Visas And Red Tape - Indian complete tourist information,travel vacations,hotel reservations,tours

Gone are the days when Commonwealth nationals could stroll visa-less into India and stay for as long as they pleased: now everybody needs a visa, except citizens of Nepal and Bhutan.

If you're going to India on business or to study, you'll need to apply for a special student or business visa, otherwise a standard tourist visa will suffice. These are valid for six months from the date of issue (not of departure from your home country or entry into India), and cost £30/US$60/CDN$62/A$55/NZ$55. As you're asked to specify whether you need a single-entry or a multiple-entry visa , and the same rates apply to both, it makes sense to ask for the latter, just in case you decide to make a side trip to Nepal or another neighbouring country.

Much the best place to get a visa is in your country of residence, from the embassies and high commissions we've listed; you should be able to download forms from the embassy and consulate websites ( http://passport.nic.in/vspassport/missions.htm ). In Britain and North America, you'll need a passport valid for at least six months, two passport photographs and an application form, obtainable in advance by post or on the day; address applications to the Postal Visa Section of the consulate in question. In Australia and New Zealand, one passport-sized photo and your flight/travel itinerary are required, together with the visa application form. As a rule, visas are issued in a matter of hours, although embassies in India's neighbouring countries often drag their feet, demand letters of recommendation from your embassy (expensive if you are, for example, British), or make you wait and pay for them to send your application to Delhi. In the US, postal applications take a month as opposed to a same-day service if you do it in person - check with your nearest embassy, high commission or consulate. Make sure that your visa is signed by someone at the embassy, as you may be refused entry into the country otherwise.

It's also possible in many countries to pay a visa agency to process the visa on your behalf, which in the UK costs from around £25 (plus the price of the visa). In Britain, try The Visa Service, 2 Northdown St, Kings Cross, London N1 (tel 0990/343638 premium rate calls, www.visaservice.co.uk ) who offer a 48hr service; you could also try Visa Express, 31 Corsham St, London N1 (tel 020/7251 4822, visaexpress@cwcom.net ). In the US, try Express Visa Service, 2150 Wisconsin Ave, Suite 20, Washington DC (tel 202/337-2442, www.expressvisa.com ) who charge $45 and normally take six days or charge $120 for a next-day service.

Visa extensions
It is no longer possible to extend a visa in India, though exceptions may be made in special circumstances. Most people whose standard six-month tourist visas are about to expire head for Colombo, capital of neighbouring Sri Lanka, or the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, or Bangkok, and apply for a new one. However, in recent years this has been something of a hit-and-miss business, with some tourists having their requests turned down for no apparent reason. The Indian High Commission in Kathmandu is particularly notorious for this; you can telephone them to check their current policy, but don't expect the story to be the same when you arrive there. Try to find out from other travellers what the visa situation is, and always allow enough time on your current permit to re-enter India and catch a flight out of the country in case your request is refused.

If you do stay more than 180 days, before you leave the country you are supposed to get a tax clearance certificate , available at the foreigners' section of the income-tax department in every major city. They are free, but you should take bank receipts to show you have changed your money legally. In practice, tax clearance certificates are rarely demanded, but you never know.

For details of other kinds of visas - five-year visas can be obtained by foreigners of Indian origin, business travellers and even students of yoga - contact your nearest Indian embassy

Indian embassies
Australia High Commission: 3-5 Moonah Place, Yarralumla, Canberra, ACT 2600 tel 02/6273 3999, fax 6273 1308, hicanb@ozemail.com.au . Consulates: Level 27, 25 Bligh St, Level 27, Sydney, NSW 2000 tel 02/9223 9500, fax 9223 9246, indianc@enternet.com.au ; 15 Munro St, Coburg, Melbourne, Vic 3058 tel 03/9384 0141, fax 9384 1609. Honorary Consulates: Level 1, Terrace Hotel, 195 Adelaide Terrace, East Perth WA 6004, Australia (mailing address: PO BOX 6118 East Perth WA 6892, Australia) tel 08/9221 1485, fax 9221 1206, india@vianet.net.au ; Brisbane tel 07/3260 2825, fax 3260 2826.

Bangladesh House 120, Rd 2, Dhanmondi Residential Area, Dhaka tel 02/503606, fax 863662; 1253-1256 Nizam Road, Mehdi Bagh, Chittagong tel 031/211007, fax 225178.

Burma (Myanmar) Oriental Assurance Building, 545-547 Merchant St (PO Box 751), Rangoon tel 01/82550.

