Goa Discussion Forum

Discussions regarding holidays in Goa.
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It has been done before, saw it on another Forum and it came back OK, but if its a bit late it makes the old ticker race a bit. I always get the post office special delivery envelopes every thing is on them so I don't tend to forget any thing costs a bit more than using normal ones and stickers but worth it.

Alan
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Help again. My OH going to Post Office today to send off applications for visas. Does he need to get a postal order for each of our applications or can he get just the one? Thanks in advance for any advice.
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Just the one Polly50

Debs
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Thanks Debs. I am getting so stressed.
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Visa applications in the post, just got to play the waiting game now.
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It will be fine Polly, dont worry, just start getting all your stuff looked out again :D
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this morning irina turns to me in bed and says weve sent off on tuesday fore our visas and were booked on a flight to latvia on the 28/2 what about our passports? weve been so busy we forgot we were going to need our passports back doh! so this morning after some frantic calls i finally get through to a guy in the london visa office after some time and him searching he even told us about our last application in november he finally found it,all i could think about is how much we were going to loose on booked flights,hotels and car hire we had paid for,but the guy found our passports and promised they would be sent back today to us with our visa stamps i think what im trying to say is im over the moon with the way the visa office treated our problem now we just have to await the postman.
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I dont understand, why did you need to apply for a new visa if your last one was issued in november last year. I thought all tourist visas were for six months with multiple entry.Sorry of course you could be travelling after April :oops:
Glad to hear that they are doing their best to get the passports back ASP
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i thought it was 3 months if it is 6 wev must of applied in october as it was due to finish in march,were going back 6/4 i cant help thinking if it was the uk passports office i would be spending the whole day just getting through
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:hyper Don't worry sent my application on 12/02 recieved back this morning 23/02 great service eh. No worries now only 20 sleeps to go.
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Oh my god these visas are so stressfull, because we never thought of posting (dont ask me why) and we cant get up to London to do the Visa's ourselves we usually use a courier service. When I took the passports and application forms to them in January they said it was manic in London and they would have to charge extra or we could wait until March. When I rang them today to say we are going in three weeks when will our visas be back, they still hadnt sent them, again saying it was manic, but of course they could do it on Monday for us but we would have to pay £75 for each passport, so that along with the visa charges would of been £240!!!! Luckily Aidan's friend at work gave me the name of an Indian travel agent who is going to do it for us for a grand total of £100 including visa charges. So needless to say I collected my passports from the couriers and gave them to the travel agent who assures me they will be back end of next week or beginning of the week after. Next year I am going to POST in plenty of time because I cant stand the stress, I just hope these arrive back in time, so I have everything crossed believe me.

Sue
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I've just checked and they received our applications this morning. Hopefully they will be back in plenty of time, but other half didn't take a note of the special delivery number for the return so won't be able to check that bit. I knew I should have done it myself!
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Booked a last minute holiday to Goa (never been before) so had to get down to the Indian High Commission for the visas.
Got there at 8.40am to find a massive queue. Finally got a queue ticket then entered a waiting room which was as crowded as a tube train in the rush hour. Waited two hours to be seen then presented the passports, visa forms and proof of residence which was one month old - me thinking
'you can't argue with that'. Sadly I was wrong. I was told that because one of us is not a British national, I needed proof to show they were a residence for more than a year. I had not come across this condition anywhere in their documentation, but you can't argue, so went home, took another day off and returned the next day to go through the same wait, crush of people, etc. Finally saw someone again and presented the passports, etc but this time with three proofs of residence going back three years, only for the officer to push them back to me saying she didn't want to see them. I paid the money, then after a further one hour wait got the visa!
I'm not sure what to think. But after queuing in the cold, being shoved and prodded, waiting for hours then having to come back for a repeat only to find I didn't need to, I have to say the experience was unpleasant and expensive. I can only dread having to do this again if I ever go back to India. It was horrendous! What must it be like for those who are elderly, infirm or disabled? Mind you, after having the most wonderful of holidays, we discovered that Goa airport is run along the same lines - only ten times worse.
Come on India, you have a great country, but please make it easier for us poor visitors. A little more planning would make things immeasurably better.
I will go back without question as its so beautiful and enjoyable. I would like it to be soon, but could not go through this again in a hurry, so it will have to wait.
I don't mean this to be a gripe, and I know many of you will have different thoughts about this, but felt I would post my experience of the visa process as I found it, at least to make others aware of what is involved and what to expect.

Les
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les
I dont think you will get many members disagreeing with you re visas :D Welcome to our forum!
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we just post ours Les ..in N/I we have to do that as we have no where to go and pick them up ....I think im glad we have to post them in... it saves all that old hassle......nice to have you as a new member ............colleen
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Oh my god Les I thought my £240 was bad enough, you had a terrible experience. I think you and I will both be posting next time

Sue
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Thank you for the welcome Fiona. And thank you for the great site. I've been recommending it to friends for ages and would never think of having a holiday without referring to it.

I will try to post a report on the hotel we stayed at shortly.

Keep up the good work

Les
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don't be shy in posting now that you've joined :D
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Im getting all excited now........ my visa came through really quickly. I sent it on the 22nd Feb and arrived back 1st March.

Anyone know what they do with the photo's you send?

Jenx
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