Type of Visa for India

[ssawjo]

Indian Visas?

 

We are flying to India early to do a two week tour of the country. A lot of other pax are doing the Taj tour beforehand. We are flying into Delhi. I was planning on obtaining an e-Visa online for entry, which is perfectly acceptable. HOWEVER, my TA informed me today that, per Oceania's visa department, we must obtain a "full" Indian visa in order to be able to board the ship in Mumbai (Nautica - April 29). I do not see the reason or purpose of obtaining a full visa if you have no intention of returning in the next ten years, which applies to us, and you are leaving, not entering, India. An e-visa is fine according to what I have read.

 

http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/e-visas-from-november-for-tourists-on-cruise-ships-4774814/

 

I am wondering what others plan to do. I don't want to be denied boarding in Mumbai. If anyone has any different information, please share on this board. Obtaining a full visa takes several weeks while an e-Visa is pretty straight forward.

 

Let us, that is everyone, know if you have other information.

 

Thanks,

[Paulchili]

I believe that you are correct.

I think this is a case of HUACA - Hang Up And Call Again - preferably someone higher up at Oceania.

Why would you need a full visa when you are already in India with an evisa and are boarding the ship to leave India?

Edit to add - I know that one needs a full Indian visa to enter the country on a ship, but that is not what you are doing. Could it be that authorities at the port cannot see/read you e-visa unlike those at the airport if you were flying out?

Edited January 8, 2018 by Paulchili

[ssawjo]

I believe that you are correct.

Could it be that authorities at the port cannot see/read you e-visa unlike those at the airport if you were flying out?

 

 

Good question. I will have to dig deeper. Thanks.

[YoHoHo]

visas are indeed confusing and regulations change at any time.

 

Have you any feedback from those on your Roll Call. Hopefully someone with personal recent experience will see this trhead and respond.

 

My take on this until others more knowledgeable post:

 

*IF* when calling O back you get the answer you want to hear, "Yes, an e-visa is acceptable" it would be good to get that in writing. Not that it will help you with immigration authorities if the O rep is wrong but it might get you on the ship if they are right and an e-Visa will do but the ship is standing by the company policy that you must have a full visa.

 

I agree with Paulchilli that the e-visa refusal could be because the port is unable to process your E visa.

 

I was curious so I did a bit of searching and your particular situation is a little unclear. From what I gather with an e-visa when you arrive at an immigration checkpoint with a valid e-visa they collect bio-metric data (i.e fingerprint).

 

Assuming you fly into India legally then that's what you would have. And I have read that you can exit the country from any ICP. BUT that "any" might not include all ports, i.e. Mumbai.

 

In your article they write, "New cruise terminals have been planned at the Mumbai, Goa, New Mangalore, Cochin and Chennai ports." So this implies that Mumbai might not be able yet to vet e-Visa incoming but why not outgoing? Maybe they can but O does not accept that yet, or maybe that checkpoint can't take an e-visa. Maybes are no good to you, of course.

 

I also read on TripA that Princess is now accepting e-visa but no mention of the ports. That cruise might very well not call at Mumbai so the post could be misleading

 

Found this from yesterday (2018/01/08):

https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g1-i10703-k8397684-o180-Do_I_need_an_Indian_visa_while_cruising-Cruises.html

 

Post 185

"As of today there is still no update on the Government of India e-Visa website. As it stands, first entry on -eVisa is still only available at three seaports; Cochin, Goa, Mangalore. Although strangely Mumbai and Chennai have been mentioned in the Newspapers' report. Also mentioned is that the requirement for biometric enrolment [sic] on arrival at first port of entry will be waived until 31 December, 2020.

 

A copy of one such Newspaper report is here:

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/logistics/cruise-tourists-with-evisas-exempt-from-biometric-enrolment-requirement/article10016773.ece"

 

So seems Mumbai still cannot process INCOMING but why not outgoing if "any" ICP can unless that report was wrong?

 

In any event, and this is what matters, even *IF* you ascertain that an e-Visa is acceptable to Indian Authorities, O could still deny boarding as it is their ship and their rules. Again that would not make sense as you would have exited through immigration already before boarding (I assume) but those darn rules again. Maybe O insists in case they have to make an emergency stop elsewhere in India or such where your e-visa is not acceptable for entry.

 

I would like to hear back what O tells you and what your actual experience is when you do exit through immigration. Would be helpful to those who follow. Even though things could change at any time being as it is India it might not happen too quickly.

[ssawjo]

YoHoHo,

 

Thank you for your advice. I posted on the cruise's roll call to see what the others are or may be doing, re: visa. I will also recontact Oceania for clarification.

 

Bill

[jo-b]

We have friends sailing to India next month on another line and they too have had to get full visas.They were advised that not all ports were set up to accept/scan visas and they needed visas visible in their passports.

