Are visa services being offered to Canadian citizens who are already in India?

[sreddyk]

I stay with my parents too. I had already submitted a letter signed by my father which stated that we live with him at his residence along with his Aadhar card for residence proof. For tenant verification, I wrote a letter that it is a house owned by my father. Since I was applying for a visa for the first time (not extension) I was not asked for any other letter.

@nivaan5 I did attach those while submitting the application, don't think they heeded to those. FRO's at tier two cities have no clue, they said its all done online and asked me to call Hyderabad FRO, and Hyderabad FRO line is not reachable at all times. I called Bangalore FRO assuming it is all centralized, but they found no record of my application, I guess it is processed only at local/regional FRO's. Anyways, its in progress will wait for few days and see, thanks for responding though.

 

[raja1028]

https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/are-visa-services-being-offered-to-canadian-citizens-who-are-already-in-india.823782/post-10641586

I paid the fees online. I remember there was a note that we don't have to submit a physical copy of the receipt. They did not ask for a copy at the RPO too.

Thanks.

 

[jaskaran90]

I'm in a similar situation as you. Planning to travel to India with Canadian Passport and evisa and still having a valid India passport. Will likely surrender my Indian passport in India. Did you face any issues at indian immigration when you showed you Canadian Pasport with evisa though you had a valid Indian Passport as well.

Just curious to know just so I have an idea if I'm okay to go ahead with my plan.

Thanks

Didn’t show any evisa, wife entered and exited on Indian passport without showing Canadian passport.

 

[sreddyk]

@nivaan5 - How many days after landing did you apply for entry visa?

I paid Rs18860(Rs10000 penalty + Rs8860 Visa fee). Was able to reach Hyderabad FRRO Visa officer through call center regarding this, he quoted me a rule from Indian Citizenship act saying- One must apply for Visa (even if not in possession of surrender certificate?) within 15 days of landing, I applied after 17 days thus the penalty. I mentioned that one cannot submit visa application without SC online, he said I should have just created application. I mentioned them that I applied for the Visa the same day I've received surrendered certificate and also mentioned that one can use Indian passport upto 3 months without penalty, and since I was on Indian passport until I applied for Visa this rule cannot be applied. He said If I'm applying for Visa - it has to be within 15 days of landing and there's no such grace period with passport exists. At the end he said if I need visa, penalty must be paid. Just paid, awaiting for the Visa now. I'm certain that this rule applies for visa extension cases and it is wrongly applied in my case.

 

[sreddyk]

@nivaan5 Btw, received RC and VISA after 2 hours of payment (submitted application on 1st Dec)

 

[nivaan5]

@nivaan5 - How many days after landing did you apply for entry visa?

I paid Rs18860(Rs10000 penalty + Rs8860 Visa fee). Was able to reach Hyderabad FRRO Visa officer through call center regarding this, he quoted me a rule from Indian Citizenship act saying- One must apply for Visa (even if not in possession of surrender certificate?) within 15 days of landing, I applied after 17 days thus the penalty. I mentioned that one cannot submit visa application without SC online, he said I should have just created application. I mentioned them that I applied for the Visa the same day I've received surrendered certificate and also mentioned that one can use Indian passport upto 3 months without penalty, and since I was on Indian passport until I applied for Visa this rule cannot be applied. He said If I'm applying for Visa - it has to be within 15 days of landing and there's no such grace period with passport exists. At the end he said if I need visa, penalty must be paid. Just paid, awaiting for the Visa now. I'm certain that this rule applies for visa extension cases and it is wrongly applied in my case.

Oh I did not know this! I landed on 12th and applied on 19th.

 

[jaskaran90]

Sharing our experience on traveling with 2 passports. I got my e-visa prior to it being shut in August but this post is focused on my wife’s travels on 2 passports as we couldn’t have moved our trip as we had multiple destination bookings over the course of 4ish weeks. E-visa actually shut on the day of her oath and we had no time to apply for OCI nor an entry visa as it opened up a few days before our travels.
We did a multi city tour from YYZ, spending a few days in New York (traveled on Canadian passport by air), then a week in Italy (traveled on Indian passport with Schengen visa) and then finally ended in Delhi (my wife entered on Indian passport and no questions were asked nor she was asked to provide her Canadian status document) … this was the easier part of the trip.

On our return back to Canada from India, we ended up booking and canceling a few different routes (via US, via Korea, via London, Via Amsterdam) over the span of a few days to just ensure she has no issues leaving India and onward, but we decided on traveling via Dubai using a one-way ticket. My wife used her Indian passport with a Dubai e-visa (applied in advance as we did not want to use visa on arrival as US visa mentioned PR status) and checked-in after visa & passport verification in Delhi. Immigration in Delhi asked her no questions as the trip was shown only till Dubai. We landed in Dubai and used our Canadian passports to pass through entry & exit immigration, the UAE immigration asked if my wife had 2 passports and she said yes, and that’s about it…they stamped her entry into Dubai without any issues. We collected our bags and then had to check in again for our flight to Toronto via Amsterdam, we walked out of baggage claim and went upstairs to departures and checked in with Canadian passports without any issues. Even while exiting Dubai, no questions were asked and we conveniently boarded our flight to Toronto with a few hours transit in Amsterdam.