Canada High Commission: 10 Springfield Rd, Ottawa, ON K1M 1C9 tel 613/744 3751, fax 744 0913, www.docuweb.ca/india . Consulates: 2 Bloor St W, #500, Toronto, ON M4W 3E2 tel 416/960 0751; 325 Howe St, 2nd floor, Vancouver, BC V6C 1Z7 tel 604/662 8811, www.cgivancouver.com .

Japan 2-11, Kudan Minami 2-Chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102 tel 03/3262 2391, fax 3234 4866.

Malaysia 2 Jalan Taman Dlita (off Jalan Duta), PO Box 10059, 50704 Kuala Lumpur tel 03/253 3504, fax 253 3507.

Nepal Lainchaur (off Lazimpath), PO Box 92, Kathmandu tel 01/410900, fax 413132, www.south-asia.com/Embassy-India . Allow a week - plus extra fee - to fax Delhi; British nationals and some Europeans need letters of recommendation. Mon-Fri 9.30-11am.

New Zealand Indian High Commission: 180 Molesworth St (PO Box 4005), Wellington tel 04/473 6390, fax 499 0665.

Pakistan G-5, Diplomatic enclave, Islamabad tel 051/814371, fax 820742; India House, 3 Fatima Jinnah Rd (PO Box 8542), Karachi tel 021/522275, fax 568 0929.

Singapore India House, 31 Grange Rd (PO Box 9123), Singapore 0923 tel 737 6777, fax 732 6909.

Sri Lanka 36-38 Galle Rd, Colombo 3 tel 01/421605, fax 446403, www.indiahcsl.org ; 31 Rajapihilla Mawatha, PO Box 47, Kandy tel 08/24563.

Thailand www.indiaemb.or.th . 46 Soi 23 (Prasarn Mitr), Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok 10110 tel 02/258 0300, fax 258 4627; 113 Bumruangrat Road, Chiang Mai 50000 tel 053/243066, fax 247879. Visas take five working days to issue.

UK www.hcilondon.org . High Commission: India House, Aldwych, London WC2B 4NA tel 020/7836 8484, fax 7836 4331. Consulates: 20 Augusta St, Jewellery Quarter, Hockley, Birmingham B18 6GL tel 0121/212 2782; 17 Rutland Square, Edinburgh EH1 2BB tel 0131/229 2144. All open Mon-Fri 8.30am-noon.

USA Embassy of India (Consular Services): 2107 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20008 tel 202/939-7000, fax 939-7027. Consulates: 3 East 64th St, New York, NY 10021 tel 212/774-0600, fax 861-3788, www.indiacgny.org ; 540 Arguello Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94118 tel 415/668-0683, fax 668-9764; 455 North Cityfront Plaza Drive, Suite 850, Chicago Il 60611 tel 312/595 0405 (ext 22 for visas), fax 595 0416, www.indianconsulate.com ; 201 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70170 tel 504/582-8106; 2051 Young St, Honolulu, HI 96826 tel 808/947-2618.

Special permits
In addition to a visa, special permits may be required for travel to certain areas of the country - notably Sikkim, parts of Ladakh, the Andaman Islands, Lakshadweep, the far west of the Thar desert beyond Jaisalmer, and some northeastern hill states.

There are two types of permits: those for restricted areas such as Sikkim, and the Inner Line Permit required by both foreigners and Indians intending to visit politically sensitive border areas of Ladakh, parts of the northeast, and north and east Sikkim. Inner Line Permits are usually issued by the District Magistrate. Some areas (parts of Sikkim, and the Indo-Chinese-Pak border region in Jammu-Kashmir for example) remain completely out of bounds to tourists. If you have some special reason for going to any of these latter areas, apply for a permit to the Ministry for Home Affairs Foreigners' Section, Lok Nayak Bhavan, Khan Market, New Delhi 110 003, at least three months in advance.

Permits for those areas of Sikkim that are open to tourists are easily available at all foreigners' registration offices, immigration offices at the main international airports, all Indian embassies, consulates and high commissions abroad and at offices in Darjeeling and Siliguri; a two-day permit is instantly available at the checkpoint on the Sikkim border. Sikkim is the only place where you need a special trekking permit .

Should you get your hands on a visa for Bhutan, you'll also need a transit permit for the border area from the Ministry of External Affairs.

For details of permit requirements to other areas, see the relevant sections of this guide