Indian visa - help

[oncemoreuntothebeachdearfriends]

I'm been through the long process of applying for an e-visa, but been refused when I've completed everything.

No reason given & I can't think of anything that might have caused it.

It says I can get a regular visa, but it looks like I have to apply in person, & there's no indication of how long it will take.
We made a last--minute booking & go on 3rd Nov.

Any idea how long it could take please ?
I'm feeling a bit panicky.

What does the refusal look like?

When we filled in our forms (which I agree was a long process, ridiculously so, including questions about whether we had ever served in the Pakistani military), I received two e-mails, one saying "We had received your application and payment", and then the next day "Your visa has been approved". DP got the first mail but not the second, but then logged in and the visa approval was sitting there.

Are you a journalist? I think they have tighter processes for certain occupations.

It might be the same for military too. Worth having a Google search for similar scenarios

I got the refusal before I paid for it.
And I'm a retired accountant.

I'm really anxious

First, are you sure you are on the official Indian High Commission website?

I went to India as a tourist around 10 years and it was easy to end up on a commercial visa company site. To establish I was on the official site I went on the Indian High Commission site in London and followed their link.

Maybe you somehow applied for a working visa or similar rather than an e-visa for tourists. You have a few weeks to sort it out!

No reason for refusal was given, just that I needed to get a regular paper visa - which is what my question is about.
I don't think we'll have enough time.

Yeah you do I did this once just book it quickly and hightail it down to London should be granted then and there.

I would suggest if getting to London is easy enough for you to do that. I've done this twice,make an appointment - allow extra time as they don't seem to stick to it! They couriered my passport with my visa inside within a few days. The last time I did this was in 2018 so not sure how much this may have changed.
Have an amazing time in India.

Echoing this - there are a lot of rip off sites masquerading as official .gov sites both for the UK and other countries.

Check the exact URL you are using, some of the fake sites are very realistic.

It was real, they did not take my money !!!

I can't access the form to try to find out what I did wrong.

Have you tried again, double checking that you’re on the official site? It is a long process and have to say my jpeg compression skills are now tip top

Yes, definitely the official site, & if it was a bogus site they'd have scammed me out of money.

I think I've spent about 4 hours filling in their ludicrous form - including finding the tel nos of all the hotels we are staying at, as well the state & district they are in.
I was expecting questions about being a Communist & my bra size.

I've also learnt how to convert jpeg to pdf - as well as compression !

Going to London to apply for a paper visa is nearly impossible for many reasons.
I'm also concerned that if I apply for a paper visa, whatever stopped me getting an e-visa will also stymie a paper one.

Not sure what to do next.

I'm tearing my hair out, so thanks to everyone for the helpful comments from a nearly bald MNer.

FWIW, the 'unofficial' sites are not necessarily scammers, just commercial sites that act as middle-men and charge a fee, over and above the fee for a visa.

Just thinking back to when I was applying online for an e-Visa to India: I remember it taking ages and I had difficulty loading my photo etc and had to return to the application a number of times before finally submitting.

If I remember rightly you get a reference number when you start the application so you could return to your application and re-start where you left off. Did you get any such reference number?

The official site is this (rather unprepossessing) one: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html

I’ve applied for a few Indian e visas and I’m pretty sure you have to pay before you get a decision- it’s an application fee. Definitely check the URL. The real one almost looks like a fake one and some of the fake ones look more official.

One of the last questions about grandparents being born in Pakistan or something, kept resetting itself to "yes" every time I reloaded the page and I very nearly submitted it with "yes" applied.

It might be worth starting over, and going through every single question in painstaking detail.

You also have to fill in an online form instead of a disembarkation form on the plane now.

I have had two colleagues have theirs declined in the last month. One because the photo was a tiny blury in one part, the other because they have same name as someone who’d had one before or something!
don’t stress. Does it offer to try again online? One did and was approved second time, one went in person. All fine.

Thanks for all your help.

It's infuriating that no reason is given, & no way of finding out why.
Logistically, it's almost impossible to go in person

We decided to try to cancel the holiday, but the T&Cs were against us.
We were so relieved when the Tour Operator agreed a full refund !!!
No admin fee, no credit note. (But we have had at least 6 holidays with them in the past, which probably helped.)

I might sleep tonight - if I can tear myself away from my PC trying to find a suitable holiday from late Oct for 8-12 days !

Thanks again.

I'm glad to hear that the travel company allowed you to cancel with no penalties!

Thanks, but not half as glad as I am !😀
We've just booked another holiday with them , I think we owe it to them, & we know & trust the company.