I always thought it was tough to get a visa for the UK, US and Australia because of their extraordinary security measures and long processing time period. I was proven wrong recently when I had to apply for an Indian visa. My employers want to do a big PR campaign for one of their projects in India. I was planning to go as well as I helped coordinate everything for the project. I was not supposed to go till mid December as I had to do some stuff here. My boss asked me to accompany here in November at the last minute as she realised that we had loads to do. Then there was a frantic rush to get everything organized so that we could submit our visas on time. I was given the task of submitting all the applications for the people going to India (one for her, one for me and one for her friend). For some reason I knew it was not going to be so easy for me to submit my application. For starters I had to fill out five application forms which were 4 pages each. British citizens are lucky as its a short 1 page form along with 2 passport size photographs. Anyway when i reached the visa application center i was shocked to see around 200 people waiting. It took me half the day to reach the counter. In between I could see people who managed to jump the queue in unique ways by paying off the security team there to give them token numbers which sent them ahead of the rest of the folks who came earlier. I regretted not bringing a book along with me to kill the time. Fortunately I managed to talk to some people around me and it helped kill time. I was in for a nasty surprise when I went to submit my application. They refused to accept mine as I did not have any invitation letter (notarised) from my hosts in India and their passport particulars. Even if i were to submit all the required documents there was no guarantee I would get the visa plus it would take around 15 working days for my visa to be processed. It kept getting worse as my boss’s friend’s application was rejected simply because he was of pakistani origin. They asked for an undertaking from him declaring he did not have a Pakistani passort or ID (Dual nationality mumbo jumbo). Even if they had the documents it would take around 10 working days to process his application. My boss was lucky but was still unable to apply for a 5 year visa (despite the fact that she had it once) because they asked for her birth certificiate to prove her blood ties to her father (a former indian citizen). They accepted her application only for a 6 months visa. I asked them why the rules had changed so drastically and the guy at the counter was like “You Pakistanis make it tough for us to visit you so we make it tough for you to visit us.” I guess he was right as we probably do the same with them.

At the end of the day i was really exhausted as it was draining. I am never ever going back to that place again. Sadly I know i have to because I have to submit my application again with the right documents so that i can get my single entry three months visa.