Yes - I agree - butin the meantime if we have holidays booked we have to get the visas by the way that we are instructed

We have already decided that our visit in March next year will be the last. Sat with a G&T discussing where to go next year. Kenya, Sri Lanka are coming up looking good at the moment. Not going through this hassle with visas again.

Sri Lanka is nice but not as nice as Goa - have you also considered Cuba?

Gramps the point I was making is that things will always be chaotic until the HCI is out of the equation. I was not speaking about agents getting the visas from HCI, but about a private company being appointed by HCI to actually issue the visas. I believe that this is what happened in the states and is working well. A private company could not hope to make a profit unless it was efficient and it is only at this stage that I see any chance of online applications. I do not believe that HCI will ever change. The fact that they still insist on postal orders proves this point.

As to cost I would be happy to pay slightly more to know that I would have my visa on time. Having had our visas go missing for 4 weeks when posted to London and nealy missing our holiday was not a pleasant experience. Especially when it turned out that they had been sitting on thye bottom of a huge pile for weeks. Since then we have visited the Consualte General in Edinburgh, which is again a very unpleasant experience.

I have just read on another forum that a couple paid £155 EACH (including the visa fee) for their visas through a visa agency.

The reason being is that they leave on the 27th October, however, they had already sent their passports to another visa agency (arrived on the 8th October); when they called the first agency this week to check on the progress of their applications, they were told that they would not get their visas until the 29th October.

Apparently, Cosmos were not able to assist the couple in rescheduling their holiday for the following week, so they had to resort to paying this higher amount.

They took them into the new agent in the morning and had their visas/passports that afternoon.

I thought I was seeing things when I saw the price, although, the person did say the usual fee would have been £12!

Sheila

p.s. I think these must be the same people Polly wrote about the other day.

Sheila
yes it's the same guy.
I'm pleased he got his visas - but what a cost!!!!

Polly50
So Goa might be missing 2 'Pollys' after the end of the 2007/08 season.
I don't agree with Dorothy about Sri Lanka & Cuba.
We've been to Sri Lanka 5 times and really liked it. There's actually more to see there than in Goa.
We found Cuba quite bland, apart from a visit to Havana.
Then again, every time we've been to Sri Lanka we've stayed in Negombo on a B&B basis.
I think Cuba tends to be more All Inclusive, which we don't like.
I'd say Cuba only scores over Sri Lanka (and Goa) on beaches and sea.
The last time we went, Negombo had lots of places to eat.

Regards
Polly

Prettypollycat, we have been to Sri Lanka before, did the tour then a week in Beruwela. We loved it that's why its on the list to go back. Heard mixed reports about Cuba, so not sure. Anyway, after sinking a few gins last night, Australia might be top of the list now. At least its easy to get a visa to go there.

Been to Sri Lanca, Malaysia,Thailand, and they are all good alternatives to Goa We also visit Australia every two years and if you get the right price for your flight and can hack the long flight time it's certainly worth considering, the cost of things there is much cheaper than the U.K. (everywhere is !) and they have beaches to die for, and user friendly electronic visas !! Worth a thought Alan

Well heres another Polly who probably won't be going again! My husband left Burnley at 4.30am and arrived in the queue at Birmingham at 6.30. There were approx 150 people in front of him. He finally got his ticket at 9.30 then queued up for another few hours waiting to pass the documents over. He then went outside where there were a lot of people arguing about not even getting inside the Consulate. An Indian gentleman he was stood next to had been three times this week and had been unlucky. He then joined the queue to get back in for the passports and visas. What a day! No toilets, no drinks machines nothing. He finally came out at 4.30pm with the visas! We won't be going again to Goa unless they change the procedure, it was much easier with the postal applications. We did not use an agent as the cost is crazy and there are six of us! My advice is to go REALLY early. Cant wait to go at Christmas and I am sure it will be worth it. But as I say I don't think we can do this again and Sri Lanka sounds lovely.

well if people would just take the advice given on HT, then they would only have paid £40 per visa total, if they'd gone to your travelshop.com!!
I rest my case!!!
BOB

Must agree with you Bob, took your advice and visa,s
back in 16days from yourtravelshop.com and that was
during the postal strike
ANN

Sent our applications to yourtravelshop on 10th October, they received them on 11th and was told on Tuesday that they haven't even taken them to the Consulate yet, they will be doing that on Monday. Just hope there's nothing wrong with the forms and they issue the visas. That will be a total of about 4 weeks, when they originally quoted a 10 day turnaround.

Sorry to hear about that Polly. I am sure you will get them back ok. OH said the Agents had carrier bags full of passports and just went to a special window to get them processed. I am just glad we got ours today I couldn't trust anyone else with our passports. Even though its been a long day after paying over £6000 for our holiday I did not want anything to go wrong. Pauline

Just a thought, do you think the HCI, are getting a percentage off all the agents they are using to process are passports????

Think of the amount of on cost this situation is creating????

"Just a thought"

........jxk8

HI Polly 50 we must have been lucky with ours, posted them on Sept 27th
so must have got in at a good time,hope yours arrive soon
ANN

glad to hear that ann!!
bob

I'm lucky enough to live near the Jewellery Qtr in Birmingham and have queued there many times in the chaos.
We've queued time after time to get in and out of Dabolim and the hopeless organisation, tried going scheduled via Banga, Mumbai, Delhi, Cochin and Trivandrum to see something different and to get proper immigration facilities and a taste of the country before beaching in Goa.
This year though, we've decided to give it a miss. We're just too tired to go through all this worsening crap to have a holiday in Goa.

We're going scheduled to KL for infrastructure and the class City life, hopping to Thailand on AirAsia for better beaches and swimming, coming back via Penang and shopping. They make it easy for you to arrive and actually seem pleased that you're there.
It's 4 hours further.....but as cheap for flights, hotter, cleaner, more helpful, altogether easier, far superior hotels, they clamour for tourists and it's just a better setup all round.
The only thing I'll miss about Goa is the smell of the flowers, the atmosphere, and wandering around unshaven for 3 weeks in shorts and a vest. I can live without that until India sorts itself out.

Just had an email from a friend who runs a business in Goa. He says it's been an auful start to the season. Lots of first timers saying they wont be back, some evev paying extra and leaving early. Because of the late monsoon lots of the hotels hav'nt finished their exterior painting and are looking very shabby. All the mess from the monsoon has'nt been cleaned from the beaces and theres rubbish everywhere, very few shacks, and no sun parasols etc, so lots of really bad sunburns. On top of the visa shambles it looks like they have lost a lot of their new customers. Alan

You sometimes wonder if they really want the custom dont you? All the shambles about the shack licenses is a joke. The monsoon obviously creates havoc, mess and destruction, but they know when the tourists start arriving, you would think they would get their act together and get the clearing up in place long before now.
All I can say is no wonder it puts 1st timers off ......