One hundred and fifty six countries are eligible for Indian eVisas, although - currently - along with 14 other rogue nations these do not include the UK. Actually, this is a punishment as apparently we were similarly during the height of the pandemic.
Typically, India was to have been our next destination. We have a wedding to attend there in January and had planned on visiting the remote Aranachal Pradesh, undertaking a series of treks, as well as indulging with some Om beach time in the interim. Such a prolonged visit being thwarted we pondered where we might head instead. Purely by chance I discovered that Pakistan were now, supposedly, for the first time in many years, more likely to look favourably upon a British application. And they do have some rather fine mountains themselves...
After three and a half years on the road (with only one brief hiatus) it had been good to return home, to see our parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, and to meet a whole host - seven to be precise - of grand nieces and nephews.
friends and yet, as always, there were many others against whom time conspired. I say time was limiting... Wed planned on being home for ten weeks and yet circumstances begged to differ.
As weve mentioned adnauseam our passports were full (Laos authorities had, kindly, being overlaying visas for our last few months in residence) and we immediately - within two days of our arrival back in Blighty - sent off for replacements. HMPO stated that, due to lethargy during the pandemic, some five million Brits had neglected to renew their expired documents and, consequently, with everyone now wanting to go on holiday, there was an almighty backlog: indeed it might take up to ten weeks to receive your new Passport.
And yet it soon became apparent via the Facebook group Passport chaos 2022 that thousands had been drumming their fingers for considerably longer than the purported maximum waiting time.
Incredibly, Ali received hers within five days. Personally, after five weeks with no news of progress, I joined the almost group in order to monitor tactics and construct a battle plan should my application exceed the stated period. The group was full of tales of woe: some
had been waiting for over four months; help lines were universally recognised as useless, expedition services similarly. Many with imminent flights had taken to visiting their most local HMPO office (typically hours away from where they live) to plead their cases. Infuriatingly - for those who had followed HMPO guidelines and not booked a flight prior to the receipt of their new passport - this tactic was working... if you were due to fly in the next 48 hours.
Meanwhile, out with the numerous social visits, we had been kept busy by our parents with a miscellany of painting, repair and gardening jobs, not to mention countless phone negotiations relating to renewing various services and contracts. My father must have been chuffed with us synching his cursed hearing aids to its phone App, his newly pristine gutters, and knocking a hundred pounds off his car insurance as he suddenly initiated the alchemy that he calls home brewing.
Then, sure enough, ten weeks passed without my new blue British passport (not the maroon EU effort - Brexit was so worth it) tumbling through the letterbox.
and the Director General of HMPO stating my dissatisfaction with the service provided, the fact that HMPO was now guilty of a SLA (service level agreement) breech and indeed appeared to be behaving with a positive bias towards those who had ignored their own guidelines.
I had low expectations of a response from either and yet eight hours later my MP was in contact and promised to have a word with the powers that be. The next morning there was a phone call from HMPO: my application had been approved, it was being printed as we spoke and would be with me before the end of the week. Whoa... So much for impotent local government.
