About Us Advisory for Indian business community Beware of Amended Payment Instructions

ADVISORY

Indian currency notes of ?1,000 and ?500

With the delegalisation as tender of Indian currency notes of ?1,000 and ?500, this Embassy has been receiving several enquiries from members of the Indian community in Poland and Lithuania on the matter of exchanging these demonetized notes by the Government of India.

2. The Embassy would like to reiterate the following guidelines which have been made public by RBI and other authorities:

  • You may deposit any amount into your Bank Account in India by 30 December, 2016 or in specified RBI offices by 31 March 2017.
  • In case you don’t have any account in India, you may get currency notes exchanged and deposited into the account of a relative or a friend, provided the account holder can give the permission in writing. While exchanging, you would need to furnish the evidence of permission given by the account holder and your valid identity proof may be provided to the bank.
  • In case you cannot visit your bank in India personally, you may send a representative with a written authorization. The representative should produce the authority letter and his/her identity proof while tendering the notes for exchange at a bank.
  • In case you have bank notes in India, you may authorise, in writing, another person in India to deposit the notes into your bank account. The person so authorised has to come to the bank branch with the bank notes, the authority letter and a valid identity proof.
  • The specified bank notes can also be deposited into an NRO account.

3. Further, an inter-ministerial committee is currently looking into the issues raised by NRIs with currency abroad, as also the cases of foreign visitors and tourists. Their advice and recommendations will be shared as soon as these are available to us.

For updated information on this issue, please see the FAQs on the RBI website which are updated regularly.

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ADVISORY

It has been brought to the notice of this Embassy that a number of fake websites, claiming to provide e-Tourist Visa services to Indian visa applicants, are operating on the internet. The fraudsters have created images and home page templates mimicking the Government of India website for e-Tourist Visa applicants. Some of the fake websites are as under:

(i) e-touristvisaindia.com
(ii) indianvisaonline.org.in
(iii) e-visaindia.com

These and other similar fake websites are duping visa applications desiring to visit India availing of e-Tourist Visa facility. Please note that these websites do not belong to the Government of India and, therefore, should not be relied on for e-Tourist Visa services.

The Government of India website for e-Tourist Visa services is as following:

indianvisaonline.gov.in

The Embassy would like to advise all the applicants to beware of the fake websites and apply only on the official Indian e-Tourist Visa website at http://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html.

Please note that services of e-Tourist Visa involves completely online application, for which no facilitation is required by any intermediary / agents etc. It is advised not to believe or fall in trap of any such unscrupulous elements. For any clarification or doubt may contact to indiatvoa@gov.in.

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ADVISORY

Advisory for Indian business community

Beware of Amended Payment Instructions

The Embassy of India has learnt that several Indian companies and their trade partners have been victims of cyber crimes resulting in fraudulent transfer of their funds to fake bank accounts in Poland. The hackers are interceding in e-mail correspondence between trade partners, inserting fake emails to Indian companies, asking them to transfer funds to some accounts in Polish banks, citing problems in current bank accounts.

All Indian businessmen and potential investors are, therefore, advised to exercise caution and make inquiries before making any payments to their trade partners and also to the exporters/importers that they are dealing with.

Even in the case of e-mail requests from the partner companies for making advance payments for goods sold, companies are advised to ensure by phone and other channels that the email received is from the genuine partner company.

The Embassy has strongly taken up these cyber crime cases with the relevant Polish authorities and would advise Indian companies to be particularly cautious of any email amending earlier payment instructions and requesting transfer of funds to Polish bank accounts.

These suggestions should be taken into account before complying with any sudden requests for remittance of funds to bank accounts in Poland.

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ADVISORY

ON PHASING OUT OF HANDWRITTEN PASSPORTS**

Indian citizens living in India and abroad are advised to urgently replace their handwritten passports with machine-readable passports. A deadline of the 24th November 2015 for globally phasing out of all non-Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) was set up by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Thereafter, foreign Governments may deny Visa or entry to any person travelling on a non-Machine Readable Passport.

2. The Government of India has been issuing Machine Readable Passports since 2001. The Passports, however, issued before 2001 and particularly those issued during mid 1990s with a validity of 20 years will fall in the category of non-MRPs. By the end of July 2016, it was estimated that there are approximately 2.10 lakh handwritten passports still in circulation. Approximately 6.20 crore Indians hold valid passports.

3. Indian citizens residing in India and abroad and holding handwritten passports are advised to apply for re-issue of their passports immediately in order to avoid any inconvenience in obtaining valid visa or international travel. Needless to mention, travel on ICAO- compliant Machine Readable Passports will facilitate hassle-free and safe journey.

