Cost of Overstaying on Your Business Visa in India

A very interesting case came our way recently, we had a Chinese gentleman who had come for some work to India on a 3 months business visa, he arrived in New Delhi and then went off to Gujrat to check on some installation work, it just so happened that due to the civil work being delayed the installation works also got delayed and he could not leave India on Time

He tried to board a flight from IGI airport in New Delhi and was stopped as he had overstayed on his business visa, the challenge now being that he would need a exit visa to leave the country, to get an exit visa he needed to approach the FRRO, for that he needed to upload his address or C form from the hotel, since he did not have a visa, no hotel was willing check him in, he then had to approach the FRRO to get permission to stay in a hotel.

Once the hotel was booked, we assisted him with the online appointment and he went to get his exit visa, as per the new norms a police verification was issued and he was asked to come back to the FRRO after 7 days. The police came and did a verification and then he visited the FRRO and was granted an exit visa so he could finally go home.

The challenges that are faced with such a situation are around the cost that are involved, if you stay at an average hotel the cost per day works out to be around US$ 200 per day, this followed by change of ticket and fare difference which could work out to between US$ 250 to US$ 500 for Shanghai and may be more to further destination depending on the airlines, a total cost of about US$ 2000.00

Is it really worth the additional expense and the inconvenience when you have the option of extending a business visa before it expires? Always be conscious of not overstaying on your business visa in Inda, this way you avoid wasting time, money and all the unnecessary stress and boredom as don’t have to sit in hotel room all day waiting for the process to be completed.