Warning for Tourists (UK) Visiting India NEW Visa Requirements

Hi

This is a word (or a few) warning to anyone with a UK passport who is looking at visiting India in the next few months.

Unlike previously when UK passport holders who were going to visit India you just completed your visa online and obtained an e-visa. Well that all has stopped and now UK (only UK & Canadian) passport holders have to apply via the Indian Embassy in Madrid for a paper visa that they will attach to your passport.

This means you have to complete a lengthy application process online via the company they use VFS Global Spain SL.  You then have to obtain a special 2” x 2” (50mm x 50mm) photograph taken.  This has to be attached to your form that once completed you save to your computer and then print off, signing it and then attaching the special size photo to that form.  This form has many questions so it may take you a number of hours to complete.  You also have to upload a copy of a digital photo and your passport which have very low quality requirements so a normal scanned copy of your passport will not be accepted and you will have to use some photography software to reduce the size (not physical - pixels) to suit the application requirements. This is also a lengthy process so unless you have software to do this you will have an issue to even progress.

Once passed the application process and you have printed off the form (and attached your large photo) you then have to complete the form from the Indian embassy agency that process your paperwork (VFS Global) and get a large envelope to insert your passport, all forms including a copy of your payment (bank transfer) confirmation that you either have to do online or via your bank - either one is time consuming as well.  You then (only a suggestion) need to have all of this sent by say a courier to their offices in Madrid.  I am only suggesting a courier as I have found from many previous experiences using your local post office can take over a week just to get to them and sometimes they have lost the item(s)!!!

As a confirmation it does not really matter what country you live in Spain/UK etc the process is exactly the same their embassy in whatever capital city do it the same way.

The above is really only a “heads up” as we and I would suggest many people who are looking at visiting India have absolutely no idea that the visa system has completely changed and is now a really lengthy process.    So if you have a UK passport beware if you have visited India previously and used an e-visa you can’t do that anymore!!!!! 

UPDATE TODAY:  I have heard from the Indian Embassy agents (in Madrid) that what we paid was for a Spanish National rate but because we are British Passport holders we have to pay another 51 € each for them to process the visa application!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also had to reprint the form(s) to put United Kingdom instead of the drop down box of UK British Citizen.  So petty it looks like they do not want British holiday makers to visit!!!!!!!!

Another update:  Yesterday heard from VFS that we should not have written on the form United Kingdom.  No information what/how to change it. So I phoned the embassy and they said we had to do a completely new application form(s)!!!!  So made a new application(s) and printed them all off again and then sent it off again by MRW courier - will have to wait again now to see what they can now find is “wrong”!!!