterday when I found out I needed a visa for India!
Silly me with all the drama of moving (flying out next thursday) I forgot about this.

Thanks so much for the useful info, its comforting to know it IS possible and OTHERS have done it.


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## creative4art (May 3, 2011)

Just curious... which part of India are you going to be in for the holidays?


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## rosy83 (Jul 18, 2012)

I am going to land in Delhi then there are family wedding things happening and then a bit of north india, goa and then more family stuff in Bombay
Fly back from Bombay


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## creative4art (May 3, 2011)

Cool. Enjoy your trip!

Make sure you carry your safe supply of flu/cold meds, insect repellent gels etc. You never know when they can come in handy.


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