r/visas

Got my Japan visa yesterday and firstly wanted to thank all the folks on this sub for all of the advice/info/knowledge. It was super helpful!

Sharing a few things I learnt through this experience that might help you in your visa application process.

1. Keep your cover letter and itinerary clean and precise. Don't add too many unnecessary details if your application is a standard one. Of course if there are things you need to explain about your employment, bank statement etc then add that but otherwise stick to what is required.

2. Only add documents that are required. I tried adding a bunch of things like extra financials, extra payslips etc but Vfs explained that the visa officers will only look at the required list of documents.

3. If you are in a location that requires an appointment, start looking for Visa slot 60-45 before your date of travel. In my case the earliest Vfs slot I got in Bangalore was 20 days after the day I started searching. Also you can show up to Vfs super early but it won't really help since they won't let you enter 5 mins before your allotted time.

Let me know if you guys have any questions. Happy to answer!

Just wanted to share my experience in case it helps someone applying for a Japan tourist visa from Delhi.
I got my Japan visa in just 2 working days!!!

The entire process at VFS Delhi was quite simple and straightforward. I submitted all the documents mentioned in the checklist on the VFS website.

Additional documents I attached:
- Australia visa (as an additional travel history document)
-I had actually forgotten to carry a photocopy of my passport (o but the VFS staff were kind enough to make the copy themselves, so that wasn't an issue.
- Account balance I showed was 3L + 3 years ITR
The VFS staff were helpful and the submission process was pretty smooth overall.

For reference, this was a tourist visa application, and I submitted the documents exactly as per the requirements mentioned on the VFS website.

Honestly, I was expecting it to take longer, so getting it back in just 2 working days was a surprise!
Hope this helps anyone applying from Delhi.

Feel free to ask ANYTHING!

I am travelling to the US for 2months for a family visit and will have university coursework deadlines during this period. I saw online that “study for credit” is not permitted while on ESTA but i was wondering if that applied to completing coursework for a UK university while I am visiting? It seems to be a grey area and i cant find any similar scenarios. Does anyone have any more information on this?

Hello all, I am traveling to Chicago first time with Etihad next week. I received a mail regarding US border and custom clearance which needs to be done at Abu Dhabi airport (layover). I have just two hours between the connecting and flight doing all this stuff, so will that be enough, can i ask the cabin crew for a priority off-boarding due to this situation? I have a single PNR for both flights, details are as follows:

EY205 —> Mumbai - Abu Dhabi

2 hr 10 min layover break

EY9 —> Abu Dhabi - Chicago

I hope baggage dropped at Mumbai will be directly collected @Chicago and I don’t have to recheck @Abu Dhabi. Kindly review this case and help me out. Thank you :)

I am an Indian and have itr about 9.7 lacs and bank balance of about 1.8 lacs will this suffice for japan visa?

has anyone successfully gotten citizenship/passport after finding out about ancestors many generations ago e.g great great grandparents ? I’m thinking of doing an ancestry DNA test and seeing what I can find !

Hi everyone,

This is my first international trip, so I want to make sure I have everything right.

I’m an Indian passport holder travelling BLR → HKG → SFO on Cathay Pacific, with a single PNR. I have a valid US visa and will be staying airside during the Hong Kong connection.

Do I need any Hong Kong transit visa or Pre-arrival Registration (PAR) for this?

Has anyone recently travelled this route with Cathay Pacific on a single PNR? Did you have any issues at Bengaluru check-in or during the Hong Kong transit?

Thanks

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to apply for an Indian e‑Visa through the official government website. After completing everything and clicking Submit on the final page, I keep getting “Some error occurred.” I haven’t reached payment.

I’ve tried repeatedly over several hours using Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and an iPhone. I even filled out a completely new application with a new temporary ID, but I still get the same error.

My flight is on October 13, so I’m getting worried. Has anyone experienced this recently and found a solution? Could something in the form or uploaded documents be causing it?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice/experiences regarding the German Family Reunion Visa (FRV) process from Delhi.

Here’s my timeline:

• 5 May: Applied for spouse visa through the CSP portal.
• After that, I was asked to provide some additional documents.
• 15 July: Received my appointment at VFS Delhi and submitted passport for visa stamping.
• 16 July: Received an email from VFS confirming that my application had been sent to the German Embassy in India.
• 2 October: I’m still waiting for my visa/passport and haven’t received any further update.

My spouse is already living in Berlin, and we are waiting for the visa so that I can join him.

Has anyone applied for Family Reunion/Spouse Visa from Delhi to Berlin around the same time and experienced a similar delay?

I would really appreciate it if anyone could share:

• How long your application took after being forwarded to the Embassy
• Whether you received any update from the Embassy/VFS during the waiting period
• Whether there is anything I should do at this stage, such as contacting the Embassy
• Recent timelines for FRV applications from Delhi would also be really helpful.

It has already been around 11 weeks since my passport was submitted, so I’m getting a little concerned.

Any recent experiences or timelines would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!