Sent ours off on 8th November and had them back on 19th so 11 days in total, not to bad by previous standards.....Keith

Going to go and post mine now,fingers crossed now for a few days.

Must admit, it does seem to have improved in turn over time since the last time I applied for a visa

oh poo

i have put my maiden name in twice in the previous name section !!!!

i hope they dont send it back

We are first time applicants for Indian visas and were very grateful for all the information we got from this site - thanks to everyone.
Here are a few things we found out which others may find helpful.
We are going to Goa with Thomson and they gave us details of their staff in Goa to use as a referee. As at September 2011 they were:
Thomson Holidays, c/o Le Passage to India, Casa Del Sol, Opp Goa Marriott, Panjim, Goa, 403001 India
Telephone: 00918322461832
Fax: 00918322461833
Name of Key Resort Contact: Carolyn Noronha
(It doesn't all fit in so you will need to cut bits out, and of course "c/o" is a no-no)
The phone number for Thomson to check this is 0247 628 2828 which avoids having to use an 0871 number (thank you, the "Say No to 0870" website).
When we printed out the forms from the on-line application, the last few lines on page one were missed off. This was spotted when we took the forms into the VFS Centre and completed by hand (black ink of course) and we signed the additions. Worth checking if you are sending the forms by post.
The printed forms had a box on them for hotel details which didn't appear online. We left this blank and the people at the VFS Centre weren't concerned about filling it in when they saw we had an Indian referee. We assume both the hotel details and the Indian referee details are some sort of emergency contact when you are in Goa, but may be wrong.
The box for countries visited in the last ten years is ridiculously small, especially if you have been on a cruise or two and had stops in many different places. We e-mailed VFS about this and they replied, "You need not provide all the countries that you have visited so far. However, it would be alright to provide the number of countries visited in a minimum of last 6-12 months." We put in the countries for which we had stamps in our passports.
There is a box for a signature immediately under where you paste one of the two photos on page 1 of the printed out form. This is very faint and easy to miss.
We went to the VFS Centre in Manchester and had no problems. We had made an appointment online and by-passed the queue which saved us an hour or two waiting. I think we were the only people who had made an appointment and I would certainly recommend it. You can do this after completing the online application on the page for printing the form and there is also a Create/Reschedule/Cancel Appointment tab on the Online Application Procedure page. When you get to the VFS Centre, tell the guy on the desk you have an appointment and give him your appointment print-out. Going to the VFS Centre is worthwhile if you can as you get your form checked and have the chance to correct any mistakes or omissions.
If you are going to the Manchester VFS Centre, there is a car park off Leedale Street (which is the best place to put in a satnav as the postcode for the Centre (M12 4QE) covers a large area).
The Manchester Centre takes credit and debit cards (no surcharges for either) and postal orders but not cash.
We did not pay online as you cannot amalgamate applications and would have had to pay for two DX Secure return services instead of one (max of two passports per return envelope). Paying at the VFS Centre meant we only had to pay for one DX return envelope.
Nor did we pay for the text update service. We were very impressed with the VFS on-line tracking service which was updated on the day of any development. We also got a text from DX on the morning of delivery so we knew it was coming.
All in all, this was a most efficient service - we took our passports into the VFS Centre on Monday and got them back the following Tuesday, which is pretty good.

You do not have to pay for the dx service twice, just pay for one and enclose both applications, or you could use an sde envolope

well thats them off in the post......now off to chew my fingernails and wait for them to come back (hopefully with new visas in them !)

I am feeling really sick as i did not send mine till Monday and i am flying on the 12th its the first time i have done it on my own, so not sure if i have done it right, but i just need to get away so i took the risk, Now i am wondering if i should ring Hayes to see if its gone through ok, would they tell me do you think

Pearl xx

They won't have received it until yesterday, so won't have started processing it yet, so don't bother chasing just yet.

They seem to be taking about 7 - 10 working days at the moment.

You should get it back before next Friday, but you have cut it rather fine!

I know wish i had had not bothered now, Should of just stayed here and kept looking at the 4 walls

Thanks xx

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you...Don't start to panic yet!! Good luck,let us know when you get it.

I reckon you will get it on time, but my nerves wouldn't allow me to apply this late in the day.

Fingers crossed for you, and keep us updated.

After a lot of thought we have booked to return to Goa 21st January for 2 weeks.

To save me trawling through all the visa information (sorry, I know I am being totally lazy)! Just want to know if there is anything "new" we should be aware of regarding the application forms for this current season. Just hoping you will say "no" and complete as last year..............but of course this is India

Thank you.

Fizz

Hi Fizzy - Glad to hear you're returning!

Nothing really changed - same old nonsense! Just pour yourself a stiff drink and set aside a couple of hours and you'll be okay. Make sure your photos are 50mm square.

Hi roma, Thank you, yes we are returning, - a Goan friend invited us over to help celebrate her 50th so after a great deal of humming and harrring (because of our daughter's health) we made an impulsive decision to return as long as we could get a cheapy deal. Found something within our price range with JIC so have "gone for it" - quite excited now

Glad to hear there aren't any new major issues with visa's to consider this season, hoping to get our photo's done locally this year (with a bit of luck) and I hope the price has come down too - they were flipping expensive last year!!

I'll have the stiff drink and hubby can fill in the forms - great idea

Take care Roma,

Fizz

sorry I have a question

I am going to send my application tommorrow to Hayes special delivery and envlose a sspecial delivery envelope for rreturn.

I have not printed the new check list for that they say they now want does this matter or shall I delay sending it and print it off

I never sent the check list just the declaration

whats a declaration

If you go to the VFS global site, at the bottom of the on line visa application page it says ''click here'' to print your declaration form. If you print it off you just have to read it and sign and date it at the bottom and send it in with your visa form. Not eveyone has sent them but to be honest it's easy to print off so I sent them with our visa forms......Keith