bitter

Anybody got any insight on how hard/easy it is to get an employment visa for India. I have a job offer, submitted all the relevent paperwork to the embassy in Washington and three months latter still nothing! Both the employer and I have tried to chase this up, but no dice.
Anybody got any tips or insight? Is this usual?

captjns

Your visa application needs to be submitted to an Indian consulate that appropriate to the state where you live. There are some consulates you can walk your passport and visa into for same day service.

Here is their website. Give them a phone call.


24 Hour US Passport and Travel Visa Express Service for United States Passport Renewals and First Time Applications

bitter

This is who we used. Not real impressed. Lots of incorrect info passed along.

Will use Jepp next time.

What i was really looking for was a time frame that other folks have seen for the issuance of the Visa.

Three months to me seems a little absurd!

ce650

I have a friend who now works in India and I dont remember the exact time for his visa , I know it was alot longer than 3 months.

captjns

Regardless of the vendor used, like most countries, the minimum information usually required will be a valid passport, visa application, photos, contract from prospective employer, letter(s) from company whom one is going to be flying for. The UK on the otherhand requires documents such as tax returns, originals of one's bank statements, reference letters, college/university transcripts... in other words... a bloody nightmare.

Most vendors have web sites so one can monitor the visa process as it applies to one's situation.

chazbird

The company should provide you the information the consulate requires. If I remember correctly its a copy of the contract, offer of employment/sponsorship, company registration (basically their incorporation) and a letter from the company saying they've hired you for such and such position. If you have the proper material, you should have no trouble at all. I went to the local consulates agency (not the consulate) at noon, and by 6 PM the next day I had the 1 year "e" (employment) visa. (Other people I know had this same result) Or, if you are there by 9 AM you can have it back by 6 PM the same day, easy, if you are in a city with a Indian consulate. If you want me to check on the exact names of the documents they require I'll try to find them for you. Again, the company that hired you should be very familiar with all of this. Maybe there is a delay because you haven't got a DGAC approval? Sometimes that takes awhile and maybe you may not pass go without first having that. Or perhaps its because you've contacted the embassy? That might be the difference...try a consulate (in many major cities) with their approved agency.

YAKflyer

I am currently working for Air India and all I can tell you is the bureaucracy in India is both stifling and arbitrary. Very often there will be different requirements for two different people in the same situation. Currently we have pilots who are being required to have their visas renewed in India and are spending an undetermined amount of time sitting in a hotel waiting for their visa while their peers are being allowed to renew at home. Nothing about the Indian bureaucracy makes sense or can be understood. All I can say is hang on....

chazbird

Yak flyer: If you don't mind me asking, and you don't mind telling, who is your contract agency? I was at so and so airline & now thinking of Air India/Alliance and am wondering how you like your agency? (If you fly domestic, which I doubt, do you always stay in hotels or at the infamous "guest house"?)

Back to the thread: In regards to the visa, FATA (my favorite office of all time!) police clearance, and the myriad of other paperwork - yes, anything can happen. I stopped counting at 65 passport sized photos used in the first month and a half.

YAKflyer

I'm not going to revel the name of my agency, but it is based in the USA and I would not recommend them. If you are a US citizen, any US agency would be required to provide you with a 1099 which is also provided to the IRS. If you used an off shore agency there would be no reporting to the IRS which could be useful when reporting your taxes. I fly the 777 so I'm not very familiar with the Express operation.

chazbird

Probably the same agency then, and I get the same vibe...however with AI I don't think there's much choice in the US. Last place (where I went directly through the company and didn't have any tax issues) I was in country, trained, and on line before "this agency" got back to me saying "hey, its time" That's when there was a certain fever for the ex-pats, we'll see how this pans out...

Sorry for the semi-hijack of the thread...