Yelläks /ˈyæl•eks/

It is quite an odyssey to get the correct visa, especially if someone wants to study in India and does not only go there as a tourist. I called up the visa service provider, which handles all visa issues and forwards them to the embassy, to explain to them, what I need, and to ask what kind of support letters they need from me. After everything was set, I transfered the money and sent them my passport and documents. After a week the passport came back and it had the wrong visa (what else). And there it is, the start of the odyssey:
It took several months to convince the Indian embassy in Germany that a research visa exists, which is needed for the PhD program at an Indian institute. Till November they were not aware of this although the Indian embassy in Japan (thanks to the Internet) even support applicants for this kind of visa. One month later (in December) the status was that a student visa and a research visa are exactly the same although the Ministry of Home Affairs in India even separate them on their web page, which is accessible to everyone (http://www.education.nic.in/hesch1.asp). A day after Christmas the Indian embassy and their visa service provider came to know that there is a difference and that it takes 3 to 8 months for application. My date of departure was the 5^th of January. According to them, it seemed to be no problem to change the visa, while I stay in India. It would take the same time, but I can start to work on the PhD research. With that information I called up the Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Higher Education. There I was told that as of March 2007 they do not change any visa any more until further notice. Now the question is: From where did the embassy get its information?

The worst thing and therefore a good hint is: Do not believe, what the visa issuing service provider nor the embassy tells you. You need to double check each information. They never tell you that they do not know something, because it looks unprofessional and proofs a lack of knowledge. They just tell you anything and you take it for granted, since you trust them (they are the people handling visa issues every day). I am pretty sure that I know more about visa application than them by now. Let’s see, currently I am in India on the issued student visa. If I can change it here or if I have to go back to Germany or not, no one knows and so far I am tired of being played with. So the odyssey continues…