CGJ, please can you break down the £78:09, I know that it is £30 for each passport was the £18:09 handling and tax and for the postage did you just put a return silver service envelope in with your application. Thanks in advance....jxk8

Jxk8, It was broken down as Visa fee = £30, Service Charges = £6.90, Admin Charges = £0.80 giving a cost of £37.70 each (x 2 = £75.40). Then VAT was added at 17.5% = £2.69 to get £78.09.
The silver SDE for the return of the passports had £4.60 worth of stamps put on at the Post Office and was then enclosed in with all the application documents being sent.
You can Track and Trace your SDE through the Royal Mail website and the progress of your Visa application online on the VFS site. (Remember to get the reference number off your return SDE as VFS let you know to enable you to follow it back with by Royal Mail).

Hope this helps

PS - had a bit of luck as the return SDE came back with the stamps unfranked, so it may happen again.

Thanks for the info CGJ, lets Hope my applications go as smoothly as yours, thanks again....jxk8

Just wanted to share my experience so far. This morning I completed the forms for my In-Laws. They are of Indian origin so I applied for a 5 year visa. Eveything went fine until I got to the end and saw the price - £288 for two visas. So I printed off the web references intending to go back to the application once we had checked that they were OK with the price. Incidentally, the price for long term visas has gone up since I printed off the price list at the end of June, hence the shock when we saw the price.

Looking at the website it is very difficult to find out where to go back to your application if you want to amend it and it took me ages and several searches of forums. Anyway, for those that need to amend their forms after completion, you need to go through the process as if you were creating a new application and when you click on the I Agree bit, you then get the option to Revise or Print etc and you type in your web reference, name and so on. A shortcut on the VFS home page to this bit wouldn't go amiss.

Also, for some reason it wouldn't let me open the forms from the website to print them off but it was OK when I downloaded the forms to my computer and opened them from there.

thanks Katie
Have to say it seems to be a bit of a "scutter" as we say up here.

As it is late and I can't get my head around reading all the posts (lazy) do you think it is worth me applying for a year long visa and do you think I will get it? Going in November and March (as many of you know) so don't want to pay twice if I can help it and don't want to leave it to the last minute to apply. (Sorry, been on colleens coffee tonight :D)

Don't bother going for the year one - hardly anybody is getting one, even the people who now hold 5yrs ones. If you look on other sites like Indiamike and Britishexpats there are pages about the same subject and everyone is saying the same.
This is going to make it very difficult for us winter stayers to book flights in May when they are cheaper then to get the visa as some people are getting the visa within days others taking alot longer. We got our year one just before they changed over the system (reduced from a 2 yr one reduced from a 5 - by them) so ok this year but who knows about next, especially as they have stopped the "surgeries".

Thanks for your reply Narial, I thought it might be a problem - damn - looks like I might be paying twice, I'll work out the dates later and see if I can risk a late application but as more of us apply probably the longer they will take to return so I'll give it some more thought.

hi
friends of mine from this forum have just emailed me to say they were in Nepal having been travelling and as they are now heading back to India and Goa for 6 mths tried to get their 6mth visa for India (whilst in Nepal) but were only allowed a 6mth with exit and re entry after 3 mths despite being interviewed and promised a 6mth over the phone. It seems this is going to be what will happen now .... no 6mth visas as such, because you have to leave and come back in after 3 mths ..this happened to most of my friends and family who stayed with us in Goa last season although it didnt matter to them as they were only holidaying for a few weeks at a time....i am sure this will affect a lot of people who normally stay for the whole 6 mths each year and I wonder if many of these will just find it too expensive and too much hassle and go elsewhere ??? sad... we are lucky of course and dont have this worry as we dont need the visa having PIO but i do feel sorry for thise that arent so fortunate
chilly

Received my new visa using the new procedure, turn around just over a week. I applied for a one year visa with multiply entries and got what I wanted. There is still the 180 days proviso, which doesn't affect me as I come back to the UK during summer for a few months.

that is amazing and will give hope to others i am sure, i am astonished you got the one year let alone the full 180 day stay without reentry!! congrats!! lets hope they are beginning to see sense at last... but after what happened to my friends it does seem a bit of a lottery.
chilly

KatieP wrote:

This morning I completed the forms for my In-Laws. They are of Indian origin so I applied for a 5 year visa. Eveything went fine until I got to the end and saw the price - £288 for two visas. So I printed off the web references intending to go back to the application once we had checked that they were OK with the price.

KatieP why dont your in laws go for a PIO this way they dont have to renew after 5 years.. this is what we did and i cant remember what we paid as it was some years ago but i am sure it wouldnt be any dearer than you are paying for 5 years
chilly

We have had to talk them into the benefits of a 5 year visa but the cost is still a sticking point. They are not sure how frequently they will want to go to India so a PIO might come later if they like staying long term. The PIO was £215 each when we got them.

I notice that they increased the price of long term visas by quite a bit in the last 2 months. The 5 year visa cost £90 at the end of June when I printed out the price list. It has gone up to £135 now, an increase of 50%.

We hope to meet you on one of our visits to Goa, we are there 3 times a season at the moment but apartment should be finished by Christmas.

that would be great to meet up, where is your apartment? we are based in Candolim/calangute border..are you intending to live out there? thats a huge increase on the visa!!
chilly

hi all, just to let you know first time applying for a visa sent it all off last thursday& received them back today,was amazed how quick it was after hearing other stories,now i can relax& look forward to my first time in goa

thats good news i am sure you will love it!!
chilly

We sent our visa`s away to get done to Edinburgh 3 yes 3 weeks ago, it says on vfs site applications will take minimum of 2-3 working days ours was 3 weeks, wealso paid extra for vfs to return or passports in there special delivery envelopes for peace of mind as you do.
.
We this morning Pat in his wee red van minus his cat came to the door with a card saying that there was £11.10 to pay on them as the wrong postage was put on them needless to say i was fumin but went to get some money for him but he piped up that i had to go to post office now to collect them and pay the extra for them,
when i get my passport back tomorrow they will be getting a phone call or email demanding a refund, i`ll let you know how i get on.
The start of things to come maybe

Sent my passport off on friday and got visa back today! cant believe how quick it was considering i missed half the form out!! had to phone and give them the rest of the info!
oh well...atleast i got them and am now waiting patiently till the 28th when im off for 2 months!

Earlier today I filed an online application for a visa and stumbled upon the following problem.

a. I completed my online form and got as far as the make payment section which was completed and payment sent using my debit card.

b. at this point the page expired and at no point did I see a prompt to down load the form for signature.

c. I helped a friend through the same procedure 3 weeks ago and didn't down load their form until a week after the online application as i was not aware of this procedure, this form was retreived by quoting the web reference and passport number.

my problem is that I am unable to access my online application using the method quoted in section c above but I get told there is no record of details. I contacted my bank and they adised me that the payment was being processed. I have tried online most of today but to no avail I tried to complete a new application form but when I enter my passport number it comes up this number is recognised and will not allow me beyond this point. I have emailed the company requesting help but have had no response other than the automated receipt for my email.

Has anyone else met the same problem as this and if so could you please advise me on the best way forward to resolve this issue. Alternatively is there an option anywhere online to download a blank form which I could use to to forward my details quoting my web reference?

Any help much appreciated.

RJL