India visa

terencemc

Can i get a visa in Nepal?

breadmonkey

hmmmmmm, now there's a poser. Where are you at the moment? If you're still at home you could just pick one up here as the standard India visa is valid for 6 months with multiple entries.

dory

Check if India has an embassy in Nepal and email them. I've gotten Indian visas in Australia and Malaysia no problem. Just had to fill out an extra few forms and wait a few days.
And they were much cheaper than getting them in Ireland!

RATM

There's an Indian embassy in Kathmandu alright but Im not sure if they will only issue visas to Nepalese or to all comers.
This page says they will but I'd email them if I were you as pages may not have the up to date information on them.
http://www.south-asia.com/Embassy-india/consular.htm

If you are currently in Ireland its probably best just to get it here. Nothing worse than waiting around a city for five working days when you want to keep moving. Even worse is if you hand in the application mid-week and the weekend means it will take 7 days to process.

eleMental

yes there is an indian embassy in kathmandu but its VERY popular. all the taxi drivers know it. its about a 15 minute ride from thamel.

the process is you go there the day before (they say after 6pm but its basically up to whoever is in the guard box outside). they give you a poker-style chip with a number on it. (sometimes the exchange of afew rupes will decrease the number on your chip ;-) )

you then go back around 8am the next morning and queue up in the order of the number you got so the earlier you go the day before, the further up the queue you go and theoretically the less wait inside. they open the gates around 9 and everyone rushes in to the inner area where theres a form to fill in and a patio area where you form a new queue. theres one hatch with one guy to process and its utter chaos.

usually most people are quite fair and theres no "minding spaces" etc going on but be prepared to stand in line for anything up to 3 hours. its an extremely popular embassy esp with israeli backpackers needing a transit visa to get home. when you finally get to the hatch you basically give them the form and they take it and your passport and all the required docs (i cant remember exactly what but you do need passport photos and i think proof of entry and possibly onward journey.

then next day you go back and you get your visa in the afternoon, or maybe 2 days later. you dont need the numbered chip when you go to collect.

on the negative side, its not for people who like order and queues. be prepared for chaos and a queue inside about 4 people deep. and make sure you have everything you need as if you dont they make you go away and come back next day and you have to get a number and queue all over again.

on the plus side you end up making friends with everyone around you in the queue and when you go back the next day to get your passport back its like a mini-reunion with lots of celebrating.

given the choice again, i would definately get it in ireland before i went if i could.

breadmonkey

eleMental wrote: »

yes there is an indian embassy in kathmandu but its VERY popular. all the taxi drivers know it. its about a 15 minute ride from thamel.

the process is you go there the day before (they say after 6pm but its basically up to whoever is in the guard box outside). they give you a poker-style chip with a number on it. (sometimes the exchange of afew rupes will decrease the number on your chip ;-) )

you then go back around 8am the next morning and queue up in the order of the number you got so the earlier you go the day before, the further up the queue you go and theoretically the less wait inside. they open the gates around 9 and everyone rushes in to the inner area where theres a form to fill in and a patio area where you form a new queue. theres one hatch with one guy to process and its utter chaos.

usually most people are quite fair and theres no "minding spaces" etc going on but be prepared to stand in line for anything up to 3 hours. its an extremely popular embassy esp with israeli backpackers needing a transit visa to get home. when you finally get to the hatch you basically give them the form and they take it and your passport and all the required docs (i cant remember exactly what but you do need passport photos and i think proof of entry and possibly onward journey.

then next day you go back and you get your visa in the afternoon, or maybe 2 days later. you dont need the numbered chip when you go to collect.

on the negative side, its not for people who like order and queues. be prepared for chaos and a queue inside about 4 people deep. and make sure you have everything you need as if you dont they make you go away and come back next day and you have to get a number and queue all over again.

on the plus side you end up making friends with everyone around you in the queue and when you go back the next day to get your passport back its like a mini-reunion with lots of celebrating.

given the choice again, i would definately get it in ireland before i went if i could.

Haha, sounds like it would prime the OP perfectly for his time in India!

eleMental

yep that pretty much sums it up - an excellent preview of the wonderful organised chaos of india

btw having thought about it, i think it takes 2-3 days before you go back to collect it, not the next day as i originally thought.

RATM

You gotta love the chaos of Kathmandu, it serves as a great experience for the Indian virgin:D

kraggy

Just wondering if anyone here has got their visa in the Indian embassy? Is there much of a wait? In Dublin next week so thinking of doing it then.

Or how long would it take by post?

Thanks.

breadmonkey

I dropped mine in and they told me it would take a week. I showed up a the Indian embassy on the day and there were about 20 other people there all milling around and waiting. You basically had to bash your way to the front and tell them your name. Then you had to sit tight and wait for them to put the visa in your passport then and there!