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Visa Required For India


Andy
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Hi Everyone !

 

I wanted to pass along this important information, for Guests travelling to India. I realize there may be questions, but I'm not in a position to answer them. Should you have questions, please contact your nearest Indian Embassy. I hope you find this helpful.

 

India

Most nationalities, including US, Canadian and British citizens, require a visa for travel to India. India recently published new regulations regarding entering the country within 2 months of departure which would require individuals with a tourist visa, even multi-entry visas, to obtain a re-entry visa. Recent updates from CIBT have indicated cruise guests will not require a re-entry visa for the calls to India during the cruise.

 

As a reminder, all nationalities require a visa for entry to India and currently Immigration in India is not allowing any group visas onboard or exceptions to this requirement. Recent sailings calling to India have included guests who did not possess an India visa and guests were not allowed to disembark in any of the Indian ports. Please pass this along to direct guests and travel agents.

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Hi Everyone !

 

Here's a list of Embassies/Consulates, should you need futher information. I cannot verify any of the information, but I found it via searching the internet. I hope this helps.

 

United States of America

 

Chicago

455, N Cityfront Plaza Drive, NBC Tower Bldg Ste 850,

Chicago, Il- 60611

Tel: 1-312-595-405 Fax: 1-312-595-417/18

E-mail: congendia@aol.com

http://chicago.indianconsulate.com

 

Honolulu

2051 Young St., P.O.B. 15638, Honolulu, Hawaii 96826

Tel: 1-808-947 261 Fax: 1-808-947 2610

 

Houston

1990, Post Oak Blvd, Ste 600, Houston TX 77056

Tel: 1-713-626 2148/49 Fax: 1-713-6262450

E-mail: cgi-hou@accesscomm.net

 

New York

3 East, 64th St., Manhattan, New York-10021

Tel: 212-774-600 699 Fax: 1-212-861 3788

E-mail: cginyccomm@aol.com

http://www.indiacgny.org

 

San Francisco

540 Arguello Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94118

Tel: 1-415-668 0662 Fax: 1-415-668 2073

E-mail: indiancon@best.com

http://www.indianconsulate-sf.org

 

Washington DC

2107 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington DC 20008

Tel: 1-202-939 7000 Fax: 1-202-939 7027

E-mail: indembwash@gov.org

http://www.indianembassy.org

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Hi Everyone !

 

I wanted to pass along this important information, for Guests travelling to India. I realize there may be questions, but I'm not in a position to answer them. Should you have questions, please contact your nearest Indian Embassy. I hope you find this helpful.

 

India

Most nationalities, including US, Canadian and British citizens, require a visa for travel to India. India recently published new regulations regarding entering the country within 2 months of departure which would require individuals with a tourist visa, even multi-entry visas, to obtain a re-entry visa. Recent updates from CIBT have indicated cruise guests will not require a re-entry visa for the calls to India during the cruise.

 

As a reminder, all nationalities require a visa for entry to India and currently Immigration in India is not allowing any group visas onboard or exceptions to this requirement. Recent sailings calling to India have included guests who did not possess an India visa and guests were not allowed to disembark in any of the Indian ports. Please pass this along to direct guests and travel agents.

 

Andy

 

It is always worth reminding people of this but it does not appear to have changed since Azamara Quest called at India in 2008 and 2009. Unlike most countries cruise ships call at, India is particularly unbending in its visa rules.

 

In the Uk just prior to our visit in 2009, they introducted a system where all visas had to be applied for online prior to making a postal/personal application. Unless it has been improved, the online form is not designed for cruise visitors and it is difficult to understand how it should be completed. Anyone needing a visa for India should allow plenty of time for the application!

 

A search of the Roll Calls may be useful because I know there was a lot of sharing of visa application information on ours.

 

Sue

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Andy

 

It is always worth reminding people of this but it does not appear to have changed since Azamara Quest called at India in 2008 and 2009. Unlike most countries cruise ships call at, India is particularly unbending in its visa rules.

