[hungrygamer]

FYI

Just came back from KL-SING trip got the visas thru Akbar Travels @ Bangalore , contact person Mr Babu

5500 per person for both visas (3 people)
Singapore got multiple entry 2 year valid visa
Malaysia got multiple entry 1 year valid visa

Interaction with Mr Babu was quite pleasant and no hassles, did not require much documents or paperwork from my side too, felt the price to be ok

[hellmet]

Can someone please suggest travel agents in Hyderabad for Singapore VISAs ? We're a family of 4 planning a trip in a couple of months.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by hellmet

Can someone please suggest travel agents in Hyderabad for Singapore VISAs ? We're a family of 4 planning a trip in a couple of months.

This thread may have more information, here is a post with someone mentioning about the Singapore visa from Hyderabad - here

[rm_arjuna]

Originally Posted by hellmet

Can someone please suggest travel agents in Hyderabad for Singapore VISAs ? We're a family of 4 planning a trip in a couple of months.

akbar trvaels at himayat nagar will help us process , they charge around 2500 per person or i can share the agent in chennai who did for us , you need to send your passport thru bluedart courier .

[agentsmith]

Anybody in the queue for Singapore tourist visas this holiday season? We had applied for visas a week back at Riya Travels (Kammanahalli, Bangalore) and they had promised the visas by last Friday. Today it has been over a week, and they are telling us that "the server is down" (and also, "the person who was handling our papers has gone on leave"). Apparently, a lot of folks are waiting for their visas, and they are doing the best they can.

We have been calling them up on daily basis since Friday, and they have been assuring us that visas would be done soon. I wanted to check if anybody else is facing similar situation. The travel agent is one of the 14 travel agents in India authorized by Singapore ICA, and I was quite surprised at the unprofessionalism shown.

I have non-refundable flight tickets to SGP on the coming weekend, and no visa, and hence, getting worried. While googling, I found a post on indiamike.com where somebody also got the visa at the last minute. Is this the usual way, the travel agents work?

Will appreciate any advice.

Thanks,
Chirag.

[Schoudhury]

Originally Posted by agentsmith

Anybody in the queue for Singapore tourist visas this holiday season? We had applied for visas a week back at Riya Travels (Kammanahalli, Bangalore) and they had promised the visas by last Friday. Today it has been over a week, and they are telling us that "the server is down" (and also, "the person who was handling our papers has gone on leave"). Apparently, a lot of folks are waiting for their visas, and they are doing the best they can.

We have been calling them up on daily basis since Friday, and they have been assuring us that visas would be done soon. I wanted to check if anybody else is facing similar situation. The travel agent is one of the 14 travel agents in India authorized by Singapore ICA, and I was quite surprised at the unprofessionalism shown.

I have non-refundable flight tickets to SGP on the coming weekend, and no visa, and hence, getting worried. While googling, I found a post on indiamike.com where somebody also got the visa at the last minute. Is this the usual way, the travel agents work?

Will appreciate any advice.

Thanks,
Chirag.

Check with Thomas Cook. Visit their MG road office personally and talk to them.

[agentsmith]

Originally Posted by Schoudhury

Check with Thomas Cook. Visit their MG road office personally and talk to them.

First of all, apologies for the late reply. I just returned from my SG trip. I spoke to Thomas Cook who seem to be confident of getting a visa done within a week's time. Unfortunately, I had tickets to fly in 3 days time.

I did get the visa just in time. The experience with Riya Travels has not been very good. They did the job alright, but I was on a high tension wire for a long time because of the lame excuses. Till the last minute, I wasn't sure if I would be able to go or not.

[Turbanator]

The experience with Riya Travels has not been very good. They did the job alright, but I was on a high tension wire for a long time because of the lame excuses. Till the last minute, I wasn't sure if I would be able to go or not.

Similar experience with Thomas Cook many years back , we got our passport with Schengen visa at Airport - couple of hours before Group departure - so looks this is usual stuff with most of agents

[frostbite911]

Hey guys,

So I plan on travelling to Singapore mid September. Ideally, how many days/weeks in advance do I have to submit my Passport and documents to the travel agent? I am residing in Chennai.

