Where to meet up w/ fiance outside India?

[Amit&Julie 180]

Hello all, do you have any recommendations on where my Indian citizen fiance and I could meet up to vacation together? Ideally, it would be a place where he can easily get a visa to travel to and kind of halfway-ish between US and India, or if not halfway, have cheap accommodations. Since I also plan to bring my mom, there should ideally be lots of attractions or a variety of things to do. My fiance has traveled outside of India before, though he is planning to visit Dubai next month. Any ideas?

 

I could get 10 consecutive days off by sacrificing just 3 vacation days around the holidays, and I'd really like to spend more time with my honey before our interview. 

[Amit&Julie 180]

Edit: He has *not* traveled outside of India yet.

[Pavel1982 104]

49 minutes ago, Amit&Julie said:

Hello all, do you have any recommendations on where my Indian citizen fiance and I could meet up to vacation together? Ideally, it would be a place where he can easily get a visa to travel to and kind of halfway-ish between US and India, or if not halfway, have cheap accommodations. Since I also plan to bring my mom, there should ideally be lots of attractions or a variety of things to do. My fiance has traveled outside of India before, though he is planning to visit Dubai next month. Any ideas?

 

I could get 10 consecutive days off by sacrificing just 3 vacation days around the holidays, and I'd really like to spend more time with my honey before our interview. 

I would go for Dubai. As US Citizen, you can get visa on arrival and it will be easy for your husband to get visa for Dubai and there are lots to see in Dubai. Other suggestion will be, have your husband try to get visa for some other countries in Asia and/or Europe . Then you and your mom get visa for the same country and spend time together (since you are US Citizen, it will be easy for you to get visa for other countries than your husband)

Edited October 6, 2017 by mrahman14

[BuiQuang 95]

have u try travel agent?  where u 2 can vacation not really immigration question

 

Google india citizen visa free travel.  u find country where he can go without needing visa

 

 

Edited October 6, 2017 by BuiQuang

[Amit&Julie 180]

@mrahman14 Thanks for the advice. 

 

@BuiQuang Thank you. Yes, I did find a Wikipedia list of visa requirements for Indian citizens by country, which shows countries with visa on arrival or no visa required. I know this is not an immigration question, but I'm hoping that since there are many others in similarly long-distance relationships here, some could share practical advice and actual experiences. Mods can feel free to move or delete the post as they see fit.

[Unlockable 7,306]

I second Dubai.

[amul 229]

How about Thailand or Jamaica? Both truly beautiful countries.

 

I would not hesitate to pick Thailand personally ❤️

[JE57 239]

I would suggest Thailand... Jamaica could be a challenge for him to get to given that he could not transit in the USA without a US Visa so the routing could be challenging for him..   Thailand is an excellent choice.  Being it seems that you are from Colorado it might also be an interesting experience to take a snow vacation with him before he eventually ends up in the Snows of Colorado assuming he is not from Snowy India I understand that there is some amazing skiing in India.    Another option he has is Macau he could take flight to Hong Kong and then do a direct transit to the Macau ferry without actually entering Hong Kong.  But I would not suggest 7-10 days in Macau.   So Thailand seems like the best option and would suggest a day or two in Bangkok followed by time in Pauket (so many things to do there) For that matter if you choose Thailand you could include Cambodia as instead or in addition etc.  So maybe meet in Hong Kong and then take onward flights to Thailand, Cambodia, Macau or Maldives etc.  He can't enter Hong Kong but does not need to to transit the airport here.

-

Good Luck... 

[Amit&Julie 180]

Thanks @amul and @JE57. I was actually thinking about Jamaica, and the routing through Europe seemed challenging enough. I didn't realise a US Visa would be required for transit through here, also. Scratch that! I'll look into Thailand. I really appreciate your advice!

[patientguyinlove 92]

My fiance and I are contemplating the same. How about a place with cheaper flights? 

We tried to balance bringing my flight cost way down, considering what her flight cost would be travelling from India.

 

UAE is on the list. Cambodia also. Sri Lanka had really expensive flights, Thailand also.

 

Personally, I'd rather go to India than most of these options.

 

I was looking at China Eastern flights to Delhi for less than $500. 

[Amit&Julie 180]

@patientguyinlove Don't get me wrong, I would much rather go to India.  The only problem is I've already traveled there twice in 2017 on e-Tourist Visas, and from what I understand, US Citizens are only allowed 2 e-TVs per calendar year. I could apply for a 6-month tourist visa, but this process alone can take a few months and I've read horrible things about the company that handles them losing passports and such. Not a risk I want to take before attending the fiance interview.  

 

I'll look into Cambodia and keep China Eastern in mind for the interview. Thanks!  

[Eric-Pris 1,602]

35 minutes ago, Amit&Julie said:

 I could apply for a 6-month tourist visa, but this process alone can take a few months and I've read horrible things about the company that handles them losing passports and such. Not a risk I want to take before attending the fiance interview.  

Few months?  My Indian business visa took 3 days, is it really that different for tourist?

 

BTW- Dubai is not cheap, so forget it if you are looking for cheap.

[Amit&Julie 180]

@Eric-Pris did you have to go through CKGS? If you did and it only took 3 days, it sounds like maybe you lucked out! Thanks for the note about Dubai.

[Eric-Pris 1,602]

3 hours ago, Amit&Julie said:

@Eric-Pris did you have to go through CKGS? If you did and it only took 3 days, it sounds like maybe you lucked out! Thanks for the note about Dubai.

It was 2013, and I went through some company in Manhattan.  Sorry, I don't remember the name.  I remember is cost about $250.  And it took only a few days 3-4 IIRC.

Edited October 10, 2017 by Eric-Pris

[N400fiasco 35]

Another vote for Thailand (only because I  met my fiance first time there). My fiance and I only chose it because it was Visa on arrival. Didn't get to see the 'beautiful' parts, just ended up hanging around Bangkok. Good for budget travel as food was cheap   and the air conditioning in various impressive malls was free.