How difficult is it for Chinese people to obtain visas to India? Someone has been waiting for 15 months but still hasn't been signed, journalist | India | Chinese

When it comes to applying for a business visa to India, many foreign traders who have traveled to dozens of countries exclaimed to First Financial reporters that this is the most complex business visa they have ever applied for in their lifetime, "unforgettable". Many of them have been waiting for more than six months or have been denied visas.

Whether it's business people, investment lawyers, or visa agencies, they all told First Financial reporters that to their knowledge, the vast majority of applications have been rejected, and almost all cases have been successfully approved. Being able to obtain an Indian visa has become an "impossible task".

In fact, in June this year, Xinhua News Agency also rarely sent a paper "roast" about India's unreasonable visa system for Chinese media reporters, saying that "India has repeatedly suffered unfair and discriminatory treatment".

In addition to a high rejection rate, the application process also makes applicants quite anxious. A reporter from First Financial recently visited the Shanghai India Visa Application Center and upon on-site inquiry, found that the complete materials for the visa application were not disclosed to the outside world. Only when submitted at the front desk would they be informed in detail, and there were frequent changes, which caught the applicant off guard.

After successfully submitting, many people are stuck in a long wait. According to the longest case contacted by the reporter, the applicant has been waiting for 15 months. Before the epidemic, applying for a business visa to India in China usually took about 5 working days. According to Indian media reports, India began implementing stricter visa measures for Chinese citizens in September 2020.

In the post epidemic era, India has opened electronic signatures to 166 countries and regions in the world, which can usually be signed within three days. Among the G20, only China and Türkiye failed to enjoy this treatment.

Shanghai India Visa Center

"No need to apply, it's impossible to pass."

Ms. Lu works for a foreign trade company and sold a batch of equipment to India last year. She agreed to send engineers to India for on-site installation and debugging in February this year.

She started preparing for a visa to India at the end of last year and contacted a visa agency for this. Unexpectedly, the intermediary refused to accept the business and admitted to her, "There's no need to apply, it's impossible to pass." After trying hard, Ms. Lu, who didn't believe in evil, finally found an intermediary to assist her in handling it.

Nowadays, applying for a business visa to India requires more than 20 materials, but these materials are not publicly displayed on the websites of the Indian Embassy, Consulate, and Indian Visa Center. Even the notices posted inside the Indian Visa Center do not inform all the required materials for application.

Moreover, some of the application materials have been "roast" by many applicants beyond the reasonable scope. For example, when going to India for business negotiations, it is necessary not only to provide the highest education of the applicant, but also to notarize the education, and submit the original notarial certificate when applying. In addition, it is also necessary to provide a notarized certificate of personal technical qualifications and a business license for enterprises, and before the epidemic, business visas to India generally did not require any notarized certificate.

Not many of the more than 20 required documents for a business visa can be easily obtained, but this has discouraged many applicants. In order to have the engineer come to her door as soon as possible, Ms. Lu said that she "worked hard to prepare the materials, worked overtime every day, and didn't sleep well. It took her two weeks to gather the necessary materials as quickly as possible.".

In February of this year, she rushed to Shanghai to submit the materials. At the scene, she saw that many people's application materials were not up to standard and needed to make a new appointment for application. Even the visa center staff kindly advised, "If it's not necessary to go, it's not recommended to apply.".

However, as previously predicted by the intermediary, half a month later, Ms. Lu and her team were informed that all visas were refused, and the Indian side did not provide any reasons for refusal. Ms. Lu said that there are still many peers and friends like her, and they are very confused. Many people have given up.

Ms. Lu's client in India is a reputable enterprise in the local area. Therefore, the Indian client sent emails and phone calls to the local immigration office and the Consulate General of India in Shanghai, expressing the necessity of Chinese engineers visiting India, otherwise it would cause losses to the Indian company.

Ms. Lu submitted her visa application again in April, and now three months have passed without any news. Her passport has not been returned, and she is unable to travel to other countries during this period.

Ms. Lu said that the difficulty of obtaining a business visa in India has increased recently, such as the need to display a balance of 100000 RMB in a 6-month bank statement.

Notes on Internal Posting of Indian Visa Centers

Indian companies also suffer losses

The engineer was unable to come to the site for installation and debugging. Ms. Lu stated that she could only provide remote guidance to Indian customers through video, but the effect was very poor. In the end, the Indian client could only hire engineers from European countries for debugging, which cost over 200000 RMB before and after.

Ms. Lu told First Financial reporters that these expenses need to be borne by Chinese companies, and the losses are very serious. "On the surface, this is caused by Chinese companies, but because India does not issue visas, we are powerless." Ms. Lu also revealed that she spent more than 10000 yuan preparing materials for visa application, not including labor costs.

Business visas are so difficult, so it is not difficult to imagine the difficulty of a work visa to India. Many of these Chinese people who are applying for work visas have their own investments in India. An investment lawyer familiar with Indian business told First Financial reporters that he "didn't hear anyone smoothly returning.".

The lawyer told First Financial reporters that the inability of Chinese investors and managers to return to India has led to local enterprises being left without a leader. The most they can do is to maintain their presence and cannot expand their business at all. Due to remote control, they are unable to handle local emergencies, resulting in a significant increase in operating costs.

In fact, it is difficult to obtain a visa to India, and the losses are not only for Chinese companies. According to Indian media reports, the Indian government's strict visa review procedures for Chinese citizens have also caused losses for Indian companies.

Lar, Managing Director of Dixon Technology, a local Indian electronics manufacturing company, also emphasized the importance of issuing visas for Chinese engineers. He said that Chinese technology is quite important for Indian factories, and the lack of these technologies will hinder the development of "Made in India".

The President of the Mobile and Electronics Association of India, Mosindru, said that delays and restrictions on the issuance of business and work visas have become the main obstacles to industry expansion and growth.

Cultural exchange obstructed

In addition to economic and trade exchanges, cultural exchanges have also been injured due to visa difficulties. Gu has been waiting for 15 months for his student visa.

Gu studied Computer Science and Technology for his undergraduate degree. Due to India's expertise in this field, he applied to an Indian university for graduate studies and was admitted.

He submitted his student visa application in the first half of 2022, and it wasn't until 8 months later that he received a call from the Indian Embassy in China requesting additional materials. After Gu submitted the materials, the school also contacted the embassy, but there has been no news so far, and he is unable to borrow his passport.

Due to the inability to go to India, Gu can only attend school through online classes. He expressed concern to the First Financial reporter that due to the pandemic being over, it may be difficult for someone like him to obtain certification from the Ministry of Education for a purely online education degree.

The Ministry of Education's Study Abroad Service Center announced in January this year that it will no longer provide certification services for foreign diploma certificates obtained through remote learning in the spring semester of 2023 and beyond.

At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on June 12th, spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated that since 2020, the Indian side has refused to approve the resident application of Chinese journalists and insisted on only providing valid visas for Chinese media stationed in India for three months or even one month. This has led to a sharp reduction in the number of Chinese journalists from 14 to only one, and the Indian side has not yet agreed to extend the visa for the last Chinese journalist stationed in India.

On May 30th, Wang Xiaojian, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in India, revealed on social media Twitter that in the first five months of this year, the Chinese Embassy in India has issued over 60000 visas to Indian citizens for purposes such as business, study abroad, tourism, work, and family reunion.