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Old 27th June 2008, 17:40   #46
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Originally Posted by HappyWheels View Post
they would just return back the passport and ask you to come back after a period.
You think that they suspect that he is pregnant?
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Old 27th June 2008, 17:41   #47
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You think that they suspect that he is pregnant?
ROFL . Too good Sam.
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Old 27th June 2008, 19:10   #48
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You think that they suspect that he is pregnant?
(few more of those)


But, a very good one, Sam. Just too good sense of humor, I say!

Love the way your brain works! (big grin)
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Old 27th June 2008, 19:34   #49
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I also heard many horror stories about US visa. Don't know whether it is true or rumor, but at one time in past they had a rule that every tenth applicant will be refused visa .
I am here, But still, many Horror cases -absolutely. Two cases I personally know of:
a) A Lady friend of mine was told that she was too beautiful and there was every possibility that she would be found too attractive and be solicited with matrimonial proposals - net net, they were telling her that she was looking for an easy way out to obtain a green card.
b) A friend of mine's passport was put in the banned list and his US visa cancelled because he was suspected to be a terrorist. The sad part was that he underwent a lot of misery in fighting this case.
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Usually European embassies are better
Post 9/11 some of the country embassies have become horrible. Spain/Portugal/Poland/France are some examples I can think of. UK was the simplest, but even that has got tougher recently. The worst part is when you land in some of these european airports and get subjected to some embarassing scrutiny just becasue we are Asian in descent.
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Old 27th June 2008, 19:47   #50
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harry, be patient and keep your fingers crossed, they will still check the credentials both in India and Austria (contacts) before granting the visa.

If your contacts respond when they call, your visa is through.
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Old 27th June 2008, 21:30   #51
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A Lady friend of mine was told that she was too beautiful and there was every possibility that she would be found too attractive and be solicited with matrimonial proposals
Well, I heard that story also, but differently.

A male friend of mine (very average looking and was single at that time) applied for work permit in Norwegian embassy in Delhi (a well known Indian IT company was sending him there for few months of project work).

His visa was denied and exactly same reason was cited i.e. he could marry a local girl after reaching in Norway

He finally got the visa when his company had some serious debate with the embassy!
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Old 27th June 2008, 21:35   #52
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Originally Posted by sbasak View Post
A male friend of mine (very average looking and was single at that time) applied for work permit in Norwegian embassy in Delhi

His visa was denied and exactly same reason was cited i.e. he could marry a local girl after reaching in Norway
Oh dear. I had better be careful when applying for my next German visa.
What if I am accused of wanting to marry a local girl...
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Old 27th June 2008, 23:24   #53
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Post 9/11 some of the country embassies have become horrible. Spain/Portugal/Poland/France are some examples I can think of. UK was the simplest, but even that has got tougher recently. The worst part is when you land in some of these european airports and get subjected to some embarassing scrutiny just becasue we are Asian in descent.

Let's be very clear on this point. The scrutiny is not because of "Asian" descent. (Since when was the Indian Subcontinent "Asian" anyway. But that is an entirely different topic.).

The scrutiny is because Indians and Pakistanis are racially identical. Pakistan / Terroristan is a state sponsor and breeding ground for terrorism, and all European countries need to make sure that even though you are applying in India, you are not actually a Pakistani poseur.

Last edited by Rehaan : 27th June 2008 at 23:39. Reason: quote fixed.
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Old 28th June 2008, 00:46   #54
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The scrutiny is because Indians and Pakistanis are racially identical. Pakistan / Terroristan is a state sponsor and breeding ground for terrorism, and all European countries need to make sure that even though you are applying in India, you are not actually a Pakistani poseur.


Also, whatever said and done, let's face the fact. It's their country so it's upto them whom they want to enter and whom they wish to decline entry. So why fret about it. It's our system which doesnt' function properly so why blame the others. If we feel so "unjustified" at the biased behavior of the officials working at the embassy, then rather than pointing a finger at them, why don't we clean our house first.
But heck! we've all taken things for granted to a certain extent. We're like, as long as we're not being affect by any wrong doing, why bother. It'll only get us into trouble.