 

In the Uk just prior to our visit in 2009, they introducted a system where all visas had to be applied for online prior to making a postal/personal application. Unless it has been improved, the online form is not designed for cruise visitors and it is difficult to understand how it should be completed. Anyone needing a visa for India should allow plenty of time for the application!

 

A search of the Roll Calls may be useful because I know there was a lot of sharing of visa application information on ours.

 

Sue

 

Hi Sue !

 

It was posted for good reason. I was trying to help anyone who is currently booked, or considering travel to the region. I was told that a number of guests on previous sailings were unprepared, so I thought it was prudent to share the information passed along to me. As you stated, India is extremely rigid on their rules, so the only way to go, is to make sure you do your homework well in advance.

 

I hope that our CC friends found the information helpful.

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An Indian tourist visa is for multiple entry and costs £30 for a 6 month visa and £50 for a 1 year visa (max 180 days stay per visit), both type of visa incurs a service charge of £9.05.

The Indian Government has outsourced visa processing to VF Services (UK) Ltd and their website is vfsglobal.co.uk a 6 month mulpiple entry tourist visa through them therefore costs £39.05. There are plenty of other visa sites but they charge additional admin costs, for example onestepvisa.com charge an extra £25 for their services making a total of £64.09 and TheVisaCompany will charge £103pp!

A 6 month tourist visa is valid from the date of issue in your passport and not your arrival in India, so don't apply too many months in advance

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An Indian tourist visa is for multiple entry and costs £30 for a 6 month visa and £50 for a 1 year visa (max 180 days stay per visit), both type of visa incurs a service charge of £9.05.

The Indian Government has outsourced visa processing to VF Services (UK) Ltd and their website is vfsglobal.co.uk a 6 month mulpiple entry tourist visa through them therefore costs £39.05. There are plenty of other visa sites but they charge additional admin costs, for example onestepvisa.com charge an extra £25 for their services making a total of £64.09 and TheVisaCompany will charge £103pp!

A 6 month tourist visa is valid from the date of issue in your passport and not your arrival in India, so don't apply too many months in advance

 

Your passport must also be valid for at least 190 days and have two blank pages available, otherwise you'll need a new passport as well.

 

David

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Your passport must also be valid for at least 190 days and have two blank pages available, otherwise you'll need a new passport as well.

 

David

I'm booked on the Quest Dubai-Singapore (Dec 9th embarkation). I was told by my visa agency that a copy of one's birth certificate is req'd by the Indian Embassy (mine is "Report of Birth Abroad"...that's all...I'll report my progress!). In addition, I was told that 6 months must elapse b4 one can revisit India. In addition, I was told that (at least the Houston Consulate) the Indian Embasy(ies) is/are very behind...submit your apps ASAP!

 

Just FYIs...I know they are hearsay, but wanted to express my issues.

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I'm booked on the Quest Dubai-Singapore (Dec 9th embarkation). I was told by my visa agency that a copy of one's birth certificate is req'd by the Indian Embassy (mine is "Report of Birth Abroad"...that's all...I'll report my progress!). In addition, I was told that 6 months must elapse b4 one can revisit India. In addition, I was told that (at least the Houston Consulate) the Indian Embasy(ies) is/are very behind...submit your apps ASAP!

 

All we had to do was download the app from the VF website, complete it, take it in with a photo and valid passport and pay almost a hundred bucks each. That's it. Others have reported being asked for driver's license, marriage certificate and, as above, birth certificate. Should be delivered to us via UPS from the Toronto office in two weeks, Inshalla.

 

A multiple entry tourist visa is good for six months from date of issue. However, there is a rule that there must be at least two months between entries. If the cruise calls at Mumbai then Cochin, it is one entry - you never left India.

 

Good luck with it. Only seven weeks till sailaway!

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All we had to do was download the app from the VF website, complete it, take it ...

 

Please note that this is NOT the procedure in the UK where you must complete and submit an online form which you then also print and send with your application.

 

Sue

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Hi, DougYWG,

 

I'm a US citizen...I saw you applied in Toronto? Maybe that's the difference? Also, my visa agency indicated birth certificate (yes, I had to submit my driver's license as well) is a recent reqmt.

