Process to get travel visa for India, for US Citizens (Person of Indian Origin)

[G_One 10]

Hi all,

 

I recently became US Citizen. I want to know what is the process to get travel visa for India, for US Citizens (Person of Indian Origin) ? 
Can I apply a general visit visa to India Online Or do I have to visit the Indian Embassy in Chicago (as I live in Missouri) ?
Which is quicker OCI or a Visa ? I have to travel in December 1st week.
What is the ETA to get the Entry Visa ? And what is the ETA for OCI ?

 

Pls advice. Thanks

 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2021 by G_One

[Mike E 11,723]

IME: Quickest and simplest is an e-visa https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/

E-visas pre Covid took less than a week to be approved.  You do not go through the consulate.  

Most cost effective will be an OCI if you intend to travel often to India (multiple times per year).  
 

The trade off between e-visa and OCI is a ten year multi entry visa.  An excellent solution but you barely have the time to get it. 

Edited November 3, 2021 by Mike E

[G_One 10]

5 minutes ago, Mike E said:

IME: Quickest and simplest is an e-visa https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/

E-visas pre Covid took less than a week to be approved.  You do not go through the consulate.  

Most cost effective will be an OCI if you intend to travel often to India (multiple times per year).  
 

The trade off between e-visa and OCI is a ten year multi entry visa.  An excellent solution but you barely have the time to get it. 

 

Thanks for the reply. 

But What category should I select for a general entry visa, when applying for e-Visa ?
There is no relevant visa type (there is -Tourist, -Medical, Business, Conference, Medical Attendant, Emergency X Misc )  

[Crazy Cat 39,300]

This is not a US immigration question....I have moved it to the India regional forum.

[Mike E 11,723]

1 hour ago, G_One said:

 

Thanks for the reply. 

But What category should I select for a general entry visa, when applying for e-Visa ?
There is no relevant visa type (there is -Tourist, -Medical, Business, Conference, Medical Attendant, Emergency X Misc )  

What’s wrong with Tourist? 
 

You can get a 5 year multi entry visa with that.  

Edited November 4, 2021 by Mike E

[G_One 10]

38 minutes ago, Mike E said:

What’s wrong with Tourist? 
 

You can get a 5 year multi entry visa with that.  

 

Tourist is not correct, because I am not a tourist to India. I am from India, its just visiting your home country to meet your family and friends. And it is limited to 30 days which also doesnt meet my needs. That's why there has to be some other visa type for people of Indian origin visitng India.

[Mike E 11,723]

6 minutes ago, G_One said:

 

Tourist is not correct, because I am not a tourist to India. I am from India, its just visiting your home country to meet your family and friends.

Visiting family and friends is one of the authorized uses of evisa. 
 

“Foreigners whose sole objective for visiting India is
    (a) Recreation and sightseeing
    (b) Casual visit to meet friends and relatives”

 

 

 

6 minutes ago, G_One said:

 

And it is limited to 30 days which also doesnt meet my needs.

Not true.  
 

“For e-Tourist Visa (01 year / 05 years), the validity would be 365 days / 05 years from the date of grant of ETA with Multiple entries and continuous stay during each visit which shall not exceed 90 days 
   except nationals of USA, UK, Canada and Japan. In case of nationals of USA, UK, Canada and Japan, continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 180 days.”

 

You are an American right? 180 days.  

A paper 10 year multi entry visa isn’t going give you anything better, other that the 10 year term. But not all Americans get 10 year visas, especially Americans who weren’t born in the USA.  
 

The 5 year e-visa is the way to go, imo. 

 

6 minutes ago, G_One said:

 

 

 

That's why there has to be some other visa type for people of Indian origin visitng India.

There doesn’t have to be but it turns out there is.  OCI.  And since you want to travel next month I don’t believe it is feasible to get an OCI.  Have you even gone through the process to renounce Indian citizenship?