FYI - A grant of visa doesn't necessarily mean entry to the country. The entry is decided by the immigration official who has every right to deport/detain an individual.

Also, a question. Whom would we want at the post of a prime minister or president or any other "significant" job at any place. Surely and Indian instead of a foreigner. Let's face it. We are as racist as any other nation although we pretend otherwise. Do we(entire country) really tolerate a "foreign" person as a peer. Chances are "not quite". The dialogue from the movie chak de is as good an example as one can get. When the girls from Meghalya arrive to register for the olympics team, "sukhram ji" says 'welcome to the country' or something like that and the girls say " apney hi desh main reh kar........ "

The same way, even the foreign countires in order to protect the interest of their citizen, want to make sure that the visa's they grant are to people who are not of any threat to the citizens of their own country will come back to India. They want to make sure that their prime minister is a person of their own country origin and not a person and not an "acquired" citizen.

It has happened many a times that visa's are granted and people don't return because of better standard of living, hence the officials need to double check on thing. Southall is one example I can quote. That's like a mini-punjab with jalebi's being made outside the shop. For sure the day is not far behind when the queen would walk to see the jalebi's being made there.

Also, the flow of foreign exchange into from immigrants makes their economy weak and ours stronger. To say the least, it's their own people who are un-employed. So there are a lot of factors which go into a grant and denial of a visa however, these are not mentioned to us avoid a "political/discrimination" debate or any crisis which would further hamper their economy and put them on a bad note on a global front, hence petty excuses are offered. A lot of things have to swept under the carpet.

Like I said in my earlier post, the onus is onto us to prove that we will return. You do that, and there's no reason for them to deny a visa.

As for you harry- in all likehood you should be getting the visa as the questions they asked were very generic but when are you goin to get your visa. It's friday today and embassy's don't work over the weekend and you said your flights' on sunday. Ain't it? Which VFS office did you submit your passport to? It might be a better idea to pick it up from there itself.

For those who think that if the visa was denied, the passport is handed back immediately, the thought is wrong. There are times when the VFS receives the passport with the visa rejected.

Hope this clarifies the matter a bit more
Laila tov'
M2S
PS: The opion expressed in this thread is to shed some light on how embassy's possibly work and not to start a debate related to either political or personal point of view.

Last edited by married2speed : 28th June 2008 at 00:57.
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Old 28th June 2008, 02:04   #55
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Interesting topic.

A friend of mine who use to work at the American consulate once told me that 75% of your case is decided while you waiting in line to submit your forms. They are watching you and reading your body language. See if extra fidgety,nervous, dropping things etc etc. Also a good tip is to show detachment. Many years ago I went for a visa at the Bombay consulate and the lady asked me how long I need the visa for, I said 10 days, I have a business to com back to. She snarled back, we dont give 10 day visas, I will write longest possible. I was like, sure, whatever. Guess what? I was granted a 10 year multiple entry!

I dont believe there is racism per se. Its how you come across, the way you look, present yourself and reply. There are some Caucasian friends who have been denied entry to US as well, I dont think it even matters anymore. Unless you from one of the sensitive countries. Worst case they search you more.

Another friend had yelled back because the visa officer said your degrees are fake and was going to deny him a student visa. This guy yelled back saying deny me if you like but dont say its fake without proof. Guess what? The consulate asked him to come back and take his visa after awhile.

I read somewhere on this thread, that a visa is your right. Correction its not a right, its their prerogative to grant you one or not. Till some years ago alot of countries didn't need Indians to have visas including UK and Singapore. So its pretty much our doing to be in this mess in the first place. Oh well changing times.
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Old 28th June 2008, 06:00   #56
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Originally Posted by RedMM340 View Post
Let's be very clear on this point. The scrutiny is not because of "Asian" descent. (Since when was the Indian Subcontinent "Asian" anyway. But that is an entirely different topic.).