 

We can swap stories on who receives their visa first & had to do what! I do hope we both have no issues & receive our visas quickly!

 

Linda

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Please note that this is NOT the procedure in the UK where you must complete and submit an online form which you then also print and send with your application.

 

Sue

Hi, Sue,

 

Nice to meet you! I see you did the Azamara Quest Singapore - Athens in 2009.

 

How did you like it? I'm interested to hear lessons-learned from you.

 

Any info is grately appreciated!

 

Take care,

Linda

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Hi, Sue,

 

Nice to meet you! I see you did the Azamara Quest Singapore - Athens in 2009.

 

How did you like it? I'm interested to hear lessons-learned from you.

 

Any info is grately appreciated!

 

Take care,

Linda

 

Linda

 

It was a fabulous cruise with Malaysia the only disappointment for us and I believe those ports have now been changed. The one thing that would have improved the cruise would have been an overnight in Alexandria. The hardest part was having to leave the ship in Athens.

 

I think the most important lesson, is to order your Indian visa as early as possible [3 months out in our case]. It has to be done, the process is not the easiest and, in our case, our pasports went astray in transit which caused all sorts of problems [inlcuding entry into the US later in the year!]. I would always try to do this in person in the future [but we could not do that due to heavy snow and then train strikes in the UK at the time. As you see, it is one of those processes where so much can go wrong!

 

As there had be sickness on Quest prior to our cruise as well as the ports we were visiting, most of the cruise critic folk invested a lot of effort into protection from intestinal problems - pro-biotics pre-cruise plus carrying hand sanitisers and different pro-biotics in case of problems. They may or may not have worked but it made us feel like we were doing something.

 

Having said all that, these issues brought us all together before the cruise and the cruise itself was the most relaxing time, ever. If you are repeating the sme itinerary, make sure that you book a great hotel in Athens. We needed our three days standing on our balcony looking at the Acropolis to help with the withdrawl symptoms.

 

We are not the sort of people who go on many tours but we did think it worthwhile on this cruise and booked private tours in Cochin and Mumbai as well a ships tour in Eygpt. In Dubai, we went our own way and had a fabulous private boat tour on the Creek in Dubai. Not sure how we managed it as all the other tourists were shepparded together! However, it cost very little and it is worth asking for a boat to yourself.

 

Hope this helps a little. If you have any particular questions, just ask.

 

Sue

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  • 2 weeks later...

Actually I don't much care not going on land in Mumbai and Cochin.

 

It may sound sour grapes but it may be safer to stay on board in view of terrorists warnings. Azamara won't take my booking without Indian visa though.

 

From now on I will avoid any cruise visiting India, Azamara or otherwise.

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  • 1 year later...

Just returned from fabulous cruise to Mumbai, Azamara Quest. Unfortunately there were some Americans on board who had to disembark early at Fujiarah (Emirates) because they didn't have visa to enter India. I'm sure it cost them big bucks to get home! I think some passengers believe that if they just go to airport in Mumbai, and not tour, they won't need visa. They are sooooo wrong. You must have a visa! Indian custom officers are first to board vessel when it reaches Mumbai. They meet every passenger disembarking face to face.

 

It was sad to meet these "left-out" Americans on board. Azamara was nice to them, gave them specialty dinners and so on, but there was nothing they could do to get them into India.

 

Be sure to get a visa!! I was hesitant at first when I found out Indian Embassy in Chicago used Travisa Outsourcing exclusively for Indian visas but, after receiving two Indian visas from them, I can't say enough about their professionalism--and speed!

 

Have a great time in Mumbai, an absolutely wonderful city!

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Host Andy is absolutely correct:

 

India recently published new regulations regarding entering the country within 2 months of departure which would require individuals with a tourist visa, even multi-entry visas, to obtain a re-entry visa. There is an exception for ships visiting several ports but this does not apply to those who disembarked in India then decided to exit for a week or two on a side trip and return to Mumbai to take their flight back. This is particularly pertinent for those who use India as a stop off point in both directions before returning home - something I used to do.

 

Fortunately I have a life long visa so am exempt!

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 years later...
Actually I don't much care not going on land in Mumbai and Cochin.