[Mike E 11,723]

https://www.mha.gov.in/PDF_Other/AnnexIII_01022018.pdf
 

“Sub-categories of e-Visa
There are three sub-categories of e-Visa i.e. (a) e-Tourist Visa : For recreation, sightseeing, casual visit to meet friends or relatives, and attending a short term yoga”

 

fwiw from 2008 to 2019, I traveled to India 1-4 times a year, and so have a lot of experience with Indian consulates, immigration officers, and visas.  The system has evolved in an overall positive direction with the 5 year e-visa for Americans being the pinnacle.  India has gone from one of the worst to one of best when it comes to tourist visa processing. India can teach the world a lot now.  

Edited November 4, 2021 by Mike E

[G_One 10]

19 minutes ago, Mike E said:

“For e-Tourist Visa (01 year / 05 years), the validity would be 365 days / 05 years from the date of grant of ETA with Multiple entries and continuous stay during each visit which shall not exceed 90 days 
   except nationals of USA, UK, Canada and Japan. In case of nationals of USA, UK, Canada and Japan, continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 180 days.”

 

You are an American right? 180 days.  

Great ! I didnt read those details on their website, that should work for me. 

 

 

19 minutes ago, Mike E said:

There doesn’t have to be but it turns out there is.  OCI.  And since you want to travel next month I don’t believe it is feasible to get an OCI.  Have you even gone through the process to renounce Indian citizenship?

No I did not renounce it yet. When and how do I renounce the Indian citizenship ? I am yet to receive my US passport though, it in process.

[Mike E 11,723]

47 minutes ago, G_One said:

Great ! I didnt read those details on their website, that should work for me. 

 

 

No I did not renounce it yet. When and how do I renounce the Indian citizenship ? I am yet to receive my US passport though, it in process.

My understanding is that you are supposed to renounce within 90 days of getting a second citizenship and that in the USA, India has our sourced this to VFS global.  

[Jot18 47]

3 hours ago, G_One said:

Great ! I didnt read those details on their website, that should work for me. 

 

 

No I did not renounce it yet. When and how do I renounce the Indian citizenship ? I am yet to receive my US passport though, it in process.

You can renounce your Indian citizenship after receiving your US PP. If you have some kind of emergency then you can request emergency visa. OCI takes couple of months. I applied for my uncle's Renunciation and emergency visa at the same time. We sent application last mon and rec'd visa today. However no word on renunciation yet.

[pm5k 127]

You should apply for an OCI.  It is worth it in the long term.

[G_One 10]

19 hours ago, Jot18 said:

You can renounce your Indian citizenship after receiving your US PP. If you have some kind of emergency then you can request emergency visa. OCI takes couple of months. I applied for my uncle's Renunciation and emergency visa at the same time. We sent application last mon and rec'd visa today. However no word on renunciation yet.

 

Can we travel once we get the Indian Tourist/Visit Visa, without the Renunciation document (if it is applied and in process) ? 

[Jot18 47]

1 hour ago, G_One said:

 

Can we travel once we get the Indian Tourist/Visit Visa, without the Renunciation document (if it is applied and in process) ? 

If you apply for tourist/visitor visa, you will most likely get both documents together. However if you apply for emergency visa aka x-visa then just apply together and attach the payment receipt of Renunciation with visa application. That's what I did with my uncle's application. VFS hasn't even sent the acknowledgement email yet but he got his passport yday and went to India today. I'll let you once he reach India. You are not reqd to carry renunciation certificate while traveling.

[Tathastu 3]

18 hours ago, Jot18 said:

If you apply for tourist/visitor visa, you will most likely get both documents together. However if you apply for emergency visa aka x-visa then just apply together and attach the payment receipt of Renunciation with visa application. That's what I did with my uncle's application. VFS hasn't even sent the acknowledgement email yet but he got his passport yday and went to India today. I'll let you once he reach India. You are not reqd to carry renunciation certificate while traveling.

 

This is my conundrum. Wasn't aware about the Renunciation certificate being a necessary step for visa approval. I have just applied for this via SF consulate (notoriously slow), can't rely on them to process the certificate in time for me to apply for the entry visa. I wasn't aware you can apply for x visa at the same time. Can you please point me in the right direction to get this started? Also, my travel is in mid December, can I still apply for this category/ x/emergency visa? Thanks in advance!