INDIA FAQ (FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS)

• Tourist
• Business

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who Needs A Visa To Enter Into India?
2. When should I apply for a visa?
3. Processing Time (How long does it take to get my visa?)
4. Validity (How long will my visa be good for?)
5. How do I "read" my visa?
6. What are the consular fees?
7. What is an "entry" (single entry / double entry)?
8. What about jurisdiction?
9. Disclaimer

• If your nationality is not listed in the table below please call our office at 1-866-ITS-EASY (1-866-487-3279)and one of our staff members will assist you.

	VISA REQUIRED
	VISA NOT REQUIRED
Nationality	Tourist Visa	Business Visa
United States Citizen
Canada
Jamaica
Pakistan
Russia
United Kingdom

We recommend that you apply for your visa 3 weeks before your travel date. However, India generally processes visas in 3 days for applicants who live in the New York jurisdiction and 2 weeks for applicants who live outside the New York jurisdiction.

UPDATE FEB 13, 2005

India is currently NOT issuing SAME DAY visas. India visas are taking an average of 10 business days to process for applicants who live outside the New York jurisdiction and an average of 3 business days for applicants who do live in the New York jurisdiction. This time is completely out of It's Easy's hand and we CANNOT force the consulate to issue visas faster. It's Easy needs time to get applications into the consulate before their morning cut off period of 11am. That means applications we receive after 10am may or may not make into the consulate for same day processing. In this case it will go in the following business day. IMPORTANT Applicants who are Non U.S. Nationals who do NOT have a green card can expect their visas to take 10 to 15 business days to process.

Visa's to India are always valid for 90 day stays. They are usually multiple entry visas and are valid for either 6 months, 1 year, 5 years or 10 years. You cannot specify the dates the visa will be valid. The start date of your visa will be the date the visa is issued. The validity of your visa will depend on the service you request(See Visa Fees for the list of different services offred). For help reading your visa, please go to the section "How to read my visa". Business travelers will only be granted a 10 year visa if the business letter provided explicitly requests a 10 year visa.

Your visa should look something like the visa below:

A	DATE OF ISSUE: The Date the consulate issued the visa
B	DATE OF EXPIRATION: You must enter into India before this date. You must also LEAVE India by this date. So, in the above example if the applicant tried to enter into India July 4th, 2003 they would also have to LEAVE India by the next day! TYPICAL VALUES: 01 (Single Entry), 02 (Double Entry) and M (Multiple Entry)
C	TYPE: Purpose of your trip to India (Tourist / Business) TYPICAL VALUES: T (Tourist), B (Business)
D	NO ENTRIES: Tells you how many times you are allowed entering into India on this visa TYPICAL VALUES: -M- Multiple Entry, -S- Single Entry
The above visa holder can enter into India as many times as they want between January 6th, 2003 and July 05th, 2003. This is a Tourist visa.

Consulate fees can be paid in Cash or Money Order and are payable to the "Tra visa Outsourcing". These are the fees charged by the consulate, and does not include the It's Easy Service fee.

Single entry visas allow you to travel into a country ONE time. Double entry visas allow you to travel into a country TWO times. That means you can go into a country, then back to the United States (or any other country), and then you may re-enter the country a second time. Your two entries must occur within the time constraints listed on your visa. For help reading your visa, please go to the section "How to read my visa". Multiple entry visas allow you to enter in and out of the country an unlimited number of times during the dates specified on your visa.

A jurisdiction is the geographic area that a consulate expects their applicants to live in. Even though the Indian consulate has jurisdiction, the Indian Consulate of New York is currently not enforcing jurisdiction. (But the processing time for applicants who live out of jurisdiction will be LONGER). We can take in applications for indian visas on behalf of applicants in any state. Just make sure the New York visa application form is filled out. (See the instruction page to get the application form), and if you are submitting a business visa, the business letter should be addressed to the New York Consulate.

New York Jurisdiction: Main, Massachussets, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont and the Virgin Islands.