 

It may sound sour grapes but it may be safer to stay on board in view of terrorists warnings. Azamara won't take my booking without Indian visa though.

 

From now on I will avoid any cruise visiting India, Azamara or otherwise.

 

We are presently having the same problem for our HAL Rotterdam cruise on 4th March 2016 from Singapore to Southampton . Having visited India before we have no interest in going ashore and in fact due to heath problems giving us low immune systems we have no desire to.

 

However India High Commission in London say we do not need a visa to stay on the ship BUT HAL say we MUST HAVE A VISA EVEN IF STAYING ON BOARD IN INDIA, and they will refuse boarding if we don't have one and won't refund the cruise price.

 

Banging my head against a brick wall as the underlying info from HAL is that it is up to everyone to check what their countries visa requirements are therefore not up to HAL to enforce what is not a ruling for British citizens according to our High Commission.

 

Anyone else had this scenario or anything to help us, if so due to shortness of time please Email me at glenswatman@gmail.com it would be much appreciated before we capitulate.

 

Worst case we are already in Australia and will have to pay out well over £300 for our visas and stall our travels in order to make arrangements to get the visa.

 

Now I remember why we said we were never going back to India !

Edited by glenswatman
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Just returned from fabulous cruise to Mumbai, Azamara Quest. Unfortunately there were some Americans on board who had to disembark early at Fujiarah (Emirates) because they didn't have visa to enter India. I'm sure it cost them big bucks to get home! I think some passengers believe that if they just go to airport in Mumbai, and not tour, they won't need visa. They are sooooo wrong. You must have a visa! Indian custom officers are first to board vessel when it reaches Mumbai. They meet every passenger disembarking face to face.

 

It was sad to meet these "left-out" Americans on board. Azamara was nice to them, gave them specialty dinners and so on, but there was nothing they could do to get them into India.

 

Be sure to get a visa!! I was hesitant at first when I found out Indian Embassy in Chicago used Travisa Outsourcing exclusively for Indian visas but, after receiving two Indian visas from them, I can't say enough about their professionalism--and speed!

 

Have a great time in Mumbai, an absolutely wonderful city!

 

Guess this kind of gives me the answer to a question, (as they were obviously not allowed to stay on the ship in India and just miss disembarking at that port)

 

HAL are insisting we have a visa for India even though

a/ we don't intend going ashore and

b/ the High Commission of India in England say British passport holders don't need one if staying on the ship.

 

How come cruise lines can impose rulings that are not the law of that country - can't imagine all the crew on board have visas.

 

If anyone has any further knowledge of this situation a reply within next 2 days would be much appreciated to glenswatman@gmail.com

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Up to date prices from vfs global

VISA FEES CHART (FOR UNITED KINGDOM PASSPORT HOLDERS)

TYPE OF VISA VALIDITY FEES GBP (£) VFS SERVICE CHARGE (£) TOTAL

Tourist Up to One Year (Single / Multiple entry)(maximum stay of 180 days per visit) £102 + £7.44 admin= £109.44

Visa Duration From One Year Up to Five Years (Multiple entries) (maximum stay of 180 days per visit £302 + £7.44 = £309.44

Edited by lexdisic
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Guess this kind of gives me the answer to a question, (as they were obviously not allowed to stay on the ship in India and just miss disembarking at that port)

 

HAL are insisting we have a visa for India even though

a/ we don't intend going ashore and

b/ the High Commission of India in England say British passport holders don't need one if staying on the ship.

 

How come cruise lines can impose rulings that are not the law of that country - can't imagine all the crew on board have visas.

 

If anyone has any further knowledge of this situation a reply within next 2 days would be much appreciated to glenswatman@gmail.com

 

You may be right, but cruise lines have their own rules so break them at your peril. I personally would not take the chance - the cost of a wasted visa is far smaller than being denied boarding.

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Guess this kind of gives me the answer to a question, (as they were obviously not allowed to stay on the ship in India and just miss disembarking at that port)

 

HAL are insisting we have a visa for India even though

a/ we don't intend going ashore and

b/ the High Commission of India in England say British passport holders don't need one if staying on the ship.

