Hi Danny

I thought I did see that in Bolton under a different/alternate name. Worked great and would use again.

If that really is £15-ish above standard VFS cost, and he does the photos, and it covers some of the postage, and he takes all the worry out of the visa nightmare......................... surely this has to be the bargain of the century?

Why isn't everyone using him?

Hi BB

I guess one reason is why another poster stated, distance. I hit lucky as it's half hour from me. One extra cost is the time and petrol in taking the form and passport to them and then having to pick them up in person when the visa is returned.

One thing is for sure I will use them again.

Why isn't everyone using him?

I think that 2 and a half hours drive each way would be counter productive

it's worth checking out your local area though if there is a large percentage of Indians living there.
I know that there was one travel agent in the Bradford area offering similar service.

The much discussed, mostly by misinformation and repetition, extension of counties eligible for VOA has been formally announced today...............

https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html

To our utter amazement, the UK is excluded but of course, Russia, Ukraine, etc have been welcomed.

I stopped going to India a few years back (after nine holidays there) when they made the visas silly prices and continued to try to make it more and more difficult for Brits to go there.

This new posting simply proves to me that India does not want British tourists at all.

So – bluntly – I’m sorry, I do like the food, the climate, and the amazing photo opportunities presented by India, but I feel that the Indian government can take their country and stick it!

I’ve now gone to Sri Lanka and to Thailand quite a few times – there we are WELCOMED.
Wonderful countries with amazing sights, great food, and history.
- and much cleaner, with better hotels, and better managed than Goa or other parts of India.

The cost and the bureacracy involved in getting a visa to travel to India are broadly the same as those imposed by the UK for non-EU citizens. Perhaps when the UK makes it easier for tourists to enter the UK, countries like India will make it easier for UK citizens to obtain entry visas?

SM

SMa , I understand your point re "tit for tat" issues causing visa problems ,
But.
As far as I can see, apart from the cost, the issue of an Indian getting a visa for Russia is comparative to that for getting a UK visa.
The latest info I could find in a quick search was that a Russian single trip tourist visa for an Indian national was approx rps 3290 , so around £35.
However the list of formalities is, I would imagine, no different to those for Indians to the UK.
Thus I don't see why India would make it more difficult for UK visitors to get a visa than Russians on that basis.

For a tourist visa

1.Theoriginal tourist/hotel voucher issued by a Russian tourist agency/hotel, which is registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of the Russian Federation containing the necessary data of a traveler (name, date of birth, etc.), period of stay (date of entry and departure), name of receiving Russian travel agency, list of services paid for (transportation, accommodation, sightseeing, etc.), signed by a representative of the tourist agency, stamped with the agency's seal and bearing an official MFA reference number. Faxed and scanned copies are not accepted.

2. The original hotel confirmation Faxed and scanned copies are not accepted.

3. Original return air tickets.

4. One passport size photo (3x4 sm.) with light background.

5. Filled in and duly signed visa application form (A completed visa application form (one per person). Must be completed on Web portal INVALID URL

6. Valid Passport (should be valid at least for 6 months after expected visa expiry date) with two empty (without any stamps, messages, etc.) pages facing each other.

7. A duly filled payment slip, which is collected at the Visa Section at the moment of submission.

Maximum period of validity is one month.

Tourists who are travelling on board a cruise liner can stay in the territory of the Russian Federation without a Russian visa within 72 hours on the following terms:

Overnight stay should be obligatory on board a cruise liner only (not at any hotel/a guest house).
A list of passengers should be submitted to the authorities of a Russian port in advance (72 hours before the arrival of a cruise liner to a Russian port). The name of the passenger concerned is to be obligatory included in the above mentioned list.
The passenger should have with him/her a document, which identifies his/her personality and is considered to be legal in the territory of the Russian Federation.
The passenger may go sightseeing in the territory of the Russian Federation only within the limits

determined by a group tourist program of the cruise.

The first difference is that the application fee for a general visitor visa for the UK is £83 so more than double the cost of one for Russia albeit that It can last for up to 6 months and not just 30 days but few tourists visit the UK for that length of time anyway.

https://www.gov.uk/general-visit-visa

The second big difference is the amount of documentation you have to provide demonstrating that you can financially afford to pay for everything needed to support yourself whilst on your visit including providing copies of eg bank statements.or payslips for the last 6 months. If these aren't in English the applicant has to provide certified translations of them all.

https://www.gov.uk/general-visit-visa/documents-you-must-provide

Thirdly, in addition to the expected photograph you have to provide your fingerprints as well and this has to be done at a visa application centre.

https://www.gov.uk/general-visit-visa/apply

There are only 13 of these centres in the whole of India and whilst you have to file your application on-line you have to present yourself in person to one of these centres for your photo and fingerprints to be taken.

http://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/india/applicationcentre.html

These requirements of course are not just for Indian citizens - they apply to all non-EU citizens - and you must apply more than 3 months in advance of your planned arrival date. I am surprised that anybody puts themselves through this process to come here and yet tourism is just as big a business and as vital to our economy as either India or Russia. But the bigggest difference is that the Russian process seems to be predicated on the assumption that once you have jumped through all their hoops and applied for your visa, that you will get one because in order to get your visa you have to have to have proof that you have booked all your accommodation etc. Whereas applicants for general visitor visas to the UK are actively advised to not book anything until they have been granted their visa - the implicit message being that it isn't a foregone conclusion that they will be given a visa and that they might end up wasting their money if they do.

