Feb 13 2009

Don't Forget Your Visa (Part II)

This is all about money, what to take and specifically Visa debit cards.

When I last went to India, shortly after Dinosaurs became extinct, I took lots of Traveller's Cheques, but these days there's no real need to take loads, just take some backup.

Everyone on IndiaMike seems to take their ATM card and use that, but some complain of high charges from their own bank when doing this. They draw out enough money for the next couple of days just like at home.

But what about the hefty bank charges? I checked my providers, Nationwide, and they state that there will be no charge for withdrawals in India, or anywhere else for that matter. Great. The card is a Visa debit card so it will be accepted anywhere.

But what if the machine swallows the card? I guess I'll take a backup card and some Traveller's Cheques. I could always get cash out on my credit card if I was really stuck.

But how many ATMs are there in India? The answer is loads but of course, there's an article on IndiaMike about the location of ATM's in India.

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Feb 12 2009

Don't Forget Your Visa (Part I)

In the fury of planning your holiday some people forget almost the single most important thing: a visa to get into the country. If you don't have it, "you ain't coming in, not tonight son, your name's not down". (Sorry, slipped into remembering my abortive attempts at getting into nightclubs when too young, claiming I was on the guess list.)

Before you start wondering about getting a visa, you have got a passport, haven't you? Also this article only deals with my experience of a UK national getting a tourist visa for India.

Few IndiaMikers can forget the legend of Boston Harry and the Expired Passport, but it just goes to prove that you can get caught up in lesser important stuff like "how many ATMs are there", "how should I carry my money around" etc.

For me the visa situation was plain and simple but it was the one thing that gained a huge sigh of relief when it was completed. You just don't know what reasons may be taken into account and what information do they have? Do they dislike members of Amnesty International or Greenpeace? Will they know that I downloaded a copy of Slumdog Millionaire? Of course, I didn't actually do this, that's illegal isn't it?, but I do belong to both Amnesty and Greenpeace, but I've got my visa so who cares?

Applying Online

A first glance at the form on the VFS Global India Visa web site, leads to confusion with questions like "I don't have the names for any referees in India". But applying couldn't be simpler. The form has many pages but each one has a help page which is well worth reading first. Hey, even I read it and I'm a bloke and an geeky IT person to boot. Of course, if you run into confusion/trouble there's a visa section on IndiaMike all about it with a particularly good Q&A article for people in the UK applying for a visa.

When To Apply

I would have happily applied as soon as I booked my flights but I couldn't apply that early. I only wanted a six month single-entry tourist visa but the visa starts from the time they put it in your passport. Really you need to apply within six months of the date you'll arrive back in your home country, otherwise it will run out before you return. The turnaround time for me was 8 days, including posting both ways, and that's for four passports/visas.

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