I have just come back from the Jain Community Center in Manchester after having my visa application processed, i was 7th in the line but still had to wait 2 hours to be seen.
If no one has ever been i would recommend it, the security guard present is a great help checking each visa before you enter the main offices, but it still astonishes me how many people are still getting it wrong i.e wrong size pictures, no signatures, wrong forms etc. I really did feel sorry for one chap who had travelled two hours only to find his wife had,nt signed the form and for another couple who had the correct sized pictures but were turned away because they were purchased in Goa! please be aware of this and please make sure you signatures are the same as the one in your passport, they are very keen on this.
Now wheres the post man!!!

POLLY 50 you shouldn't have a problem using different 'puters.
I use either of the home ones for anything.
A bit like using any phone to ring a number!

re photo prices
although the booths show £5 for 4, when you select Indian visas (by the flag NOT by name) they show as being £7.

I think its not so much that the pics were taken in Goa,but maybe not taken properly ,wrong back ground ect ,like at a proper photo studio.there were many of us who had them done last year in Goa and they have all been accepted this year already with no problems.At a fraction of the price i recommend having them done there.

Spike no reason not to use the ones you have, before the change in size i used the old one's for years just copied them on the printer

Just out of interest, did anyone leave a tick in the box for receiving SMS updates? If so, did you actually get any?

Thanks for the advice. I did manage to do them and get them printed off, now paid and ready to go in the post on Monday. I panic every time I have to do them, big worry now is did I do them right and will they be issued?

Join the club Polly!

ive paid for the sms and email service. so far nothing. posted on monday evening, recieved at vfs hayes on wednesday at 08:30. since then nothing. this is what i hate about this service. if we were doing it we would realise how much stress this causes and would keep people informed. i see from a previous post that they got theirs back in 8 days. and ALL I GET when i go onto the tracking site is:-

SORRY RECORD NOT FOUND

8 DAYS WOULD BE GREAT

OK, so I was one of the lucky people almost a year ago who applied for, and got, a 12 month tourist visa.
And I was very happy about it.

I'm booked to go to Goa again in January, and when I get back to the UK there will only be 15 days left on the visa.
Which, in theory, should be completely OK.
I'm not infringing the 2 month rule or anything else I can think of.
So I reckon I should be OK.

But will I?
Has anyone else experience of visiting India on a visa where there is only a couple of weeks left on it after one's planned return date?
Will I hit any problems in Goa?
Or might I even hit a problem at checkin in the UK to go out there?

Bill, a couple of years ago I had 24 days left on my visa and had no problems, so long as your return to the UK is within the expiry of the visa you should have no problems

Ukbill i only had 1 day left on my visa last year and i was fine hope that helps.

Thanks folks , feel better now.
Will feel even better after I've got thro Diabolical in January and am on the beach enjoying the fist of many Kingfishers

Posted ours on monday 3 oct this morning sat 8 oct its on the web
" Your visa application has been pre-checked and processed at Application Center London-Hayes on 07-Oct-2011. "

But no sms message yet

still:

SORRY RECORD NOT FOUND

and no sms messages!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

smudger ours arrived at hayes on tues so was a day before you so yours should show monday last year it took 11days total from the day of posting till deliverd back, so looks on course to be around the same, don't know why I worry as not going till
9 jan

we go 12th of november but need to leave it this late so i can go again in march. i hate this time of year. wont relax till i see something on the website or even an sms THAT I HAVE PAID FOR. do you think we will be lucky and get one or is it another £1.20 down the drain????????

Smudger I dont think you'll get a text till the day they are being delivered.

Its 11pm sat just received sms "Visa Application Number********* has been dispatched to the High Commission of India for processing on 08/10/2011, are they working overtime?

I filled out our two visa applications yesterday and I managed to make a meal out of it. I became impatient because I couldn't find the links quickly enough to begin the form and to finally pay for it. It took me ages to get from page 1 to page 2 as the screen kept asking for an Indian Mission (I think it was called). I eventually found it at the top of the page (I have a laptop and could only see a small part of the form at a time). Anyway, after I filled out the first form the second one was easier; when I found the link to pay, paying was no problem at all.

Someone gave me a few double sided sticky squares to put on the back of our photographs; they are brilliant and not messy like glue sticks.

We went into WHS to post them around lunch time yesterday only to discover that at 1:30 we were too late for them to go that day as their last post goes at 12:30 so they will go tomorrow to delivery on Tuesday. We don't mind as they are in the system now.

Overall, I think I made more of a meal of the process than I should. If I had taken a bit more time to navigate the visa site and not have a hissy fit, I would have done it quickly. The information is there, but you have to be patient and look for it.