Dear CASPERites, Apologies for a non-technical posting. I want to share what I have learned about visas to visit India, and encourage people who plan to attend the workshop to start this process soon, as it is quite detailed, and the administration of it can be time consuming. I believe the deadline to register for the workshop has been extended to 7 September. In part his note is to encourage folks who want to go to get going on signing up and other process. Also in part this posting is a pretext to encourage CASPERites to consider attending what I am sure will be a great event. Finally read to the end for one specific tip which could reduce your visa expenses.
In the US visas appeared to be issued by the following contractor: https://indiavisa.travisaoutsourcing.com/ I draw my conclusions from the above website, though I expect the fees will be similar if one applies outside the US. The fees for visas vary substantially depending on what passport you carry. It should be noted that a tourist visa is not appropriate for conference attendance. And the fees for a business visa can be *very* high, depending on your nationality. It may be more cost effective to get a long term business visa (5 or 10 years) if you expect you'll visit India from time to time in the future. The sum of consular and processing fees for a 10 year visa for a U.S. citizen is $256, which is both pleasing, while being rather aggravating at the same time! For some lucky folk across the world, the fees are much much less (zero consular fee for some, though the shipping can still be annoying). Good for all of you, now you better attend! The tip: Yashwant suggested it may be cost effective to apply for a "conference" visa. While limited to 3 months, there are decent cost savings relative to business. The workshop needs to be organized by an Indian government funded group, and, per Yashwant, TiFR/ NCRA most certainly qualifies. Cheers, Jonathan
