The instructions and information in this article are vitally important for India visa applicants that will be travelling to India, and during their trip they will also be visiting a side country and returning to India within 8 weeks. The embassy do not allow re-entry into India on a normal India tourist visa unless their is an 8 week gap. Therefore when making your application you must provide the following:
- Completed India visa application form
- Your passport with at least 2 clean pages and 6 months validity
- 2 passport size photographs
- A short letter explaining why you are leaving India, and when you expect to renter India.
- A photocopy of your travel itinerary into India, and when you leave.
The documentation is required also if you are transiting through India, but are leaving the airside part of the terminal.
Who does this rule not apply to:
- This rule does not apply to India business visa holders.
- This also does not apply to employment and long term visa holders.
How to get around this problem:
The main way is that you can fly back to the Uk, or into India via the 3rd party country. This avoids the hassle of putting on extra expense for the flight ticket. This is a very important point to the flexible traveller visiting India.
If you are wishing to return to India within 8 weeks, however from the UK, then you must visit one of the visa centres in London or in Birmingham – present them the relevant information and an additional form which incurs a £7 pound charge. They will ask you the reasons for your second trip and upon satisfactory responses, they will grant you an exception in your visa so that you can enter India again.
For Pakistani Nationals:
If an applicant has Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Sri Lankan ethnicity, then the visa application can take a minimum of 8 working weeks. You must complete an additional form, and further documentation including an employers letter as to why you are visiting. These rules make it very difficult for such nationals to enter India, and unfortunately due to these obstacles, no traveller should confirm or pay for any travel plans before they have obtained their India visa in their passports.
Will this make a difference?
It is often discussed whether such rules make the application process more difficult and it certainly does. However formalities with the Indian visa application process can be overcome by consulting with and using a quality India visa agency such as rapid visa who are a London based company that has dealt with over 20,000 India visa applications over the last few years and has immense experience in processing each case on an individual basis.
