An American man has expressed his disappointment after his tourist visa to India was rejected not once, but twice. Travel content creator Eli Snyder is on a mission to visit every country in the world – but his ambitious plan seems to have hit a snag with India rejecting his visa application twice.
In a post shared on Instagram Monday, Snyder said he was “absolutely devastated” by the rejection. The travel vlogger revealed that India had been his dream destination and he had a week-long trip planned.
Unfortunately, the trip is unlikely to materialize. “An absolute dream destination for me, I’ve wanted to go to India for a verryyy long time and had a three week trip planned that I had been looking forward to all year,” he wrote on Instagram.
e-Visa rejected
Citizens of the United States of America are eligible for an e-Visa if they want to visit India. Snyder figured he would easily get a visa for India, but that was not the case.
His e-Visa application was rejected not once but two times.
{{/usCountry}}His e-Visa application was rejected not once but two times.
{{/usCountry}}“U.S. citizens are eligible for an eVisa which I figured would be no big deal for me, until I was rejected, then rejected a second time ,” he wrote on Instagram.
You can watch the video here.
Why was the visa rejected?
Snyder theorizes that a past visit to Pakistan may have been the reason for his India visa application getting rejected.
In his Instagram caption, he claimed that e-Visa rejections are becoming increasingly common for applicants who have a Pakistan stamp on their passports.
“Rejections like mine seem to be an increasingly common occurrence for eVisa-eligible applicants, who all seem to share one thing in common: a Pakistani passport stamp,” wrote the American man.
He continued his post by expressing his disappointment at the rejection and his fondness for Indian food.
“I’m genuinely devastated, as I love Indian culture and people, but mostly their food. I crave Indian food when I’m happy, sad, hot, cold, healthy, hungover, morning, night, all hours of every day,” wrote Snyder.
(Also read: Pakistani man travels to India on IndiGo flight, surprises Mumbai airport officials)
A reflection on passport privilege
US citizens have one of the strongest passports in the world — allowing them visa-free entry to 111 nations, according to the Passport Index. They can also avail visa on arrival facility for another 49 nations.
Snyder acknowledged his passport privilege in his post. “In my case, the good being a valuable reminder of the passport privileges I enjoy, as many people go through significantly more work and headache just to visit the countries I visit without needing to do any work at all,” he wrote, promising to try and visit India again.