Thanks

[NPV]

Originally Posted by frostbite911

Ideally how many days/weeks in advance do I have to submit my Passport and documents to the travel agent? I am residing in Chennai.

It shouldn't take more than 3-4 days but lot safer to get it done like 2 weeks ahead of your travel, just to be on the safer side. Decide the travel dates, book the flight tickets and then apply for the visas.

[frostbite911]

Originally Posted by NPV

It shouldn't take more than 3-4 days but lot safer to get it done like 2 weeks ahead of your travel, just to be on the safer side. Decide the travel dates, book the flight tickets and then apply for the visas.

Hey NPV,

Thanks for the quick reply. I have already booked my flight and hotel tickets. i fly from CHN -SIN on 14th night. Attending the F1 race

Isn't 2 weeks cutting it close? The travel agent said i can submit it right now if i want to, but he sounded way too overconfident, so didn't take that as a firm assurance. I was thinking about a month before the travel date. Especially after hearing all the stories on this forum about getting the passport at the airport. I cannot handle that kind of stress

Thanks again!

[NPV]

Originally Posted by frostbite911

Isn't 2 weeks cutting it close? The travel agent said i can submit it right now if i want to, but he sounded way too overconfident, so didn't take that as a firm assurance. I was thinking about a month before the travel date. Especially after hearing all the stories on this forum about getting the passport at the airport. I cannot handle that kind of stress

1 month is fine too
Look up the website and see how early from your travel date you can apply for the visa, I remember the travel agent telling me that 1 month is the earliest, but do check. Do keep in mind that if they issue a single/multiple entry visa with validity for 3/6 months, the validity will typically start from the date you applied and 1 month of the visa's validity is already lost by the time you travel, so if there are any last minute changes to your plan, etc you need to factor that in, I guess you get the drift.

[frostbite911]

Originally Posted by NPV

1 month is fine too
Look up the website and see how early from your travel date you can apply for the visa, I remember the travel agent telling me that 1 month is the earliest, but do check. Do keep in mind that if they issue a single/multiple entry visa with validity for 3/6 months, the validity will typically start from the date you applied and 1 month of the visa's validity is already lost by the time you travel, so if there are any last minute changes to your plan, etc you need to factor that in, I guess you get the drift.

Yup, got it. I'll be going just for 5 days.Which brings me to my next series of questions.

What is the visa duration normally given to tourists?
Can we specify the visa duration we require?
If no, On what basis do we get alloted the visa duration ?
Like you said, if i apply one month before and i get only a 1 month visa, its super risky.

Apologies if my questions are silly

Thank you once again

[NPV]

Originally Posted by frostbite911

Which brings me to my next series of questions.

Rather than speculate/generalize or answer with a personal experience (which may not be the general case), I suggest you read the Singapore MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) website regarding the Visa for foreigners.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by frostbite911

Hey guys,

So I plan on travelling to Singapore mid September. Ideally, how many days/weeks in advance do I have to submit my Passport and documents to the travel agent? I am residing in Chennai.

Thanks

Im sitting in Singapore as I write this. I have a visa which is valid for 2 years, which I got a while ago.

A little earlier one could actually get Singapore visas for upto 2 years - depending on the general travel profile that appears on your passport. No questions asked and very simple process. So simple that most of us took it for granted.

Of late they have clamped down a bit and are not quite as generous as before. They are giving 1 month validity more often than not these days.

Therefore, for your trip, especially because you've planned your dates and you want to go for the F1 and you've got your tickets etc, I suggest you apply for the visa indicating the date range and submitting all the relevant papers (your tickets etc).

You shouldn't have a problem at all in getting a visa. Singapore is generally very welcoming to tourists and indeed, very professional too.

Your visa ought not to take more than 5 working days max, to come.

I suggest apply for the visa about 2-3 weeks before you are actually scheduled to go.