Nepal 2yr GC holder needs India visa?

[Imua 0]

Sorry I have not been on VJ in a while - what a change!!! It will take some time to get used to the new look...

Anyway, Govi and I are planning on taking a vacation in India in May-June and he still has the 2yr conditional GC. I went on the USCIS website and it doesn't look like he will have any problems coming back to the US, but I am wondering if he will need an India visa - as a USC I definitely do. He has a Nepali passport and normally Nepalis can enter India without a visa, however he was telling me some friends(Nepali LPRs) have had problems entering India without a visa.

[ELW 5]

Nice to hear from you Pattu! I have heard several times on VJ that a green card holder still travels to other countries with their own passport, so normal rules on that passport applies. So if Nepalis ordinarily would not need a visa for India, he wouldn't either. All I can suggest is contacting the Indian embassy and asking if Nepali passport holders need a visa for India. I can't explain what his friends told him about the troubles entering India. Even if the Indian embassy says it isn't necessary, maybe you could ask them for a visa anyway! The green card would anyway just be shown when re-entering USA, so it shouldn't have any bearing on travelling on the Nepali passport.

CONGRATS by the way on your upcoming travels!!! Nagu's been in USA nearly three years already and we still haven't been anywhere! Where will you visit in India?

[inzango 0]

I agree with ELW. I highly doubted he will need a Visa for India since he has his Nepali Passport. When in doubt, call the Indian Embassy.

Good luck and have a safe, fun and happy trip!

[john_and_marlene 162]

It appears that since he no longer resides in Nepal, he will need a visa.

http://www.timaticweb.com/cgi-bin/tim_website_client.cgi?SpecData=1&VISA=&page=visa&NA=NP&AR=US&PASSTYPES=PASS&DE=IN&user=DL&subuser=DELTAB2C

[john_and_marlene 162]

The green card would anyway just be shown when re-entering USA, so it shouldn't have any bearing on travelling on the Nepali passport.

Both citizenship and country of residence are considered when determining the need for a visa. In this case it looks like being a resident of another country makes a difference for citizens of Nepal needing a visa for India.

[ELW 5]

Thanks, good research work, john_and_marlene!

[Third 0]

Hey Pattu,

You are right about traveling from India to Nepal they don't need anything however when you are going from abroad you are required to have a visa.

Third

Sorry I have not been on VJ in a while - what a change!!! It will take some time to get used to the new look...

Anyway, Govi and I are planning on taking a vacation in India in May-June and he still has the 2yr conditional GC. I went on the USCIS website and it doesn't look like he will have any problems coming back to the US, but I am wondering if he will need an India visa - as a USC I definitely do. He has a Nepali passport and normally Nepalis can enter India without a visa, however he was telling me some friends(Nepali LPRs) have had problems entering India without a visa.

[Imua 0]

Thanks Eileen and everyone

I guess he will need to get a visa as well - I need to double check the current fees. If anyone is going to India be sure you check the new visa rules - since the Mumbai bombings they have made a lot of changes. The biggest headache now is that you can no longer fly to India, pop on over to Nepal, Bangladesh, etc. and fly back to India unless you are in the second country for more than 2 months - we were planning on doing this before but changed our plans once we read of the new rule. There are many many discussions on Indiamike forum about it. Another rule is that you need proof of address to apply for an India tourist visa - either a government-issued ID(apart from your passport) or a major utility bill.

We haven't made all of our plans yet but we definitely want to see a lot of wildlife areas - Keoladeo National Park is on my top 5 list. Vrindaban is also a place I want to see. We also want to see the Taj of course - I am getting tired of people asking me if I saw it when I went to India in '03 and saying no. Any suggestions of 'must see' places would be welcome - though we are only focusing on North India since we will only be going for 3 weeks and want to have some time to relax.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

What happens if he flies first to Kathmandu and then enters India by land? That may avoid the visa issue entirely.

(a version of this has been used many times by naturalised Indians to enter areas on which Delhi places restrictions; land in one of international airports and then travel by land--only documents needed then are travel-tickets).

[Imua 0]

Just for the record if anyone searches for this thread later, I emailed the Indian visa outsourcing company and they said as per the Indian consulate that Nepali citizens do not need a visa, even if they hold a US GC. I printed out their reply just in case they give us trouble at the airport(I don't think they will, but I tend to be a little paranoid)