4. All Passport Issuing Authorities have instituted a simple and fast-track procedure for renewal of passports. For more details related to passport services, website – www.passportindia.gov.in - or the National Call Centre (1800-258-1800 - Toll Free) may be accessed. Indian citizens living abroad should visit the website of respective Indian Mission/Post.

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7 September 2016

ADVISORY

Registration on MADAD portal by Indian students

Indian students studying in Poland and Lithuania are encouraged to register directly on MADAD portal for better communication and networking with the Embassy and the Ministry of External Affairs, and to benefit from student-related services provided by the Embassy.

Indian students may register at www.madad.gov.in/AppConsular/welcomeLink and connect to the Government of India for redressing their problems faced overseas.

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Embassy of India, Warsaw

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Public Advisory

This Embassy has been informed that Indian students / professionals have been receiving calls from some persons, claiming that they are calling from the Indian High Commission/Embassy/Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland and suggesting that the Indians are in trouble on account of the immigration form that they had filled at the airport Immigration counter or anomalies in the passport.

The caller usually states that proceedings are being initiated against them by Polish Authorities and they would be deported to India unless they paid a fine or penalty for closure of their case/files. The standard modus-operandi has been to tell the recipient of the call that they have deliberately suppressed information while filling the immigration form and to demand payment of a penalty/fine through Western Union or unrecognized banking channels. The caller then gives a fake complaint reference number and asks the victim to transfer money in the accounts given by him/her and not to tell anyone.

The Embassy would like to advise Indian students / professionals working in Poland and Lithuania that the Embassy does not demand money on phone from anyone in this manner. Further, the Embassy would advise that there is no need to panic or to pay heed to such mischievous calls. We would also request recipients of such calls to note the caller numbers and to report to the Indian Embassy immediately, with all relevant details to cons.warsaw@mea.gov.in & hoc.warsaw@mea.gov.in.

We would once again request all Indian nationals not to transfer any money towards penalty/fine through Western Union or any other unrecognized banking channel.

Government of India
Ministry of External Affairs
CPV Division
(Patiala House, Tilak Marg, New Delhi)
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December 23, 2014
PUBLIC ADVISORY
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Indian citizens living in India and abroad are advised to apply for urgent re-issuance of their passports in the following cases:-

(i). HANDWRITTEN PASSPORTS

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has set a deadline of the 24th November, 2015 for globally phasing out of all non-Machine Readable Passports (MRPs). From the 25th November, 2015 onwards, foreign Governments may deny Visa or entry to any person travelling on a non-Machine Readable Passport.
The Government of India has been issuing Machine Readable Passports since 2001. The Passports, however, issued before 2001 and particularly those issued during mid 1990s with a validity of 20 years will fall in the category of non-MRPs. All handwritten passports with pasted photographs are also considered non-MRPs.
By the end of November 2014, it is estimated that there are approximately 2.86 lakh handwritten passports in circulation. Approximately 6 crore Indian hold valid passports.
Indian citizens residing in India and abroad and holding such passports with validity beyond the 24th November, 2015 are advised to apply for re-issue of their passports well before the deadline in order to avoid any inconvenience in obtaining valid visa or international travel.

(ii). PASSPORTS VALID FOR LESS THAN SIX MONTHS

Many international travellers may not realise that having an unexpired passport is sometimes not enough to obtain Visas or to enter certain foreign countries. Indian citizens travelling on Passports which may expire in less than six months should renew their passports before any upcoming international travel. It is especially important to check the passports needs of any minor who may be accompanying their parents as passports for minors have a shorter validity period (5 years) than passports for adults (10 years). The universal practice in vogue now is; “Once your passport crosses the nine-year mark, it is time to get new passport”.

(iii). EXHAUSTION OF VISA PAGES

Some countries do not accept passports which may have fewer than two pages remaining. Please check your passport to ensure that you have enough visa pages. There is no provision of additional booklets/pages and you will be required to apply reissuance of passport following standard procedures. Frequent travellers may opt for Jumbo Passport containing 64 pages.
2. All Passport Issuing Authorities have instituted a simple and fast-track procedure for renewal of passports. For more details related to passport services, website – www.passportindia.gov.in - or the National Call Centre (1800-258-1800 - Toll Free) may be accessed. Indian citizens living abroad should visit the website of respective Indian Mission/Post.

Download original Public Advisory document in PDF format 

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