Today we have some bad news. India has decided to fine us for overstaying, although we did have Covid and caught it here. Not that we had any bad infection but we had to do 14 days home quarantine and therefore overstayed our visa. But we could not have left. We had registered at the FRRO as a family overstaying due to Covid, and it said that kids below 12 need not register. In the end we managed to register as a family and it looked good. But it was very difficult to reach anybody at FRRO (foreign regional register office) and we were not sure what to do. I must say that it was overall badly organized as we never knew exactly what we were supposed to do. When we tested positive for Covid 19 they not even the people at the lab (Dr, Lal Lab) didn’t know what we were supposed to do. It took us a while to find out that in fact we were supposed two home quarantine for 14 days. We did that. Overall the Swiss embassy sent us a guy that helped us a bit and we managed to get a exit permit. We did this as therer was a weekend between and the (lazy) people at the FRRO who promised to help us did no such thing. But in the end we were supposed to pay more than 500 USD just for the exit visa. We already had paid 5’00 USD to get us a three months visa. So we payed next to flights worth about 3000 USD another 1000 just to be there. Nobody apologized or offered to help. So that was not such a great experience. We still love India guys, don’t worry. Please share this as things should be communicated better from the beginning. We had absolutely no clue and where left alone. Thanks God we didn’t have any bad infection.
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23 Comments
Please bring it to the notice of the external affairs ministry. There should be covid relaxations. Thousands persons must have been affected this way in the last two years. How come the ministry has not taken proper steps. I am sure they and other ministries sufficiently pro active. Your visa should have been extended automatically, after receipt of communication by you. You push a communication to external affairs ministry. I AM SURE YOU WILL NOT ONLY RECEIVE REFUND BUT ALSO letter expressing regret for the inconvenience caused to you.. Corona is not in your hands. Good luck..
Not the best way to go out of a country
We are always support with you under the Indian law. The matter is very clear since you were suffering from COVID in India how can you leave the country till you didn't recover. You must approach to the highest foreign ministry body explain each and every thing and show your medical certificate may consider your case with sympathy & exonerate Your penalty of ₹50000. You are star of you tube have thousands of subscribers. Don't worry be cheerful 😆
Nothing will happen if u go to notary and give affidavit that due reasons I over stayed
India govt is a corrupted iam very sad for u stay blessed gud family
That's stupid you shouldn't have been fined for over staying because it was not your fault you caught Covid……..Well that's India for you utterly stupid
Not a good time to be travelling?
Aww! What a bummer!! That’s unexpected and disappointing! Hope you have your supporting evidence ( proof of test results ) and get a rebate! Sorry about that!! ☹️
Just made a small contribution as thanks for your years of vlogs and entertainment! Good luck and care!!!
Hey, don’t let rules and regulations turn this experience negative. You had a good trip. Sometimes setbacks are just part of the journey. The events were beyond your control. I hope at some point in life, your fines money will be recovered by some other means. Also, please ignore negative comments. Most people have no idea how hard it is to get a visa and how much it costs to travel with your family. Take care and have a good day ahead—cheers mate.
@Moonshine and Lemongrass Some further thoughts. The fear is that you may end up becoming blacklisted, due to namecalling ("scandal", etc) and not taking responsibility. FRRO has allowed you to pay a fine and then go to your home. The practice in Western regions for those caught overstaying is that people are arrested and scheduled for deportation; sometimes, the children are separated from the parents, and the people can be housed in some desert tents. You have not faced any arrest or deportation here. If those things happen, you will be sent back at cost to you and to the Swiss government. Rupees 50K will seem small in comparison.
The India Bureau of Immigration already gave your family a longish visa. Most travellers do not get 90 days. I would ask that you consider showing appreciation to the departments and to the country. Maybe post an apology and show understanding. This may alleviate any negative feelings and put you and your family on safer ground with respect to future travels. All this said in hopes of helping you and the family.
You can still test positive for Covid19 several weeks after having it
Please let us know your updates after u have left India, just get out of there mate, ASAP.
Assholes like you think india an Indians are cheap like you
🇻🇳Saigon street (Vietnam) thank you my friend for sharing good video. I wish you good health and a nice day. Greetings from Vietnam to you..👍💜❤😉
Whoa…money making in a very
bad Way. Greedy and unfair.
I hope … Karma will work for You . Stay stromg. 🦾
Saw u after very long time. Where have u been during this time?
Hey moonshine, hope you all are good,from couple of days we are waiting for your new video.
Another cash grab from the corrupt shitty Indian government.
India is a corrupt country where bribery will get you anywhere you wish.
Sorry to hear about the fine.
I’m surprised that you were given a reprieve because of covid.
You have a track record for misquoting days during your travel at few places especially Andhra Pradesh, wrongly quoting Sunday for Friday and so on.
I find gross error in your claims about being fined for overstay in India due to covid.
1. During the present VISA period of 90 days, you first landed in India, that is Bengaluru on March 16, 2022.
2. So your 90 days VISA period ends on June 14, 2022.
3. You claimed that you got PCR test done for Covid on July 14, 2022 and tested positive, which means you overstayed the VISA period by 30 days already.
4. You were supposed to be in home quarantine for 2 weeks as soon as you claimed that your PCR tests were positive, which means you needed quarantine until July 28, 2022.
5. Yet within 9 days, that was on July 23, 2022 you came out from quarantine and travelled by tram. Forget about changing your home before that.
6. So this Covid story also sounds fishy.
Your case is not as straight as you put it.
You can not attribute your overstay and the FRRO fining you 50K due to Covid.
Legally you have overstayed already for almost a month beyond the permissible VISA period of 90 days.
If you want to play a victim card to earn sympathies and earn few quick bucks, go ahead and do it, but please don't blame the Indian system for your wrongs. India and the Indians have been good to you all through. You are lucky that you are still moving around freely in India.
By playing victim card, you have given scope for suspicion among the smart Indians and you may lose your subscribers if you go on like this. I have already unsubscribed from your channel, when I sensed that you are not an honest man.
By the way, I had asked you about the links to your books where I can purchase them, but you were silent on that. Are you really a writer or is it another gimmick about writing books? I think you are not at all an honest man. I pity your wife and kids.
You may block me, but you can not blame my country for your wrong doings.
I hope the Ministry of external Affairs intervenes and waived the fine, since you have genuine reasons. This would be bad publicity for Indian Tourism if they insist on the fines.
Sorry to hear about your family have to pay for the overstay despite you didn't do it intentionally but because of covid quarantine. Today is a little hard to concentrate on your video because of the surroundings noise is very distracting. Hope India higher management level can give you a cancellation fined or a big discount of sort. Stay safe.