Thanks for the info, you could be right about how long it will take before it happens..

Have just been reading about this too. It says it will happen asap after travel agents have been complaining it takes people too long to get a visa.

Indian asap, or UK asap?

Hopefully UK asap but more likely Indian asap. I have sent my application of now for this year so can wait another year. They apparently said that they want to try and get British tourists back. Maybe this is why visas are coming back so quickly, they have nothing to do, no-one is applying.

Well this certainly looks encouraging. I have already obtained our visas for this year, but as I said in the Visa thread we were really taken aback by the cost of the visa this year. Fingers crossed they do this.

An article in the Sunday Times says it could happen from next April.

Apparently all the bad publicity surrounding the treatment of women and the rape and murder of the poor girl on the Delhi bus has damaged tourism. Growth in tourism fell from 9% in 2012 to 1.8% this year.

The one thing that may just speed up Indian bureaucracy is the loss of tourist rupees.

Hi all....
does anyone know how "Visa on arrival" works....

Don't know but I am sure it will involve another long queue which I suppose is the lesser of two evils after an horrendous time doing the visas this year. Did get it back in record time though - posted Tuesday and back to me by Saturday.

Anyone else like me who is not celebrating this news?
At least getting the visa in the UK via the internet means that you are sure(almost) of admission when arriving in India.
I am not looking forward to a queue that WILL take ages to process, without a guarantee that someone is going to find a reason for refusal. No doubt they will want you to print off the application forms, fill them in and present them at the immigration counter..... or even worse give you the forms to fill in at the airport on arrival
Even if mine was not refused but the person in frint of me was, can you imagine the delays caused?
Only going this year because SWMBO is insisting!
I am happy to get the visa here but wou;ld be happier still if it wasn't such a ridiculous cost.
Of course if the Visa on arrival is simply like the Turkish one that is a different issue

Hi del...
Im thinking the same as you....at least when you get your Visa now...you know where you stand before you travel.
I dont think for one minute it will be the same as it is in Turkey....we are talking India here...

I agree with the last poster as regards the lengthy queues at Dabolim. I always fill in the form and go in person to the visa office in Edinburgh. Without exception every year the form is scrutinised twice, the first time at the door when after a scrutiny of the form you are given a number . The next examination is by the actual visa official, this one takes a good few minutes scrutinising the form, looking for errors,quite often with success. I can imagine the queues at Dabolim whilst they do this.We are not going this year, our first miss in twenty plus years, several reason one of them being the yearly carry on re shacks and sunbeds.. I will watch this site with interest to see how it all pans out this year. We will see how it works before deciding about next year. Another thought, I don't imagine they will not be a charge, and that will further slow up the whole process while they collect the fee
Alan

From the articles I have read I think yah the VOA will still have to be applied for and pre authorised on line first. I believe this is how you apply for a vid for Sri Lanka. If this is the case it may not be too bad but I would hate to be one of first people arriving at Dabolim once it starts....though I imagine it would be interesting being a "fly on the the wall" lol

It's not the holy grail? I currently qualify for visa on arrival.. Best time entering? 90minutes worst time? 3hours... And the numbers being processed at the time was far lower than a whole long haul widebody...

BY-TOM-AMM-FCA wrote:

It's not the holy grail? I currently qualify for visa on arrival.. Best time entering? 90minutes worst time? 3hours... And the numbers being processed at the time was far lower than a whole long haul widebody...

I'm confused, I didn't think VOA was operating at all at Dabolim yet, for anyone apart from the Russians getting TLPs?

I assumed he meant VOA at Mumbai etc.

del949 wrote:

I assumed he meant VOA at Mumbai etc.

Irrelevant then, especially as Dabolim has always had a reputation for inefficient handling of passengers.

And Dabolim was the subject of the discussion.

Main destinations such as Bombay are getting close to international standards these days.

No, Goa airport.

Well BY_TOM etc has answered one query, but I didn't see where the discussion was solely about Dabolim.
As far as I was concerned the discussion was VOA in India.

The two posts immediately preceeding Mr BY-TOM's post were discussing Dabolim, so I assumed he was referring to it, which it seems he was.

So perhaps we could have some clarification from him on how VOA is working, as the last I saw about its implementation at all was

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-08-02/goa/41006298_1_voa-facility-goa-government-dabolim

which states that it will not be available until the new terminal is open, and the latest postponement has put this in December. There has certainly been nothing in the press or on other forums about its actual launch.

Or are we talking about flight crew/airline staff, rather than actual tourists?