Seeking India visa Guru

[Acrusa]

Booked on Nautica 2018 cruise, Bangkok to Mumbai.

Thinking of going to CIBT direct to obtain the India visa. Or will we be better off to let Oceania handle it? Oceania is asking around $170.00 more per visa.

Has anyone used Cox and King or CIBT instead of Oceania for this Visa?

[JoePDX]

Hi -

 

We are on Nautica Mumbai to Athens leaving April 12, 2017.

 

Here is a post I put on our roll call. Cox and Kings is fine and you will save lots of money. It just takes preplanning and some patience. In the end, even if you go with CIBT or another service, you still have to fill out the application form on the Indian Consulate site (but start at CKGS site). And that is the 90% of the effort. CKGS does a very good job of keeping you informed of the process via email and on their website. For us, we had our 10 year visas back in 15 calendar days.

 

Happy to answer any other questions.

 

Joe

 

Post I put on our roll call:

I spent most of today doing the applications for our Indian Visas. Such a fun time! :eek: Actually it was a fine day to do this, as we got an unexpected 13 inches of snow overnight, so homebound we were....

 

Here is the starting point. India has outsourced acceptance of applications for all of their US based embassies to Cox & Kings Global Services.

 

www.in.ckgs.us

 

Their website, along with that of the Indian Government, where you get directed midway through the CKGS process to fill out your actual application, is not very user friendly.

 

NOTE: The Indian eTOURIST visa is NOT VALID for cruise travel.

 

Here are a few tips:

 

1. Have all your details - passport, addresses, US based emergency contact addresses, etc. ready. Once you start the process on the CKGS site, you have 90 minutes to complete it (including the Indian portion) or risk having to start over.

 

2. You need an electronic "passport style" photos. That you will upload as part of the Indian govt. application. Take it in advance. It can't be the same photo as is in your Passport (??). We got ours taken at Walgreens for $12 I think. Then I scanned one for the upload. One of the photos is pasted to the Indian Visa Application Form, one is sent along with all your other paperwork to CKGS.

 

3. All went pretty well until I got to the part where I needed to enter the information for the UPS or FedEx shipping. Try as I might it wouldn't take our address as being valid. I had to call CKGS to have them fix both of our applications at this same point. The second rep told me the problem was I was using IE. :confused: (Found later it works fine with FireFox!)

 

4. Once you get to the final step, you need to print a whole bunch of documents from the CKGS site, including the Document Checklist, your payment receipt, the shipping label and a bar code that is taped to the outside of the envelope.

 

5. If you need to suspend the process at some point before you enter your credit card details, make sure you have written down your Tracking Number: This is assigned after you complete the Indian Visa Application. It will start USA...... If you then need to go back in to complete the application, you will not go to the logical "MY ACCOUNT" button, but instead, click on the VISA button, then choose the THIRD option "Already Filled In Government OnLine Visa Form" You will need your tracking number and passport number to get back in.....

 

Both times that I had to call CKGS the wait time was around 15 minutes. So patience is necessary. :rolleyes:

 

I will be sending all the documents out tomorrow, so fingers crossed it all goes swimmingly.

 

Good luck everyone! If you have questions, I'm happy to try and help.

 

Joe

[Acrusa]

Sounds daunting maybe we should cancel LOL.

We live 20 minutes from Manhattan so we can print it out and take it to there office. Do we have to download photos or can we attach them to the form.

I am a novice online

[JoePDX]

Sounds daunting maybe we should cancel LOL.

We live 20 minutes from Manhattan so we can print it out and take it to there office. Do we have to download photos or can we attach them to the form.

I am a novice online

 

You will do fine. :D It seems daunting and yes takes some time, but it's doable. The fact that you are able to go into the CKGS office should be a help. They are also available by phone.

 

Regarding photos: There is a point when you are filling out the Visa Application Form where you have to upload a electronic version of your photo. The form completion must be done before you make any appointments with CKGS. Depending on where you get the photo taken, they may be able to email you an electronic version. Or if you don't have a scanner, an office store like Kinkos or OfficeMax would be able to do the scanning (and likely take the picture). You do need two physical copies of the photo too. One is pasted to the Application Form you print out at the end and then one is sent along with (or taken with) the packet to CKGS.

 

Looking over the FAQ's on the CKGS site before you start will be helpful. https://www.in.ckgs.us/visa/visa-application-guide.shtml

 

Joe

[Queen of DaNile]

Good information Joe. I may have missed it but how far in advance did you start the application process?

[JoePDX]

Good information Joe. I may have missed it but how far in advance did you start the application process?

 

We sent off our applications in January for an April 2017 cruise. In the end, even with a delay due to an issue, we had our passports with visas inside in 15 calendar days. There were reports from others on our roll call of about a week.

 

There has been some reports that you shouldn't apply until 90 days before arrival. But I have seen reports of others that did it earlier due to other trips, etc. where their passport was needed. We were in France over Christmas, so I couldn't do them until we got home from that trip.

 

Joe

[Acrusa]

Thanks for all the information. We really appreciate it. Our cruise isn!t till April 2018. Just looking ahead. Have a great cruise.

[Paulchili]

PS to Joe's excellent notes.

Make sure you fill out EVERY single line - no empty spaces!

[JoePDX]

PS to Joe's excellent notes.

Make sure you fill out EVERY single line - no empty spaces!

 

One other tip I read online, was not to enter "none" in any field, but if it doesn't apply, type "NA".

 

For those of us in the US, we do not have a "National Identifier". So in that box, you should type "NA".

 

Others reported not enough space to enter every country you have visited in the last 10 years. Suggestions from others: just list those that are present in your passport - and reports are that worked fine.

 

Others on our roll call had issues with previous last names (through marriage, divorce, remarriage). Even though the checklist will indicate you need to send "divorce" or "name change" papers, that is only required if your current passport has a different name than your driver's license or other ID you send in with the application packet.

 

Lots of nuances to this.... :o

 

Joe

[Mura]

Great information, Joe. We aren't planning on going to India any time soon but I think I'll save your handy hints!

 

Mura

[ceba]

One other tip I read online, was not to enter "none" in any field, but if it doesn't apply, type "NA".

 

For those of us in the US, we do not have a "National Identifier". So in that box, you should type "NA".

 

Others reported not enough space to enter every country you have visited in the last 10 years. Suggestions from others: just list those that are present in your passport - and reports are that worked fine.

 

Others on our roll call had issues with previous last names (through marriage, divorce, remarriage). Even though the checklist will indicate you need to send "divorce" or "name change" papers, that is only required if your current passport has a different name than your driver's license or other ID you send in with the application packet.

 

Lots of nuances to this.... :o

 

Joe

Most helpful, thank you!! We leave in November