The Visa

I was surprised when I learned that our Toastmasters mid-year training would take place in India in January. I had never imagined travelling there. David's first reaction when he heard was "please don't ask me to come with you". He has travelled there a few times on business.
At the beginning of November I decided that I should enquire about a visa. This was the beginning of a process that finished today!
Firstly I found that the Indian government is represented in Germany via the Consulates. However the consulates themselves don't deal directly with people wanting travel visas. There is an agency which manages the applications. I checked the agency website, helpfully available in both German and English, to find out what I had to do. To get going I needed to know what kind of visa to apply for. None of the visa types listed matched my needs so I wrote to the agency explaining what I was doing, giving them my letter of invitation and asked for advice. I heard nothing.
At the end of November I wrote to the Consulate and hearing nothing a for a few days, I checked with colleagues in UK and Ireland - the embassies had told them to apply for an entry visa.
I filled out the form for the entry visa and then the Consulate said I needed a business visa. I checked but I didn't have business contacts or a letter from a company in India inviting me to come. How could I possibly get a business visa. There followed a number of email exchanges with the agency and then I decided to go ahead and apply for an entry visa as it seemed closest to what I'm planning to do. I would get the papers together and travel to the agency in Munich the next day. The next day was a holiday in India so the agency and consulate were closed. Ah well I could use the day to make sure I had everything I needed.
I completed the online application form and printed it out. I found some of the questions surprising - if you are a housewife, are you working for your spouse or father. HouseWIFE for my father?????

Next I needed two passport sized photos. I thought I had those from my driver's licence application. But no the visa didn't want "normal" size photos, they had to be 50mm x 50mm! Photographer here I come. 40 minutes later and 20€ lighter, I headed to our local council to get a proof of residence statement. The office was closed. Ah well that would have to wait until tomorrow.

Next morning I headed to the council office and the official gave me the document and charged me 5€.
Later that day as I made sure everything was in order for my trip to Munich I realised that the council official had marked the document "For the attention of the British Consulate". The following morning I went straight to the council office and waited for 45 minutes for someone to see me. The lady who saw me hadn't a clue and after some calls agreed that it should be for the attention of the Indian Consulate.
Mistake corrected and I was on my way to Munich.
Once in the office there was a queue of 39 people in front of me. After one and a half hours of being entertained by other "waiters" it was my turn. I explained my trip, my application for an entry visa and handed over my papers to the nice German man at the counter. I told him why I couldn't supply papers for a business visa and was a bit stuck as how to proceed. He said don't worry about it, we'll send everything to the consulate and they will decide. Once they decide they'll tell you how much to pay, then your application will be processed. Because I'm travelling over Christmas he marked my application urgent and said you'll probably get it back by 16th / 17th December.
A few days later I got the news that the consulate had decided to grant me a business visa and I had to pay them lots of money! Money was transferred and over the days I have watched the online tracker showing the progress of my application.
Finally this morning the courier delivered my passport with its shiny new visa for India.

Phew!