I know the risks we took with the above journey and please save the comments reminding us about it. Also, we travel A LOT for work and personal use so we know how to handle situations if they arise, and finding connections to make our trips work out…I do know that there will most likely be a fine that my wife will need to pay during surrender of her Indian passport which we will deal with.

UPDATE:
Surrender Certificate Issued, waiting for BLS to deliver it at home. No fine was issued.

 

[rajdevil3]

@nivaan5 - I have applied for my Surrender Certificate in RPO office Bangalore back in Nov 23rd. The office told me that it would get done in 1 week. So, 2 weeks pass by, I went there personally and they told me not to come but wait for our call. It's been over a month now but there still no update.

They have a number and grievance email. I have followed up with them thrice, but no response.

Do you or anyone in this thread know what can be done or next best option besides waiting?

 

[forw.jane]

@nivaan5 - I have applied for my Surrender Certificate in RPO office Bangalore back in Nov 23rd. The office told me that it would get done in 1 week. So, 2 weeks pass by, I went there personally and they told me not to come but wait for our call. It's been over a month now but there still no update.

They have a number and grievance email. I have followed up with them thrice, but no response.

Do you or anyone in this thread know what can be done or next best option besides waiting?

All experience shared till date got it the same day. 1 month is a really long time.

 

[rajdevil3]

Hello All,
May I know what do I have submit as a document for "Undertaking from Parents or Sponsor"? If anyone has any information will be very helpful.

https://ibb.co/DDdLDMW

Thank you.

 

[dentist4u]

Planning to travel to India on Indian passport then surrender and apply for exit visa. and return on canadian passport ( urgent basis death in the family) i wanted to check if i can book a return flight and which passport number to use for that?

 

[forw.jane]

Planning to travel to India on Indian passport then surrender and apply for exit visa. and return on canadian passport ( urgent basis death in the family) i wanted to check if i can book a return flight and which passport number to use for that?

While going you have to use Indian one so that they don't ask for visa during check-in and then on your way back call the airline and change it to Canadian passport.

 

[rajdevil3]

Hello @nivaan5
I have received my RC/RP after granting the Indian Visa X-1. In the RC/RP (Registration Certificate/Residential Permit) it says "Valid From : 19/01/2024 (dd/mm/yyyy) To 19/01/2024 (dd/mm/yyyy)". Is that what it shows for anyone who received the RC/RP? Why the validity shows only a single day?

 

[rajdevil3]

@nivaan5 - How many days after landing did you apply for entry visa?

I paid Rs18860(Rs10000 penalty + Rs8860 Visa fee). Was able to reach Hyderabad FRRO Visa officer through call center regarding this, he quoted me a rule from Indian Citizenship act saying- One must apply for Visa (even if not in possession of surrender certificate?) within 15 days of landing, I applied after 17 days thus the penalty. I mentioned that one cannot submit visa application without SC online, he said I should have just created application. I mentioned them that I applied for the Visa the same day I've received surrendered certificate and also mentioned that one can use Indian passport upto 3 months without penalty, and since I was on Indian passport until I applied for Visa this rule cannot be applied. He said If I'm applying for Visa - it has to be within 15 days of landing and there's no such grace period with passport exists. At the end he said if I need visa, penalty must be paid. Just paid, awaiting for the Visa now. I'm certain that this rule applies for visa extension cases and it is wrongly applied in my case.

I agree, same thing happened to me as well.

 

[AramanB]

The application itself is quite straight-forward. Similar to the form we fill for BLS (we did it for my spouse in Canada). But there's no checklist for supporting documents. I called the customer service twice. Got different answers each time. One even said all you need is the proof of citizenship and original Indian passport. It's a good idea to refer to the BLS checklist and take all documents that apply. However the documents I submitted are: Application form, Citizenship certificate, Original and 1 photocopy of Indian and Canadian passport, Proof of current Indian address. Apart from this they gave me a form which I had to fill and also asked to write an application letter. I did carry a photograph. But they clicked one at the centre when they took biometrics. They canceled my Indian passport and returned it back to me. They scanned all the other documents and uploaded it in their portal. I got the surrender certificate after half an hour.
Fees for surrender is Rs. 500.
Finally the first question. You should call the customer service and check for which RPOs offer the service. Bangalore has 3 passport offices. Surrender certificate service is available only at Koramangala office. The customer service said that you don't need appointment for surrender and you can walk-in. I had heard there's a line up and went at 8:30. But it was not required. Office opens at 9:30. The line up is once you go to the concerned department. I handed my application to them at 10:10 am and walked out with the certificate at 4:45pm! I don't know why it took so long. There was no apparent problem with my application except they asked me for one more proof of address which I submitted soon after I gave them the application. They deal with a lot of other passport related services, which is probably why it took them so long. Once I was called in for biometrics (at 4:15pm) it took 20-30 min to receive the certificate and cancelled passport.

Hello,
Do you know if we can surrender Indian passport (issued in Toronto) in India?
Is your Indian passport issued in india?

please reply, I am planning to surrender my indian passport in india but it was issued in Toronto.
We checked with somebody here in India, he said if your passport issued in Toronto you cannot surrender your passport here.