India Tourist Visa on Arrival

London, United...
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India Tourist Visa on Arrival
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Hi there,

I thought I'd share my recent experience with the newish Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVOA) for India. There seems to be lack of information on it.

A check in officer at the Kingfisher airline desk in London Heathrow Airport was unaware of Delhi being one of the TVOA entry points. He was fine with my no-visa status once I showed him the print out of TVOA information page from Indian High Commission website.

When I arrived at Delhi airport, there was a big sign 'Tourist Visa On Arrival' pointing to the right of the escalator, just before the immigration. There were two officers looking happy to have a passenger. I completed a TVOA application there which is similar to the normal tourist visa application for India. I also handed in one passport photo and the fee of USD $60. They stamped my passport and gave me a visa expiary date as per the departure date on my flight ticket. They also took the arrival card and stamped the customs card. The whole process took about 20 minutes. The officers were friendly but took their time processing it. Don't think it was a two-persons job for that long but I found services are generally slow in India.

There was no exit from the TVOA area. Even though I had the entry and customs card stamped, I still had to queue in the main immigration area for 20 minutes. I didn't see how else I could exit the immigration area and there was no one official around to ask. The immigration officer just told me to go through when I flashed the TVOA. So it seems like I didn't have to be there.

My flight was from UK which is an ineligible nation for TVOA and I was the only person at the TVOA desk at the time so no waiting time involved. It may be a slow process if many people from Japanese/Singaporean flights want to apply for TVOA.

So fellow TVOA eligible travellers,

1. Take the print out of TVOA information page from India High Commission

2. Take USD 60 or Indian Rupee equivalent

3. Take one passport photo

4. Ask the TVOA officer how to exit the immigration before joining a queue!!

Hope this helps. India is an amazing place with so many friendly people. Happy travelling!

Cheers.

Goa, India
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559 posts
1. Re: India Tourist Visa on Arrival
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Many thanks for this inforrmative post. There has been very little feedback about how this works in practice, so it's good to hear that it went smoothly.

Let's hope they extend the practice to more nationalities in future.

Luzon, Philippines
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for Philippines, Bandar Seri Begawan
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Thank for this very helpful information. I am from the Philippines and I understand that I can get a VOA but after reading other threads in the India forum I am now having second thoughts. I guess I have to try my luck when I avail of this VOA in Delhi and will be back here to inform other TA members if it is really worth it or it is better to get visas in your home country.

Even if I had this VOA in an hour it would be still worth it rather than going to the embassy and be back again to get my passport with a visa.

Bath, England...
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i was so happy to find your description about how the TVOA really works as i am struggling to figure cross that it will work.

My situation is quite different. I will go to France by the end of this month and be back on by 14th of November. I got an invitation to one of my Indian friends's wedding by 2rd of January. However, it seems not to be fine as i also want to apply for the PSW visa after my master degree. i will graduate by early of December and only by that time i can apply for the PSW visa, and normally i takes you a month and a half to have the result. If only after i completely apply for that visa and still have to get a visa to India then certainly i will miss my friend's wedding. I can apply for the PSW visa earlier as i need to wait for the result of the course to go.

my nationality is Vietnamese and the TVOA has been extended to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia by the 1st of 2011 January, i really hope everything will work well. i had tried to call many agencies and embassy but most of them advised me to take the visa. I do not mind doing that, but probably i don't have a choice. Till i find your title and after reading through it. Seem like i found my way to solve the problem which caused me headache recently.

Thank you so much for a very useful and practical information. <3

Cebu
1 post
4. Re: India Tourist Visa on Arrival
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Were you able to get your visa upon arrival? How did it go? How long did it take?

Boston
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5. Re: India Tourist Visa on Arrival
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Hello - Does the TVOA apply to US citizens?

Derby, United...
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http://www.immihelp.com/nri/indiavisa/tourist-visa-on-arrival.html

Afraid not Chau81.

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Hi me and my fiancé are going to India for roughly 30 days. We were planning on getting a visa on arrival cause we are from New Zealand but after speaking to a friend, they recommended getting a visa before arriving as it is so slow once you arrive and apparently were making women queue in one line and men in another and then taken into rooms and had to take their clothes off (not sure why?!) and it was a very difficult process. Im wondering if anyone knows whether the VOA is smoother and quicker now that it has been around for longer. What would you recommend? Also we will be staying at many hostels as will be travelling all over india, so do I need confirmation of every place we will be staying at?? We wont have booked all the hostels in advance. we will be booking hostels as we go. Thanks

8. Re: India Tourist Visa on Arrival

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