Serving personnel get
read more carefully.

They do not refuse the category — there is no rule anywhere that says a soldier or a police officer cannot hold a visitor visa, and serving personnel travel abroad constantly. What is true is that disclosing military, paramilitary or police service can route an application into additional security screening in several countries, which means a longer and less predictable processing time. The practical risk is therefore to your dates, not to your eligibility. We plan for the longer route from the start and tell you honestly if your leave window cannot absorb it.

Absolutely not, and this is the most damaging mistake in this category. Describing yourself as something you are not is misrepresentation, and it is usually discovered — your NOC, salary certificate and bank credits all point at your actual employer. A misrepresentation finding can bar you from applying to that country for years and follows you into every other application. Declare your service accurately, at the level of detail the form asks for. That is both the honest route and, by a distance, the stronger one.

You state your employer, your rank and your length of service. You do not disclose operational detail, deployment specifics or anything your service rules protect, and no visa form legitimately requires it. The line between answering the question truthfully and volunteering information you should not is where applicants in this category get uncomfortable — we draft that section with you so it is accurate, complete for the form's purposes, and discloses nothing it should not.

Earlier than you think, and the reason is arithmetic rather than caution. Your NOC runs on your department's timetable, appointment slots run on the visa centre's queue, and processing may include additional screening. Those three are sequential and none of them is under your control. Starting the day your leave is likely rather than the day it is sanctioned is usually what decides whether the trip happens.

It is simpler in one way and harder in another. You no longer need an NOC, which removes the longest item from the file. But you also no longer have an employer tying you to India, so the return-intent question moves to your pension, property and family instead — much closer to how a retired civilian's file is assessed. Your discharge documents and PPO become central. If that is your situation, our senior citizens and retired persons page covers it in full.

Longer than a civilian application, and you should plan for that rather than hope against it. Your NOC runs on the department's timetable, the appointment slot runs on the visa centre's queue, and processing may include additional security screening. Those three are sequential and none is under your control. As a rule of thumb, start the moment your leave looks likely rather than the day it is sanctioned — that single decision is usually what determines whether the trip happens.

The report is ₹499, refunded in full if you do not proceed and credited against the filing fee if you do. Embassy and visa-centre fees are charged at cost and shown separately; our service fee is published rather than quoted case by case. For serving personnel the report is worth taking early for one specific reason: it tells you whether your leave window can realistically absorb the NOC plus the screening before you commit anything.

No. Consultation, documents, file preparation and tracking all run remotely over phone and WhatsApp, which suits a posting anywhere in the country. The single in-person step is biometrics at the visa application centre, which only you can attend. We book that slot around your duty roster and brief you on exactly what to carry so one visit is enough.

Enough to cover the trip you are describing, from an account whose history makes sense. Your position is stronger than most applicants here: a service salary is regular, verifiable and exactly the kind of income an officer finds easy to accept. What causes questions is an unexplained lump sum shortly before applying — if a relative is contributing, we document that properly as sponsorship rather than letting it look like money appearing from nowhere.

No, and be wary of anyone who says they can — for this category especially, because the additional checks are outside everyone's control including ours. The decision rests entirely with the visa officer. What we can commit to is that your file will not be the reason for a refusal: the NOC sequenced first, service stated accurately and at the right level of detail, every date reconciled, and identity resolved across your service record and passport before submission.

Three checks, and use them on anyone. Ask for the licence number and verify it — ours is 849/DC/PTA/PLA/LC-3/2024 from the District Magistrate, Patiala, valid to July 2029. Confirm the GST invoice carries the registered company name. And never pay into a personal account. For serving personnel there is a fourth: be extremely wary of anyone offering to 'handle' the security screening or claiming contacts inside a mission. That is not a service anyone can legitimately provide.