I am of Goan origin residing in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where, right now, it is brutally cold with lots of snow. Each year, for the past five years at least, I have gone to Goa for a couple of months. However, every year, I also get harrassed by the Indian Consulate in Vancouver when trying to obtain an Indian visa. This year, I applied again for an Indian visa but, this time, my passport was returned with a sticky on my passport stating that the visa has not been issued and my application has been forwarded to Delhi. I was due to fly out next Thursday, Jan.7, 2010 and there is no way I will be able to get the visa prior to that date. So it appears that my trip to Goa will not materialize. Naturally, I am most disappointed. Apparently, the Indian Government has come out with a new ruling that for anyone born anywhere in Pakistan, regardless of where they are living in the world, their applications for visa would first have to be approved by Delhi. I wish I would have been told this in the first place because, most certainly, I would never have booked my flight nor paid for my visa both of which are quite costly.
It was purely circumstantial that I was born in Karachi in 1934 although my mum was born in Dongargarh, then CP and my dad in Mombassa, East Africa. I left Karachi in 1959 for London, England and, in 1965, left London for Toronto, Canada. Naturally, I am Roman Catholic - not Muslim - have no connections with Pakistan whatsoever but, despite this, I continue to be harrassed by the Indian Consulate in Vancouver. Do you have any contact with some higher authorities in Delhi thru' which a friend of mine and I could avoid this type of harrassment and even obtain Indian citizenship? Thanks Frederick. God Bless. Philip.
