*******August 2008 UPDATE ****************
Since originally posting this review it's had over 7000 external hits so clearly people have been reading it.
As a result of the complete horlicks that the Consulate and High Commission were making of the visa issuing process in 2007, the decision was taken to outsource the process of issuing Indian visas so that you now have to go through an agency called VFS. I have reviewed this process and if you hunt around on the site you should be able to find it.

I would appreciate it members considering rating the review please keep in mind that at the time or writing it was an accurate picture of the process and just because that process has changed 2 years later, it shouldn't be an excuse for a bad rating - please!

Scanning the net it seems that the High Consulate in London is even worse with visitors not even being allowed to leave their passports. All they get is an appointment to come back on a future date (7-10 days later) to drop off their papers. The Consulate in Edinbrough will no longer process visas if you aren't from Scotland.

My advice now would be that until this is cleared up - and surely it can't continue for too long - plan on using a visa agency such as Travcour and plan early - allow 6-8 weeks. Don't go to the consulate if you don't need a visa urgently - it's too traumatic and too time consuming and finally take what you see on the High Commission website with a pinch of salt. Only go in person if you now - like us - have no realistic alternative.

I confess that a review on how to get a Visa for your Indian holiday doesn't completely fit the 'Indian Experience' listing. However, I do believe that the Indian experience starts with your first contacts with the country and that may well be applying for your visas. I want to put this review somewhere where the people who will be most likely to find it useful can easily find it. So, take a deep breath and accept that it's all part of the broader experience and try not to accuse me of being off topic. Is that OK? Will you let me?

Most likely your travel operator will draw your attention to the need for Visas when you book and will recommend you use a visa agency - typically this might be a company called Travcour but there are many others. If it's the first time you've done it, you'll probably just go along with the suggestion but there are alternatives. I certainly went along with using the agencies until today.

The agency hires a poor underfed and underpaid student or similarly desperate soul to get up early in the morning and take your paperwork to the Indian High Commission. Another pour soul goes back the next day to pick up your passport with your new shiny visa. The agency then posts it back to you - probably by registered mail. They will typically advise you to send your passport to them four to six weeks before you are due to travel. You won't be sure when it will come back and if you are a control freak you may experience some unease about how things are going.

Step one - I logged on to the High Commission website www.hcilondon.org to check out the latest advice. Scroll down the page and the Visa link is half way down on the right hand side. Click on the type of visa you need and you can download the application forms and all the info you need.

The form is pretty straightforward although some of the questions are a bit bizarre (e.g. your mother, father and spouse's names and places of birth). If you are travelling with a tour company, check with them on how to answer the section on local contacts in India - typically these will be the local agent's address or the first night hotel. Everything else is pretty obvious.
You will need a passport with at least 6 months still to go before expiry.

There are also occasional visa 'surgeries' in other towns and cities - typically, those with a large Indian population. You can get a timetable showing the dates and locations for getting visas at these surgeries. Locations include Gloucester, Blackburn, Leicester, Bradford, Batley, Coventry, Huddersfield, Leeds, Luton, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Nottingham and Wolverhampton. If there had been a suitable date, I would probably have gone to Leicester.

Birmingham accepts applications from 9.30 am until 12.30pm. Collections are same day from 3.00 to 4.30 pm

Entering the Consulate you find a shabby lobby with absolutely no instructions on where to go or what to do. However, there's a staircase and process of elimination suggests that's a pretty good start. There's also a lift for the elderly or handicapped. The stairwell is shabby and dirty and the carpet would give any health and safety professional nightmares. It's a good preparation for what you'll find when you get to India!

The room is large with lots of plastic seating. You'll hit a long queue of people waiting for the Information Desk - ignore it - go to the front and take a number from the red ticket dispenser at the front of the queue and then sit down.

It soon became apparent that a lot of the numbers weren't being used and a lot of people waiting were not waiting for Visas so everything moved more quickly than we expected. The CGI also handles Indian passport applications and other enquiries - these don't work on the same number system so I guess a lot of people take a ticket in error. We waited about 40 minutes before being called to the visa application window where we handed over our papers, photos, passports and money. It was all very simple. We were told to come back between 3.00 and 4.30 pm.

Returning at 3.45 pm we joined the collection queue and were served in about 30 minutes. The cashier informed us that the area we will be visiting (Ladakh) is classified as a restricted area and advised us that we would have to apply for permission at the police station at our entry point.

Warning
*******
There are signs on the counter saying that the CGI is limited to no more than 700 visa applications per day. There was no way that was going to be an issue at this time of year. What sort of idiots want to go to India in India when it's 40C or more and the monsoon is on its way? (OK, aside from us, it's not exactly peak season). I can imagine that if you want to apply in October or November - in the run up to Diwali and the end of Ramadan, you could face a longer queue and a longer wait. The staff are so helpful I'm sure they could advise you of any problems if you give them a call.

Doing it yourself - the pros and cons
******************************
Pros
------
Easy to do - all the instructions and forms are on the website.
Fast - same day service. Much quicker than an agency
Peace of mind - you have total control of the process - your passport is only out of your sight for a few hours, it can't get lost in the post and you know exactly when you'll get it back
Saves Money - about £42 in our case. That'll pay for a few Kingfishers!
Various locations available - check out the Surgery list

If you give it a go, please drop me a message in the guest book. I'd love to hear how you get on. Good luck and happy holidays.

ADDENDUM - just looking at some of the people who have commented so far I realise I forgot to state that all this advice definitely applies if you hold a BRITISH passport. Many ciaoists are not UK nationals and should check with the HCI website to be sure whether the same conditions apply for them. I suspect there's no problem for other European passport holders but there are definitely different requirements for Bangladeshi and Pakistani passport holders and some other countries may take longer if the visa issuing office has to contact your local embassy for clearance.