Indian visa overstayers beware

Whether you’re a tourist or a business person, overstaying your visa or entering with an expired visa is not looked upon lightly in India. Just ask Canadian Saul Itzhayek, who has spent the last ten months in an Indian jail. The 42-year old man from Montreal, Quebec, Canada was arrested on the 29th of May 2007 when he attempted to enter the Indian state of Bihar from Nepal on an expired visa. Reports say he first travelled to India for business, then Nepal.

The Montreal Gazette reports that before Itzhayek was sentenced, he was held in a single cell with 130 prisoners. He was sentenced to three years in prison, but an Indian appeals judge ruled that his sentence would be reduced to equal the time already served.

Saul Itzhayek is travelling home to Montreal today, after 10 months of jail in a country not exactly known for its sanitary prison conditions. It’s sure that he will never feel such gratitude for la belle province again.