India visa requirements for South African |
14 Jan 2008 |
As a first step in getting ready for my trip to India I have to get a visa. I surfed to this site, which looked official enough to check the visa requirements in India. The general requirements for getting a visa to India are:
Copy of National Identity Card (I assume this is the South African ID book)
Original passport valid for at least 6 months (I just make this one...my passport is valid until October 2008...must remember to renew it)
2 Recent passport-size coloured photographs (Pakistanis need to supply 5 photos)
Duly filled in visa application form (in duplicate for business visa)
Correct visa fee
Supporting documents, where necessary
Duly completed application form (Bangladeshi and Pakistanis need to apply on special application forms)
Copy of Air Ticket (seems a bit risky to purchase the air ticket before one gets a visa)
What sux a bit is that if you live in Cape Town you have to still apply through the Indian High Commission in Johannesburg - comon India, let's open a High Commission in the Mother City.
However, what is pretty kewl is that
South Africans are given the following visas free of charge:
i) Tourist visa
ii) Business visa
iii) Employment visa
iv) Student/Research visa
v) Official visa
vi) Conference visa
vii) Transit visa
viii) Journalist visa
Requirements for a business visa are as follows:
i) Visa application forms in duplicate.
ii) Copies of Invitation letter/Sponsorship from India, in duplicate.
iii) Copies of Letter from the applicant’s Company, in duplicate.
iv) Copies of a confirmed return air ticket to India and back, in duplicate.
v) Copies of the South African Identity card, in duplicate.
(Note:The applicants are required not to engage in money lending and petty trading...presumably this was a problem!).
To make things interesting, in their FAQ they've got similar but slightly different visa requirements:
3. Requirements for Business visa
i) Visa application forms in duplicate.
ii) Copies of Invitation letter/Sponsorship from India, in duplicate.
iii) Copies of Letter from the applicant's Company, in duplicate.
iv) Copies of a confirmed return air ticket to India and back, in duplicate.
v) Copies of the South African Identity card, in duplicate
(Note:The applicants are required not to engage in money lending and petty trading).
vi) Proof of residence both in India as well as in South Africa
blog comments powered by Disqus
