India Visa Center

Thank you for being so patient and quick! I really appreciate the kindness your company provided me! I am so excited to go to India!!

Okay, first, let me say.... I'm going to INDIA!!! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!! Whooooooo! And other stuff like that.


Also, WTF? How did I get beaten to the FTR on this by like a month? That is mega unfair. I will cry quietly to myself later, maybe. Okay, probably not.

Back to me going to India. Okay, the fees for the Visa kinds suck, but that's not the Indian Visa Center's fault, they're just the "middleman" and their own fee is like $13.

I did not go to New York. I operated by mail. It's soo easy. You fill in the form online (and you can save it if you have to stop and go back) and then you send it in with some other info and your passport.

I opted to use my own shipping options, because I get a significant discount by using my credit card on my company's account, but you either have to pay them to ship it for you or you ship it and give them a return envelope and they ship it back. They said it could take two weeks or so. It didn't It took a few days.

Today, I just got a follow up call from them making sure that I got my passport and that the right amount of passports I sent were in the envelope. Gotta love quality control.

I used to have a mild obsession with all things Indian. It eventually subsided, but when my good friend announced his Delhi engagement and wedding, I was so excited for them ...and secretly, that finally, one of my Indian friends was getting married IN INDIA However, 3 months advance notice doesn't leave you much time to arrange your passport renewal, obtain a visa, figure out vaccinations, and book incidentals.

Thankfully, Travisa Outsourcing came through for us! I originally wanted to avoid doing it in person because I imagined a chaotic jungle, but in the end it was the least stressful situation because of the quick 48 hr turnaround (which costs nothing beyond the $76 for visa/processing, while visa-by-mail takes roughly 2 weeks plus FedEx costs). My experience was so smooth -- I showed up, waited an acceptable time, submission took less than 10 minutes total for both applications, I received an email notifying me it was ready, and picking them up the next day took less than 5 minutes. I don't know if mid-March is just an especially light time of year for Indian visas, but it worked for me.

To be fair, the application instructions (and, um, videos) are a beast -- not well written at all. We had to redo the application a few times because of mistakes regarding, "if you sign anywhere outside the box, your visa application will be rejected." But if you don't have much time, don't expect any complications, and can follow instructions well, in-person is the way to go. Best of all, the full-page tourist visa looks KICK ASS in my passport book.

Okay, Travisa, let's get it together.

First, you can only make changes to an appointment online. (stupid)

Secondly, you can only pick up your passport from 4:30-6PM, no exceptions. Which would be fine for someone with a 9-5; however, for someone who takes classes at 5p way uptown (like myself), it's a little difficult. (stupid x 2)

However, I will say, despite their inflexibility, most of the people I dealt with were cordial and nice. Also, they processed my app pretty quickly and they didn't give me crap about not having proof of residency in NY.

It is rare to give 1 star to a place you have never visited, but I would give this center -20 stars if I could.

Having been to india many times, I am used to the beauracracy, inefficiency, and who you know mentality, but this place brings it all to a new level.

I did mail away in order to avoid the inefficiency and because I don't live locally. All went fine until a # of weeks passed without a response. I kept checking the tracking # of the return (I bought a prepaid envelope) without luck. I called 50+ times and either never got anyone period or never got anyone useful. Finally, it was sent and the weirdest message popped up a few days later on the usps tracking (something about postage). It ended up being returned to sender where I sent a very resourceful friend to pry it out.

First problem is they let her take my passport which is a bit worrisome (but she is resourceful), but within my prepaid envelope the had included some useless papers that had caused it to be overweight.

The best part about this place is that I got a 10 year visa...so I wont have to deal with them for a long time.

This particular business could care less about its customers since they have a monopoly and are the only way to get an Indian visa.

The instructions for applying for a visa are written in broken English and not clearly outlined. When a large number of documents is required, you'd think they'd make a list.

I submitted everything by mail and didn't sign the application. I received an email indicating this and immediately printed out a new application, signed it, and mailed it. I even replied back to their email and told them I just mailed it.

Fast forward 2 weeks (during which I received no updates either by email or via the application tracker online). Then an update appeared online that they withdrew my application and are getting ready to mail it back the next day, with a $21 charge.

I called immediately to try to resolve the situation. It's a signature - how hard can this be? Well, the only phone number they have takes you to a call center in Chicago, and that's after you spend 20+ minutes on hold and IF it doesn't hang up on you before you actually get to talk to someone.

Then, everyone on the phone is a ball of joy who is absolutely not interested in helping you because they don't have to. "Sorry, you can't talk to anyone in NYC. We didn't receive your signed application that you resent. Yes, we see you emailed and said you mailed it, but we don't have it. We'll charge you $21 to send your documents back in YOUR pre-paid envelope. The end". I asked for a supervisor, and he basically yelled at me and hung up.

They act like they're doing you a favor and not like they have a business where you're paying them to process your applications.

I see a bunch of good reviews and I assume they didn't have any issues to resolve. Well, the best way to find out how good a business is to run into a problem. And in this case, you'd be out of luck.

Decent. You know, it's bureaucracy!

Went in person (in the rain!) to get my Visa - I am a US Citizen and I applied for the 10 year multiple entry visa. It was $166 total. I paid cash and filled the application out online before bringing it in.

I was partying and bullshitting all over New York so kept finding myself not "feeling" like trekking all the way up to 53rd (in the rain! or sun) whilst having too much FUN in the village or whatever. WHAT WAS GOOD about their system is you can switch your appointment online up to like an hour ahead of when you're supposed to show up (maybe closer I didn't check) and I found open slots as early as the following day.