 

It has not taken months however, merely a matter of sending/ taking the forms in with passport and payment and the visas being posted back.

[katz]

We received an email from Oceania regarding Indian Visas for our Feb 2018 cruise. In red, it says "Please note E-visas are not valid for cruise travel". Followed by "Guests who arrive at the ship without the required India tourist visa will not be able to board".

 

We obtained Indian visas for a cruise last year. I was issued a 10-year one, my husband was given on that was only valid for one year. We think it was because he was in the military for 20 years and currently works for the U.S. government.

[ceba]

We just returned from India last month where we had a similar itinerary. I did a lot of research about the visa and could never get a consistent answer. For that reason I decided it wasn’t worth the chance and got the regular visa. I never spoke to anyone using the e-visa. So I guess the question is, “do you feel lucky?”;)

[ssawjo]

We just returned from India last month where we had a similar itinerary. I did a lot of research about the visa and could never get a consistent answer. For that reason I decided it wasn’t worth the chance and got the regular visa. I never spoke to anyone using the e-visa. So I guess the question is, “do you feel lucky?”;)

 

No, I don't feel lucky. Murphy's Law, if something can go wrong it will. So, a full visa it is. I leave for India April 12, so that is three months out. I will start the process immediately.

 

Thanks everyone for your input and advice.

 

Bill

[Paulchili]

No, I don't feel lucky. Murphy's Law, if something can go wrong it will. So, a full visa it is. I leave for India April 12, so that is three months out. I will start the process immediately.

 

Thanks everyone for your input and advice.

 

Bill

 

Please be VERY careful. Bureaucracy is the longest lasting legacy from British times and the application will be returned for the smallest of errors - thus possibly losing precious time.

Every line has to be filled out.

Good luck.

[ceba]

Please be VERY careful. Bureaucracy is the longest lasting legacy from British times and the application will be returned for the smallest of errors - thus possibly losing precious time.

Every line has to be filled out.

Good luck.

Absolutely. We had to send ours back once and it did eat up a lot of time. My suggestion is get started straight away!

[Paulchili]

Absolutely. We had to send ours back once and it did eat up a lot of time. My suggestion is get started straight away!

 

In fact, this may be the one and only time I might recommend using and agency or paying extra to have them fill out the application for you rather than tackling it on your own.

Just sayin'....:D

[robbie21]

We have used the e-visa for India. The travel agency we were working with strongly recommended the e visa and it worked great for us. Note that this was a land trip - we flew both in and out of India as well as several flights within India. No cruise involved.

 

We looked at/researched the regular visa and found many comments of applications being returned for questions not answered or not answered correctly. The application has many confusing questions. The e visa is comparatively simple.

 

Agree completely with the comments about the legacy of British bureaucracy. It is awesomely obtuse with absolutely no common sense allowed :D. Nevertheless, the e visa worked fine for us although I doubt it would work if a cruise were involved on either end.

[jo-b]

In fact, this may be the one and only time I might recommend using and agency or paying extra to have them fill out the application for you rather than tackling it on your own.

Just sayin'....:D

 

Not sure if it is the same in USA or Canada but here in the UK there are regional offices where you can take in your forms and they check them there and then take payment etc and then send the stuff on for processing. They used not to be but are now very helpful with getting the forms correct.

[Paulchili]

Not sure if it is the same in USA or Canada but here in the UK there are regional offices where you can take in your forms and they check them there and then take payment etc and then send the stuff on for processing. They used not to be but are now very helpful with getting the forms correct.

 

Unfortunately that is no longer available here. We got our first Indian visa many years ago in person by going to the consulate here in SF. They no longer offer this service - all visas have to be obtained via a visa service or online.

[JoePDX]

We sailed on Oceania Nautica last April from Mumbai (only Indian port) and we were required to get the full visa. Same notation on our documents that is mentioned below, that the e-Visa was not valid for cruise travel. There have been reports here on CC that some ports are now set up to handle the e-Visa. But not consistent responses from the Cruise Lines....

 

As for us, the full visa it was. Cox & Kings (which handles visa handling for US Citizens) has a pretty poor website and application process, but if you follow their instructions to the letter....including printing and sending the "checklist" with your documents, it's a pretty painless process except for time spent....

 

A couple of hints:

 

Each application must be sent in a separate overnight envelope. No combining. Pay the fee for overnight service on the Cox & Kings website, it's about 1/2 what you would pay doing it yourself.

Get professional visa pictures taken (Walgreens does it while you wait...)

Double and Triple check everything.

 

In the end we had our 10 year visas back in less than two weeks from the time I sent then off. The Cox & Kings website keeps you updated as your application goes through the process, which it pretty slick...

 

Joe