Visa application in foreign countries

When we travel for a long time it is not quite easy to apply for visas a long time in advance. Visas are often valid from the emission date or only valid for a short time. You cannot postpone !
Hopefully each country has an embassy in every country (or nearly!). Thus it is often possible (but not always) possible to do a visa application from a foreign country. However procedures are not always very clear and not very well explained on the embassy’s websites.
So here are some of our experiments about visa application in foreign countries. Please notice that we only speak about tourist visas.

Indian visa application in Thailand (May 2011)

First of all it is important to tell you that it is now not possible to do Indian visa application in Malaysia if you have a Malaysian tourist visa. They will tell you to go to Bangkok!
The Indian embassy has delegated the visa application work to a private company called VFS which is located in the Sukhunvit area, not very far from the Indian embassy. Thus you will have to pay some extra service fees…

Website

http://www.ivac-th.com

Place

1 Glass Haus Building ,15th Floor
Sukhumvit Soi 25, Sukhumvit Road
Bangkok
To go there : Asok station for the BTS/Sukhimvit station for the MRT/bus No. 2, 25, 38, 40, 45, 48

Procedure for a 3 months tourist visa

1. Fill in the e-form here (lot of problems, choose a computer with a good internet connection) with the web browser Internet Explorer (argh !). Print it.
2. Required documents : 2 passport and thai visa photocopies, original passport with 2 blank pages (valid for more than 6 months),2 passport photos, printed e-form, cash for the paiement.
If you need a double or multiple entry visa you need to write a letter in which you explain why you have to reenter India (join also the plane tickets if you have some).
Print everything before coming because it is expensive at the center (possible to take passport photos in the groundfloor for about 100THB).
3. Go to VFS with all the documents, the application won’t take more than 20 minutes.
4. Follow the application process online.
5. Five working days later you can collect your passport.

Price

Visa fees : 1700THB
Referral fees : 400THB
Service charge : 964THB
DD charges (?) : 35 THB
TOTAL : 3099THB
You can exclusively pay in cash.

Comments

The visa is valid from the emission date!
For a 3 months visa with multiple entries you do not need to wait for 2 months before the next entry.
Very efficient and helpful staff!

Indian visa

Chinese visa application in India, New Delhi (June 2011)

Yes you can do it! This is the same company than in Bangkok that handles the visa applications but in the Indian way!

Website

www.visaforchina.in

Place

1rst floor, Commercial Towers, Le Meridien Hotel
Raisina Road, New Delhi 110001
Comment : in a big building, “Le Merdien Hotel” is written on the top
To go there : Patel Chowk metro station (10 min by foot then)

Procedure for a 30 days visa

1. Do not fill the online form, they do not want it at the Visa center.
2. Documents required: 1 passport and Indian visa photocopy, your passport (valid for more than 6 months and with two blank pages), 1 passport photo, return tickets or a letter justifying why you do not have them (explain your itinerary and tell you are not coming to work !, join your travel insurance contract for example), filled and signed form (to download here)
3. Go to the center and queue! It is quite fast and people are helpful.
4. Wait (no online status…).
5. Four working days later you can collect your passport. You have to pay this day.

Price

Visa fees: 1700Rps
Service fees: 1220Rps
TOTAL: 2310Rps
Paiement only in cash.

Comments

This tourist visa is only valid 3 months from the delivery date and you can only stay 30 days in China.
Fast and efficient service.
You can do the visa in express but you will have to pay twice, you then can collect your passport the second day after.

Chinese Visa

Apply for the Russian visa in China, Shanghai (in july 2011)

If you look for some other people experiences about getting the Russian visa in China on the internet you will be thrown into confusion. Some people are told they cannot do it from elsewhere than thei own country and some other get it easily!
From our own experience we can say it really depends on the embassy employee you will meet, his personal mood and the way he likes you! When we called the embassy about the procedure they told us we could not pretend to the Russian visa without a Chinese visa of more than 3 months. They even gave us the advice to prolongate our (our was of 30 days)! But we did not want to give up. So we went in person to the embassy, ready to go back and to change our travel itinerary. However the Russian employee we saw was very nice and helped us a lot. He even offered us a great book about Russia.
Despite this positive experience it seems that we had some kind of chance!
Our advice: go well-dressed to the embassy and smile!

Embassy website

http://www.rusconshanghai.org.cn/english

Place

20 Huang Pu Rd., Shanghai, China
Big building with a red roof
How to go there : Walk North along the Bund, the embassy is on the right just after the bridge.

