To start, a confession, we messed up. When we entered India we knew we had a 60 day double entry e-visa which it says is not extendable. We also knew that the tour we would be on in the last part of our trip would leave India on the 16th October. Now the problem.
We counted 60 nights (61 days) and assumed we had no issue. When we entered India though the expiration date of the visa in our passports was entered at 15th October meaning if we do nothing we will overstay our visa by 1 day. This is not something I am prepared to risk having seen far too many episodes of banged up abroad. The immigration officer at the airport suggested that leaving early morning on 16th would be fine but I don't really trust this either.
We fly to Sri Lanka in a few days so my solution was simply to apply for new tourist e-visas and enter on those. But our previous visas will still be active as they are double entry and don't expire til the 15th October.
Are we able to hold 2 visas at once? Will our second visa be declined? Or will the second visa simply overwrite the first?
Thanks all! Really appreciate your help as we are a bit stuck!
You are not permitted to possess two valid visas of the same type at the same time. Your first e-visa would have to be cancelled but I don't know how you would go about doing that. I'd like to think the second application would automatically do this for you but this is India.....
The immigration officer you spoke to however was not wrong. As long as you clear immigration on the evening of the 15th before midnight, you can stay in the departures area until your flight leaves on the 16th. Clearing immigration is the key rather than physically leaving Indian soil.
Thanks for the reply. I should have mentioned that we are leaving via the land border close to varanasi and not via an airport.
Anyone have any thoughts on how we get our visa cancelled? Can we do this at the airport on route to Sri Lanka?
Anyone have any thoughts on how we get our visa cancelled? Can we do this at the airport on route to Sri Lanka?
As per the advice from friendly_checkingirl - you cannot hold two substantive visas simultaneously. When you are granted the second eTV, the first will automatically be cancelled.
I should have mentioned that we are leaving via the land border close to varanasi and not via an airport.
So, instead of getting a second visa, leave a day early.
Yeah thats my thoughts but we are on a tour and our land transport across the border is with the tour.
Thanks lifesupport. Is there any chance our application for the second visa would be declined as we already have a valid visa?
My opinion is "no chance" of being declined for that reason.
I'm also of the opinion that the Indian "Immigration, Visa Foreigners’ Registration and Tracking" (IVFRT) system is not that sophisticated.
Well checks are certainly made, if only to ensure that no more than 2 e-visas are granted per year. I'm not so sure as to what would happen when a valid visa is found to be already active.
Yeah I don't think it's sophisticated either but what about the immigration guard that sees a stamp in my passport for a visa that hasn't expired?
what about the immigration guard that sees a stamp in my passport for a visa that hasn't expired
I think you're worrying unnecessarily. Once you've been issued the visa, the fact that you have a valid visa in your passport means nothing.
You have every legitimate reason to get a new visa - because you plan to stay beyond the expiry date of the existing visa. You had to apply for the new visa in SL because you can't apply for it whilst in India. And if you are travelling in a tour group, you will have oodles of documentation which proves your intention to leave the country.
"Whataboutery" won't help you.
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