New India Visa Rules Update
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A few weeks ago we posted an article about the changes to the Visa rules in India. India has now changed their 6 month multiple entry Visa to basically a no re-entry visa.
You can read more about the new rules here at our post New Visa Rules for India, but to give you a little recap…
Here is what is going on.
In December, India decided to stop allowing visitors back into the country until they have been gone for at least 2 months. India has had problems with terrorism and after the arrest of an American suspected of taking part in the 2008 attacks, they have clamped down on their visa rules.
He freely traveled in and out of the country for two years without raising any alarms.
We did some research on the subject and after reading about the new visa rules in the Times of India and the India Times, we came to the conclusion that the average tourist that already has a 6 month multiple entry visa should not have a problem coming back to India.
The conclusion was that the average tourist would be fine and only people that have stayed their entire 6 months in the country or people that work in India will have a problem. That is a pretty big problem for them, but at least the average traveler wasn’t going to have to worry about re-entry to India.
If the average tourist wants to go to say Sri Lanka like us, or Nepal for a side trip, all they will have to do is keep all of their documents to prove that they have been traveling and not up to no good. Customs and immigration will need these documents to see what you have been up to and will then let you into the country.
Great we thought, we can still go to Sri Lanka.
Well things seem to have taken a confusing turn.
We bumped into some fellow Canadians that had their entire itinerary planned before leaving for India. They had their tickets pre-booked to Sri Lanka and they have their ticket home booked already from Delhi, India.
They were issued a 6 month multiple entry visa before the rule took place and thought that everything would be fine.
During their time in Sri Lanka, they met an American that was already turned back when he tried to re-enter India, even though he too had the multiple entry visa that should be honoured since it was issued before the rule took place.
They worried that they to would have a problem and upon further investigation, they found that their passport had been stamped with a big black notice when they exited India. It clearly stated that they were not allowed back into India for 2 months.
They fly back to Delhi in a few days and already have train tickets and hotels pre-booked in India. Even worse, their flight back to Vancouver is booked from Delhi. They had all of this booked before they even left Canada.
As they said,” we are not young and we are not traveling cheaply” “We have dropped a lot of money into the India economy and we have a lot of money to lose if we are not allowed back in the country”
They went to the India High Commission here in Sri Lanka where they received no help whatsoever. As with everything in India, they only encountered bureaucracy and frustration. That is after filling in a bunch of useless paper work, standing in long queues and being told to come back in a couple of days.
They have no other choice but to try to fly back to India. This trip and itinerary was planned months ago. And they were issued a 6 month multiple entry visa!
Shouldn’t India honour the visa’s that were already issued?
Unfortunately, they are at the mercy of the whim of their customs agents. Much of India works this way we have learned. Ask one person one thing and they will have a completely different answer than another person.
Ask at least 3 people, average it out and you may have the right answer.
As for our last post about New India Visa Rules, I guess we should have read a 3rd newspaper before we came to the conclusion that the average tourist would be OK. The two major national newspapers were not enough, we needed a 3rd opinion.
What will happen to us?
Like I said, India is very random. We left the country almost at the same time as the other Canadians, but we do not have the big black stamp on our passport. We simply have a little red exit stamp beside our visa that doesn’t say a thing about not being allowed back in the country for two months.
It looks like we may be O.K.
We have followed the rules that we read about in the Indian newspapers and have kept every receipt right down to our bus, train and entry tickets. We clearly have a 6 month multiple entry visa and we have no notice on our passport that states we cannot re-enter the country.
Luckily, Dave and I don’t have our flights back to Canada booked from Delhi. If they refuse us entry, we may just have to fly on to Nepal early or fly back to this paradise of an island that we absolutely love, Sri Lanka.
Or we could end up like Tom Hanks in the Terminal and stuck living in the Delhi Airport without visa or country.
Yikes! Now that could be a problem.
We have asked the Canadians to let us know how things go for them. I hope they get in touch so that we can update you all on the situation.
If not, you will just have to wait until Feb. 22 when Dave and Deb try to re-enter India.
It will be an adventure.
But like Dave and I and so many other people that we have encountered on our trip have started saying on a regular basis…
That’s India.
For other articles and updates on India Visa rules, check out our posts below
Links to more information
India Revises Tourist Visa Rules
No Change in Tourist Visa Norms
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6966518.ece
Some Correspondence that we have received from a person that contacted an expert on the subject.
We have heard that if you provide the Indian consulate with copies of your travel documents for your time spent in India, they are allowing tourists to enter more than once, if you are visiting neighobring countries. We have clients successfully do this after going to India then to Nepal and then back to India.
Here is what we got from the Indian visa people:
Question #2:
Whether the gap of two months between two visits would apply irrespective of the duration of stay in India during the previous visit ?
Answer:
The intention behind the stipulation of a gap of two months between two visits on a Tourist Visa is to curb the abuse/misuse of the Tourist Visa. With a view to ensure that the genuine tourists are not affected by the recent guidelines, the following clarifications are furnished:
I. Foreigners holding Tourist Visas, who after initial entry into India plan to visit another country largely on account of neighbourhood tourism related travel and re-enter India before finally exiting, may be permitted two or three entries, as the case may be (need based), by the Indian Missions/Posts subject to their submission of a detailed itinerary and supporting documentation (ticket bookings). If they are already outside of their country of origin, they can also get such an endorsement from the nearest Indian Mission/Post.
