Yesterday I waited half an hour in the pouring rain, but I got my visa!
For security reasons I had to blur pretty much all of it, but there it is.
Generally when Americans travel, we don't have to obtain a visa beforehand. We just walk into the country and get our books stamped and sometimes we pay a visa fee on the spot. I didn't appreciate that until I went to India in 2009 and found out I had to go to the consulate's outsourcing center in Manhattan, or pay a lot of money to have it mailed and mailed back, and fill out a long form explaining what I was doing in India and what my contact information would be. The US is on fairly good terms with India, but India's not too thrilled about our relationship with Pakistan, so there's some bureaucratic to go through. If you're from friendlier-to-India countries like Sri Lanka or the Philippines, the costs are lower. I have to make an appointment a week ahead, fill out a form, provide proof of address and my passport, stand in a long line, submit my visa, then come back 2-3 days later and stand in another long line for the brief 1 1/2 hour window where they let you pick up your passport. India also won't let you take their money out of the country, so you can't change money at the bank ahead of time for better rates.
Some of this has to do, believe it or not, with our own stupidity during the Cold War. When everyone had to pick a side, India decided it wanted nothing to do with the whole thing (being socialist, not communist) and declared itself "neutral." The US decided that anybody who declared themselves "neutral" was as red as the Russian flag, so the US allied with Pakistan because Pakistan was in a constant state of near-war with India and we had to pick sides. Over time, these relationships have not panned out well for the US, but it's very hard to switch sides and have someone believe you. Also, we don't want to pull out of Pakistan and stop helping their military because we think, somewhat fairly, that if we did, they would slide further into an radical Islam and just outright help the Taliban in Afghanistan instead of doing it secretly. Also, the US does a lot of business with China, and China and India are kind of racing to see who will be the top economic powerhouse in Asia, so there's some tension there.
Some Indians have pointed out that if Tibet was independent, it would serve as a buffer zone between India and China with their border disputes, but they probably should have thought of that in 1950 when the Communists were invading and the Dalai Lama's government was begging for help. None was sent, though honestly, India probably couldn't have afforded to do so.