Procedure for a 15-days tourist visa

1. Requested documents: passport and two photocopies (of passport and Chinese visa), 1 passport photo, filled in and signed form (to download here), a voucher (we recommand you this website on which the voucher obtention is instant), insurance contract photocopy.
2. Go to the embassy with those documents. You should not have to queue a lot.
3. Wait for 10 days (!).
4. Get back your passport. Do not leave the embassy before checking everything mentionned on the visa is correct.

Price

TOTAL : 353yuans
Paiement in cash exclusively.

Comments

If you have the chance to do this Russian visa in your own country then do it! You could have some problems to get it in China…
Moreover you should know that you will have to let your passport at the embassy during 10 days could be a problem. We had to go to the police station so that they give us a special paper for our hotel before check-in. And cybercafe did not want us without passeport!

Apply for the Mongolian visa in China, Beijing (august 2011)

No need of many documents to apply for the Mongolian visa, it seems to be quite easy. However you will have to be VERY patient. Business hours are ridiculous : 8.30 to 11.30 am mon, wed, fri and 2pm to 4pm tu, thur ; for the visa collection it is from 4 to 5 pm mon-fri. I do not know if it is the same mess all year long but when I went there there were a really big queue. We met people who had come there three times there without being able to apply and give their visa! You will probably notice that Chinese do not like to queue as everybody, so they give their application to somebody at the beginning of the queue (and some bill of course!). Thus people at the beginning take a LOT of time and people waiting at the end have no chance to be able to give their application before the counter closes!
Advice: Do not hesitate to rebel and tell people they can queue as the others. Doing that we were able to apply!

Embassy website

http://www.mongolembassychina.org/index.php?ChangeLang=en
Completely useless (in the english version), information is not up-to-date (schedules and required documents)!

Place

No.2, XiuShui Beijie, Jian Guo Men Wai
Bejing, China
Horaires : visa application 8.30-11.30 monday, wednesday, friday and 14.00-16.00 tuesday, thursday; visa collection 16.00-17.00 monday to friday
Pour s’y rendre : metro station Jianguomen ou Yonganli. Take a map and it is easy!

Procedure for a 30-days tourist visa

1. Documents required : passport and one photocopy (of passport, Chinese visa and Russian visa if you have), 1 passport photo, filled form (no need to precise an adresse in Mongolia) and signed (download here or get one at the embassy).
2. Go to the embassy with the documents and queue (bring a book!).
3. Go pay the visa at Bank of China on Jianguomen Street (when coming from Jianhua Lu cross the street and go right!).
4. Wait 5 days for normal service or collect your visa the day after if you choose the express service.
5. Check your visa before leaving!

Price

Visa (normal/express) : 275/495yuans
Bank commission : 20yuans
TOTAL (normal/express) : 295/515yuans
Paiement by cash.

Comments

Take time and be patient.
Do not forget you really need your passport to check-in in an hotel and to go to cybercafe! (you cannot negociate…)

4 comments for “Visa application in foreign countries”

  1. Tres instructif et bien fait, merci Romane.

  2. Bonjour Romane inutile de te dire que je trouve votre blog super. Je suis en train de planifier un petit parcours qui auras je pense une parti commune à la votre c’est à dire Chine, Mongolien, Russie pour attraper le transsibérien pour retrouvé les amis en France.
    Tout ça pour dire qu’en lisant le paragraphe sur comment avoir le visa mongole en Chine vous avez mis qu’il faut le visa Russe, ma question est: est ce vraiment indispensable? Car on a put apprendre que le billet du transsibérien ne ce réservé pas à l’avance…
    Nous pensions prendre le visa russe en Mongolie sa avait l’air pas si compliqué.
    Voila désolé pour la longueur mais pour le moment nous avons juste voyagé de la France à la Turquie donc pour les visa ça va c’est pas trop dur… mais c’est la suite qui nous fait un peut peur mais bon il y a une solution a tout comme on dit. En tout les cas je vous souhaite un bon voyage et plein de bonne chose mais ça j’imagine que vous en avez a revendre
    merci
    romain
    ps: si sa vous intéresse on a aussi un blog bien sur en plus modéste

  3. Bonjour,

    votre site est tres interessant et je vous en felicite.
    Nous sommes actuellement en Malaisie ,puis la Thailande(+- 2 semaines) puis la Chine (entre 2 et 4 semaines )puis la RUSSIE ( transiberien)

    Je voudrais avoir ,s il vous plait, la confirmation que les demarches pour le visa Russe sont possibles depuis la Thailande ou est il preferable de le faire depuis la Chine ?
    Un grand merci et bravo

    Yves

  4. Super site. Belle initiative. Ceux sont via des idées telles que la vôtre que internet prend toute sont intelligence !
    Je vais commencer un tour du monde d’ici une semaine et ces infos me redonne confiance.

    MERCI

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