 

How come cruise lines can impose rulings that are not the law of that country - can't imagine all the crew on board have visas.

 

If anyone has any further knowledge of this situation a reply within next 2 days would be much appreciated to glenswatman@gmail.com

 

Quite possibly the concern of the cruise line is that the passenger is injured and/or taken severely ill and has to get off for medical aid not available on board while near or in India. Also, there is the possibility of ship issues and/or personal issues requiring the passenger's disembarkation which would be impossible without the required Visa.

 

Possibly similar reasons for passengers being required to have Passports for Alaska cruises where a passenger might have a Nexus card which allows entry into Canada without a Passport except not from a ship and the same possible issues as described above.

 

The cruise line Terms and Conditions of passage certainly over ride the specific Government rules if you want to embark on the ship. Am sympathetic to the issues and the mostly unnecessary extra costs but, rules are rules and if you want to take the cruise, you have to follow the cruise lines rules.

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Just returned from fabulous cruise to Mumbai, Azamara Quest. Unfortunately there were some Americans on board who had to disembark early at Fujiarah (Emirates) because they didn't have visa to enter India. I'm sure it cost them big bucks to get home! I think some passengers believe that if they just go to airport in Mumbai, and not tour, they won't need visa. They are sooooo wrong. You must have a visa! Indian custom officers are first to board vessel when it reaches Mumbai. They meet every passenger disembarking face to face.

 

It was sad to meet these "left-out" Americans on board. Azamara was nice to them, gave them specialty dinners and so on, but there was nothing they could do to get them into India.

 

Be sure to get a visa!! I was hesitant at first when I found out Indian Embassy in Chicago used Travisa Outsourcing exclusively for Indian visas but, after receiving two Indian visas from them, I can't say enough about their professionalism--and speed!

 

Have a great time in Mumbai, an absolutely wonderful city!

Had a similar situation Athens to Mumbai last year on Journey. Some with no visa left the ship in Fujairah, but one lady travelling on her own continued on the following cruise around India because she was unwilling as a single Jewish female to travel on her own in UAE. She stayed on the ship until Sri Lanka and flew home from Colombo as no Indian visa requirements there. It still amazes me how visas can be overlooked by travel agents and guests, but It obviously happens regularly. If I do a transatlantic from UK to US and as a UK citizen I have to show a copy of my US ESTA travel approval document.

 

Phil

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Be sure to get the hard-copy Indian visa placed in your passport. India will not accept e-visas from cruise passengers. E-visas are only valid if entering through a handful of airports in India, not valid entering by sea. Many guests learned this the hard way this past November.

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Be sure to get the hard-copy Indian visa placed in your passport. India will not accept e-visas from cruise passengers. E-visas are only valid if entering through a handful of airports in India, not valid entering by sea. Many guests learned this the hard way this past November.

 

Absolutely correct Bonnie and would like to add to what Bonnie stated based on another thread that even if you fly into India and are allowed entry with an E-Visa, you will not be allowed to board your ship without the hard copy Indian Visa. On another thread, a customer stated they would be using a E-Visa as they are flying into an airport that accepts E-Visas thinking that is all they need to board the ship.

 

Remember, if on a cruise, and E-Visa is not acceptable even if it gets you into India by ship!!

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Indian Visa's and immigration are an absolute nightmare.

In addition, the Indian immigration staff make up the rules as they go along.

Four years ago on Celebrity Solstice we had an overnight stay in Cochin. For any number of reasons (most likely TA's and apathy) over 500 passengers on board did not know they had to have visas. This became apparent and the major talking point to most on board, in the days running up to our Cochin arrival.

The majority of the passengers without visas were German and American.

The Indian Immigration authorities put on board around 50 staff to carry out facial recognition checks from passports and visas, once this was complete they were made aware of the 500+ passengers who were staying onboard.

Then entrepreneurial side of the immigration staff kicked in. The 500+ without visas were told if they paid $50 each they could go ashore.

Having been through the pain and cost of applying for an Indian Visa I would have been better waiting for a $50 deal

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