II. The Immigration authorities in all the Immigration Check Posts may also allow such foreign nationals on Tourist Visas arriving in India without the specific authorization from the Indian Missions/Posts to make two or three entries into the country (need based) subject to production of an itinerary and supporting documentation (ticket bookings).
III. The total period of stay in the country counted from the date of first entry into the country shall not exceed the stay stipulation period of 180 days or 90 days, as the case may be.
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Wow that sounds so frustrating for you, and for the others who’ve been affected by the new visa rules. Hope everything goes smoothly when you try to get back to India, I’ll have my fingers crossed.
.-= Alouise´s last blog ..No Day But Today =-.
Thanks Alouise, we will see how it goes. If nothing else, at least others can learn from our experience. We knew about the rules before leaving, but as we have seen and even read since, it is not supposed to be a problem for tourists using it as a home base, however, things can change in an Instant in India.
Good Information, it sounds like the south of india would be better to camp out.
Anyway, I really don’t understand why people book ahead? But I do understand that it is kind of a tourist industry thing.
Thanks for the visa update.
.-= Shawn´s last blog ..It’s Official, Winter Arrived In Bulgaria. =-.
Hey Shawn. A lot of people book ahead because they are on a limited time and it is more economical for the most part. For us lucky few, we have the freedom to book as we go. We need to get back to India ourselves to finish our route and move onto Nepal. Flights are really expensive from Sri Lanka, so ideally we would like to move on from Delhi. We will see how it goes.
Joys of traveling! BTW – the movie Terminal is said to be based on the true story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian refugee who lived in Terminal One of the Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris from 1988 when his refugee papers were stolen until 2006 when he was hospitalized for unspecified ailments…
.-= Kim´s last blog ..A Windy Day in Cape Town =-.
Yikes! He lived in Charles de Gaulle for almost 20 years! I never did see the movie, maybe I shouldn’t have made a crack about it. That is terrifying and sad.
Wow – that really is India! I love that you are taking the situation with aplomb though and will head where ever the travel gods take you
.-= Shannon OD´s last blog ..A Little Cozy…Peat Fireplaces, Rugged Ireland, & Something Special =-.
It’s a shame that the word ‘bureaucracy’ has become synonymous with ‘confusion and frustration’, especially since so much of the time the very people responsible for enforcing rules are the ones confused, which leads to inconsistent interpretations. And both the tourists and those who rely on tourism are the ones who suffer.
.-= Trisha Miller´s last blog ..How To Manage Your Blog While Traveling =-.
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This whole nonsense affects us, too, and it is even more irritating to me because we have 10-year multiple entry visas — so clearly, we come back and forth to India and dump a lot of money into the country. The whole thing is preposterous. It might be a long shot . . . but you might want to try heading back to the consulate again and see if you can talk to a different person.
.-= Akila´s last blog ..elephant beauty at patara elephant farm =-.
Hi Akila, Thanks for the advice. That is terrible for you having a 10 year visa. We never went to the consolate, it was some other Canadians that we met. Luckily we are very flexible so worse case scenario (we hope) is that we will be sent out of the country or back to Sri Lanka. Ideally, we are hoping for a transit Visa to get to Delhi from Chennai so that we can get a cheaper flight to Nepal. Flights from Sri Lanka are quite expensive, so we are going to take a chance and see what happens. Besides, it will be good reading for everyone to see how it goes:)
I wish i could say that i’m surprised, but i’m really not. It’s so typical of India. Like you say, everything is totally random and either really complicated and confusing or suspiciously easy and confusing.
Haha Sofia. It is the suspiciously easy and confusing that is the scary thing eh:) But yes, you are right. Everything is so random you never know what one person is going to say to the next. We will see how it goes and keep you posted. Watch for news around the 23rd or 24th of February. We fly back the night of the 22nd.
We just received this email from Jan, the Canadians that we met. Looks like we will be making other plans. Check it out for yourself…
“Well, it did not turn out for us. We are in the Taj airport hotel in Sri Lanka chilling and anticipating a large gin and tonic.
Kingfisher airlines denied us bording after seeing the stamp in our passports. I asked for the duty manager and produced the information from the Indian Consulate saying they weren’t inconveniencing bone fide tourists and there was discretion at Indian immigration upon landing. I showed 3 airline tickets, 6 hotel vouchers and railway tickets as well as a flight out of Delhi. No use..he said ALL airlines were told NOT to allow anyone on board who had not met the 2 month requirement. (we were with Kingfisher but I asked about getting on a different flight) India is shipping people back to their departure point and the Sri Lankan people may not allow re-entry. He said the Indians are impossible to talk to and refuse to make any firm policy.”
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Ask your India travel agent to update you on the same. For example, if you visit a Gurudwara covering the head for both men and women is mandatory.For more info. please visit: http://www.vfmtravels.co.uk/
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So why the he’ll travel to india where the officers act as if the are your destiny maker and breakers they are so rude and act as if you a for granted a terrorist.
Reminds me of the movie where the gov officials act on normall people is the cause of new born terrorist.
If india is so afraid why don’t they just shut the doors to foreign travelers
I guess some mp should go through the agony of being refused entry and sent back and have to wait for the next flight for 10 hours at the airport with ought being even offered a lounge to sleep in then the law makers would learn some humanity.
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This is rediculas……why are they making inicent people suffer, terist will get in to India if they are going to keep there door open via sea. specilly there are making like difficult for normal indian people. its gone effect me in big way because i have family in Porbandar, India so offten traveling and im hindu so its last thing will on mind to harm India in any way.
These rules should only apply to Pakistani………….and for Indians.
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