The scrutiny is because Indians and Pakistanis are racially identical. Pakistan / Terroristan is a state sponsor and breeding ground for terrorism, and all European countries need to make sure that even though you are applying in India, you are not actually a Pakistani poseur.
hello Red, chances are that if a person carrying an Indian passport turns up at an embassy in New Delhi. There are very high chances that the said person will be of Indian origin.

Fake passport holders usually have fake visas and do not que up for visas in foreign countries.
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Old 28th June 2008, 07:50   #57
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hello Red, chances are that if a person carrying an Indian passport turns up at an embassy in New Delhi. There are very high chances that the said person will be of Indian origin.

Fake passport holders usually have fake visas and do not que up for visas in foreign countries.

Agreed. But "Pakistanis" are of Indian origin. Or as I prefer to phrase it: Hindustani origin.

Come on, you don't believe that there are large numbers of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in India today holding Indian passports? Infiltration is real, and getting a passport in India just cost some rupees, which the ISI has no problem spending to further their agenda.
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Old 28th June 2008, 08:22   #58
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The worst folks are the indians working in the embassy.

Back in '98, we were to go for my sisters marriage. We went to the US Chennai consulate at 5.00am, queued up. My wife went in at 7.00am, I could not as I was not an applicant. I told her I would meet her outside at 9.00am.

Reached to find her very distraught. Why ? interview went well, she got the visa but....

Went to pay but the amount was different than DD due to a revision so one can pay the difference in cash for 10 days after the revision date and so:

Indian Cashier: "This is not correct, you need a DD of the right amount"

Wife: 'but i am allowed to pay the difference in cash!"

Indian Cashier: " Liar, all you people are liars," Rips up application and flings passport at her. My wife still has aknowledgement slip

Wife is in pieces and upset as family wedding will be missed. She also is 5 months pregnant. We go back to my cousin's place and decide this matter cannot be buried. We call someone who works for a major magazine and tell him the story. He ringd the consulate PRO who refuses to believe this and calls us.

We relate the event and he says I will call you back. 10 min later, he calls back and asks her to be at a certain gate at a certain time. She goes to the consulate and is escorted in by the PRO. They are still wary but want to know more.

While going up the stairs, the lady who interviewed her passes her and asks:

"what's the issue, i remember her, the TV journalist, I gave her the visa"

This gets more curious, she then has an interview with the asst consulate general and relates the story. She then gives them the acknowlegement slip for them to review application again. They cannot find it - no application, passed or not is destroyed and then they realise this.

They make her reapply immediately and are apologetic. They say, "this is unusual as VR (the cashier) is a gentle soul"

Wifey lets them have it "To you , gentle, to others, he was rude. In my case, the issue was not so big, who is he to stand and possbily ruin a student's career or someone's medical treatment"

They are extremely apologetic and reissue the acknowledgment slip. Visa is issued the next day.

This was pure chance that we had a contact to get it. I hate to think about the poor boy from Tiruneveli who got everything intact and got screwed by a stupid cashier
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Old 28th June 2008, 09:05   #59
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The worst folks are the indians working in the embassy.

Indian Cashier: " Liar, all you people are liars," Rips up application and flings passport at her. My wife still has aknowledgement slip
This is an Indian cashier working in the American consulate? A letter straight to the consulate head with your accusation was needed here so that the next Indian person is not treated this way. I am an American citizen and I do not like my country represented this way. Sorry, buddy.
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Old 28th June 2008, 09:13   #60
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This is an Indian cashier working in the American consulate? A letter straight to the consulate head with your accusation was needed here so that the next Indian person is not treated this way. I am an American citizen and I do not like my country represented this way. Sorry, buddy.
Sorry buddy, but that's how your country represented itself to the Indians. A letter would have been consigned to the bin. BTW - it was not an accusation but an actual misdemenour.

Am sure plenty of people will testify despite open and direct feedback from my wife, things would not have changed much
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