Indians hit back after American calls India’s e-visa site ‘comically broken’

An American investor has pointed out several glitches in India’s e-visa application website, calling it “comically, profoundly, embarrassingly broken”. Raymond Russell was applying for a business visa to India when, halfway through his application, the website began displaying a l of the tallest mountains in each Indian state. Raymond Russell was greeted with a l of India’s tallest peaks while applying for an Indian visa (X/@raymondopolis) The glitch was so unexpected and so funny that Russell took to social media to share his experience. US man on India’s e-visa website “Anybody who applies for an e-visa to India knows the website is always comically, profoundly, embarrassingly broken,” the American investor said in his X post. He led several common errors that all applicants encounter at some point or the other while applying for an e-visa to India. Russell said the website looks like it was made in 2003, randomly kicks out applicants without saving their work, and has payment options like SBI e-pay which don’t work for foreigners. Moreover, applicants have to make several attempts before their credit card is finally charged. “But this is a new one—halfway through the business visa application, it displays a l of the tallest peaks in each Indian state??” he said. As proof, he shared a screenshot of the l of the highest peaks being displayed on India’s e-visa website. The American investor also pointed out other issues he had with the website design — including the fact that applicants must l out all the countries they have visited in the last 10 years but no one can add more than 20 countries. His post has gone viral with 1 million views in a day. Indians counter with US visa hasslesMany Indians took to the comments section to claim that Americans were only getting a taste of their own medicine. They pointed out how Indians applying for a US visa face several hassles and must submit a mountain of documents — including salary slips, income tax returns, property ownership documents, bank statements, DS-160 confirmation and more. “Nah, this should not be fixed. It’ll give people from other countries a taste of how frustrating it is to apply for a visa for Indians to visit their countries. This is not even a fraction of what Indians go through while applying for US/UK/Schengen visas,” X user Varun Poladiya said. (Also read: US visa challenges: Indian techie denied B-1 visa despite strong credentials, full company sponsorship) “You might not know this, but the USA business visa application system is even more antiquated,” another person added. “I get it. But also try being an Indian and applying for a US visa to understand real pain,” a third said. “My experience in applying for e-VISA in India has been much more pleasant than applying for my passport renewal in the US..Ever tried dealing with the sassy workers at the USPS?” an X user questioned. Many more, however, agreed with Russell. “I have never come across a quality Indian website,” a user said. “I’m glad some non-Indian is pointing out how terrible the Government of India’s websites are. Every single one is unbelievably bad,” another wrote on X.