An ex-colleague of mine who was entitled to apply for UK citizenship because of her marriage to a UK national but would have preferred not to renounce her Indian citizenship (India does not allow for dual citizenship), eventually did apply for citizenship once they had children because travelling on her Indian passport meant that she had to go through the above rigmarole every time they had a family holiday outside of the UK. Plus the minimum 3 months in advance requirement meant that she was not always able to travel at relatively short notice for academic conferences etc which is what anybody with serious research aspirations in a UK university needs to do. This is despite the fact that she had 'leave to remain' in the UK because of her marriage. In reality it meant leave tor remain as long as you never leave the country even just for a 2 week holiday or even 3 day work trip.

The simple facts are that if you aren't an EU citizen, the UK is actually one of the most difficult countries to come and visit because the procedures are so complicated. You wouldn't believe the hoops that friends visiting from Cuba have to jump through in order to get a general visitor visa to come over to the UK!

SM

As regards the availability of visa centres for Russia, as far as I can see there is only one in Mumbai, so presumably that is no better than the UK requirements.

Although it doesn't mention it on the quoted example, other sites did day that proof of finances will be required, and these must be certified and in Russian.
(there appears to be some difference depending on which sites are viewed. possibly some are out of date also)

But the bigggest difference is that the Russian process seems to be predicated on the assumption that once you have jumped through all their hoops and applied for your visa, that you will get one because in order to get your visa you have to have to have proof that you have booked all your accommodation etc

I'm not sure that I agree with your interpretation of the rules. Reading the rules for visa applications on different websites, they state that should a visa be refused then all fees are non refundable, So presumably there are circumstances whereby a visa may be refused even if accommodation etc has been booked and paid for.
On that basis the UK is being more reasonable than the Russian, helping to ensure that someone doesn't pay out for things they may not be able to use.

Certainly, IMO, the difficulties between applying for a visa to the UK and Russia are so similar/convoluted that I cannot see a simple tit for tat response being the driving force behind the refusal of VOA for UK residents.
I think that it is more likely to be a left over resentment of colonialism.
Of course, that doesn't explain why other EU countries should share the same fate.

The simple facts are that if you aren't an EU citizen, the UK is actually one of the most difficult countries to come and visit because the procedures are so complicated.

Can't imagine why that would be?

As far as the much quoted "tit for tat"............... when visiting British (not of Indian origin) visit on a tourist visa and disappear into established, legally resident communities without a trace, never leaving the country.... then I will accept a "tit for tat" reaction to the restrictions, sorry.

I'm not saying that I agree or disagree with either the Indian or UK entry rules just pointing out that the UK entry rules are amongst the most restrictive in the world. However, it doesn't surprise me that if one country makes it difficult for the citizens of other countries to enter then they are likely to do the same in response. And vice-versa - it is easier for Indian nationals to obtain a visa to enter Russia and so it doesn't surprise me that the Indian Government has put fewer obstacles in their way when it comes to them visiting India.

As a visitor you have to decide on an individual basis whether to accept entry rules and visit that country or reject them as too cumbersome and not visit. Arguing about whether they are fair or not won't get you anywhere, as all those people queing up at the non-EU Border Agency desks at UK airports will testify. It's a case of like it or lump it and the indian Government, just like the UK one, has decided that certain categories of visitors have to lump it if they want to enter the country.

SM

Arguing about whether they are fair or not won't get you anywhere,

I wasn't arguing about the unfairness of the difference but about the logic of it..
The visa to enter Russia is not that much easier than the UK's requirements.
Certainly not that much easier enough to merit a completely different approach to reciprocals.
It seems to me that there is a further reason for the differences than just tit for tat.
However as you say, it's our choice to go and if we choose to go then we must accept the discrepancies and restrictions.

hi all
slightly off topic....but not going to Goa/India this year (first time we will have missed since Easter 2000) but trying Sri Lanka in February.
On Sunday i applied on line for our visas (ETA)...only one simple page of "normal" questions...and at a cost of £18.....got them back to me online in 8 hours....so simple.
India/Goa please take note....

Must say quite shocked at the price and process required to go to India for 2 days en route Sri Lanka so likewise considering now just dropping India and providing Sri lanka with my spending money.

Have read this forum and while I understand some of the comments raised, unfortunately the UK needs to maintain a strong ground in entry cos here is the thing - just about everyone was to go to the UK and it is well known and you really cannot compare like for like!

Looks like ABTA and others are getting into this and voicing opinions.
However since the Visa on Arrival system has been rolled out for lots of countries and seems to deliberately EXCLUDE UK nationals one has to assume that complaints will fall upon Indian deaf ears. The Indian Government really do not seem to want British tourists to visit India.
Just checked yesterday and the VFS website seems to have already been changed ready for the new personal interview/fingerprinting system.

http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2015/02/23/53257/concerns+raised+over+mandatory+fingerprinting+for+india+visas.html

http://www.ttgdigital.com/news/indian-visa-change-will-discourage-visitors-trade-warns/4695292.article

Changed, but loads of errors............ and I mean loads.

Anyone trying to follow the "new" instructions as a first time visitor would have many problems.

Yep a pain.
Never again.
Starts march

SMa wrote:

The cost and the bureacracy involved in getting a visa to travel to India are broadly the same as those imposed by the UK for non-EU citizens. Perhaps when the UK makes it easier for tourists to enter the UK, countries like India will make it easier for UK citizens to obtain entry visas?

SM

The trouble with that is that just about every British tourist visiting India will most likely return home at the end of their trip. However make it easier For Indians to get visas for the UK and you can bet a goodly number of them will just disappear at the end of their visit.