Drop off took about 40min but you wait inside (well -- I waited inside but others were sequestered outside for various unidentifiable reasons)

After dropping off the passport and visa, I got a text and email less than 24hrs later informing me my visa was ready for pickup. Getting it only took about 25min, I arrived at 5 and they close at 6.

It's this hardwood floor stylish loft with exposed brick walls and 80s tourism posters featuring such famous Indian sites as Taj Mahal, the gate in Delhi. Then there's a flatscreen TV with Bollywood goin on. Makes the wait nicer since we can't be all up on our iPhones whilst inside (mandatory power down prior to entry the otherwise-amicable security guard demands politely outside).

The guard was super nice and I really loved his friendly attitude at the end of a long day standing in the rain: I think I found another budhha!!!!

Posters bollywood lines and Indians I think I'm ready for a trip to India.

If you are looking for positive reviews of this soviet era bureaucratic office you won't find any. Oddly enough, the founder, Mr. Dvorak, claims to be someone who fled his native Czech republic to escape Soviet oppression but seems to have discovered that it is one thing to be on the receiving end of the third degree but another to be dishing it out. The latter must be thoroughly enjoyable for him and his minions but utterly unpleasant for those who have no option but to be subjected to their capricious inexplicable and oftentimes rude behavior.

Let's start with the queue outside the ramshackle building that looks like it may fall apart at any moment not least due to the bellowing from the imperious looking security guard outside who yells at everyone to form a line on a narrow pencil like unmarked edge of the sidewalk outside, come rain, snow or blazing heat. He then proceeds to "inspect" everyone's appointment sheet (heaven forbid if you don't have one and decide to show up due to an emergency). In his own inscrutable way he decides who gets to go first: sometimes it is a visa applicant and on others it is a OCI/PIO applicant. If the weather is bad and you must get your forms in for whatever reason on the same day, you're out of luck and have to tough it out waiting your turn.

Next step, is another yell and a dismissive wave from Ivan the terrible directing the lucky few towards a narrow stairway where, more often than not, a scrum of applicants end up cheek by jowl taking in assorted odors from bad breath and BO. Once you make it upstairs the 1st floor which looks like a garage put together in a high school project there are two lines, one for visas which looks like a hairpin and a window to the right that is usually staffed by a woman whose size is inversely proportional to her intellect.

Since I had gone for a fresh OCI card due to an expired passport I had no choice but to deal with her. According to the government of India, new OCI card applicants whose previous OCI was issued after June 1st 2010 do not need to submit a "renunciation certificate" or pages from the last Indian passport. Rules, of course, are for the birds, as far as these bird brains are concerned and she insisted on the additional documents. When I showed her the rules and insisted that she has to take the application, she reluctantly did and gave me a receipt. I had barely reached home when an email arrived saying I not only had to submit the additional documents but also had to give the "naturalization" certificate which had already been given.

So, I venture there the next day with the documents and somehow get past Ivan the Terrible and get to Fearsome Martha only to be told that they have to be submitted only by mail! She claimed that they had no ability to "match documents" submitted in person! The email did gave a mailing address for the documents to be sent but did not say that they won't accept in person submission of documents. Choosing discretion over valor I went to Fed Ex and sent the documents. They are now somewhere between the Indian consulate and the government of India. Hopefully, the next foray which involves submitting the new US passport and picking it up will be less intimidating but that is probably asking for too much.

This is the most frustrating experience I've ever had. **Make sure that you have a little bit more than 3 weeks for the process if you are not a US citizen**

First of all, I am not a US citizen and I don't live in NY. I read it on the website saying that it's going to take 1-2 weeks to process. And I applied for a business visa before, which took only a week to get back to me. My trip was coming up in 3 weeks, so i figured it's still okay.

When I sent out my application, it arrived the Travisa Outsourcing office the next evening according to UPS. But they didn't scan/open my application until 24 hours after. And my application sat there for another 4 full business days to be "assigned for processing". After more than a week since I sent my application, they finally sent it to the consulate. I waited for another 4-5 days for the visa to be ready and another day to send it back to me.

During these 2+ weeks, I called Travisa Outsourcing almost everyday to see why my application was sitting there or why the status is not changing. I had very bad experience at the beginning with very not-caring and rude reps. However, when someone directed me to the NY Travisa office, most of the people were nice and trying to help.

I was also told that if I still don't have my visa back from the consulate a few days before my trip, I can go to the Consulate office on the 64th St and tell them that I need the visa ASAP.

There are few things more evil than the bureaucratic pedantry of a consulate. Amazingly, India's Travisa Center was the most painless and swift visa application process of the four I've done, although talking about the "most painless and swift visa application" is like talking about the most painless and swift leg amputation.

There was no wait. I was in and out within half an hour. There were no surprises. They accept cash and credit instead of just bank checks. Overall, they operate like a private company... which is what they are. (In an ironic twist on outsourcing jobs to India, the Indian Government outsources its visa operations to this American firm. Anyone who has dealt with the Indian Government will be infinitely grateful for that.)

If you're not a US citizen, bring a photocopy of a bank statement with your US address. (The application form says bank statements are inadequate, but it's what the dude asked me for, and accepted, when my credit card statements didn't fly.)

If you've danced the visa dance before, then you won't hate this process. If you haven't, then at least be grateful that you don't even know how much worse it can be.

First: I suggest you do this by mail if you have the time.

Second: The people inside are friendly swift and polite. They are well trained and have a good system. But you'd never know that from the way the bouncer-like man speaks to you outside, as they only let a few people in at a time, even in the freezing cold. So be prepared to wait outside in a line, even if you have an appointment.

After waiting, your time inside will be fast. Here's a tip: Make all of your own copies. They charge $2 per copy. OUCH.

All in all, it was in and out and painless once I got in the door.