My Anxiety Level at a Ten

I believe I'm quickly developing a list for what not to do when applying for a visa to India. At work yesterday I received a phone call from the Travisa office in Chicago, the company that handles the processing of Indian visas. The message told me there was a problem with my application, and they will need more information from me. My contact at the Volunteering India, Meena, told me to apply for a tourist visa and claim I'd be doing "social work" while in the country. I thought it was a little weird, but I assumed he knew what he was doing. So I claimed that instead of simply traveling around taking pictures, I'd be doing social work.

That was a horrible decision.

It turns out that volunteering in India requires me to apply for an entry visa, not a travel visa, and supply Travisa with a invitation letter stating what sort of work I'll be doing while volunteering. The letter must be a PDF file, must be on the organization's letter head, and must have a legible signature. This would all be fine and dandy if I didn't get the impression that this organization was too small to have access to this sort of technology. Although I've emailed past volunteers and know that I am working with a legitimate organization, I have the feeling this is completely one man show. It may even be just a lone guy at an internet cafe.

For the first time since planning this whole thing, I'm having doubts about it all coming together. I know it will, but the stress is overwhelming. If I had run into these problems six weeks before departing, I would feel better. But that's not the case. I have to be super-mega on top of this stuff to ensure I get the visa on time.

Wish me luck.

Best,

MCC