You need a visa when you are travelling to India. There is no Visa on Arrival for India. As a result you have to carefully plan your visit to India. This article is to help you understand the visa process and what kind of tourist visa are available. I personally recommend to make sure your visa is granted before booking any flights and/or hotels. This is to avoid any cancellations.
Table of Contents
Type of Visas
The easiest way is to apply for an E-visa. You can apply online and you don’t have to visit the Indian Embassy in your home country. E-visas are only available when you enter via an international airport or designated seaport in India. When you enter India via land you have to apply for a Regular Visa which means you have to get your visa at the Indian Embassy. For a Regular Visa different rules may apply and often you have to proof you have sufficient funds for your entire stay in India.
You have many different types of visa: Tourist Visa, Business Visa, Medical Visa, Mountaineering Visa, Transit Visa et. In this article we explain the two types of Tourist Visa: E-visa and Regular Visa. If you need any other type of visa we advise you to visit the Official Government of India website.
Although we carefully keep track of changes, information can change without prior notice. Therefore ITWJ advises you to check the Indian Embassy or Consulate before you visiting India.
Tourist E-visa
Since 2014 the Indian Government launched the online E-visa to allow travellers from over 160 countries to apply for a Tourist, Business or Medical E-visa to India. It is possible to apply for a Tourist E-visa with either one month, one year or five years of validity. The one month E-visa allows you double entry while the one year and five years E-visa allows you multiple entries. How many multiple entries that is, no one knows!
Travellers who choose an Tourist E-visa apply and pay the visa fee online. After the E-visa is granted you receive your electronic visa via email. Print this electronic visa. Airlines like to see and scan a printed version of the visa. Please keep in mind when you are entering India over land you can’t apply for an E-visa. You have to get a Regular visa for this.
Required documents
- Applicant photo
- Passport scan of the personal details
- Last page of passport (if applicable)
Important instructions
- Applicant can select the following E-visa validity:
- 30 days (double entry)
- 1 year (multiple entries)
- 5 years (multiple entries)
- For the one year and five year validity, continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 90 days for most nationalities except UK, USA, Canada and Japan. The USA, UK, Canada and Japan nationalities are lucky and are allowed a continuous stay during each visit for 180 days.
- Applicants can enter India on any date within the time period indicated on the validity of the E-visa
- The applicant should carry a copy of the India E-visa along with them at the time of travel
- The Indian Tourist E-visa is valid for entry through 28 designated airports and 5 designated seaports (see below)
- The Indian E-visa is non-extendable
- The applicant’s passport should have at least six months validity from the date of arrival in India, and also have at least two blank pages.
- Applicants do no require a visa if they are continuing on to another country and will not be exiting the transit area of the airport.
- Nationals of Yellow Fever affected countries must carry a yellow fever vaccination card at the time of arrival in India, otherwise they may be quarantined for up to 6 days upon arrival in India. This also includes travellers who have been visiting Yellow Fever countries. Check the list of Yellow Fever countries.
- Applicants must arrive using the same passport they used to apply for the Tourist E-visa.
28 Designated Airports:
Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bagdogra, Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar, Calicut, Chennai, Chandigarh, Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi, Gaya, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Madurai, Mangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Portblair, Pune, Tiruchirapalli, Trivandrum, Varanasi & Vishakhapatnam
5 Designated Seaports
Cochin, Goa, Mangalore, Mumbai, Chennai
Regular Visa
A regular visa is necessary when you can not apply for an E-visa with your passport or if you travel via land. I travelled from Nepal to India over land at the Sonauli border point. Therefore I had to apply for a Regular visa before I left.
Online application form
- This application form is meant for all foreigners applying for a Regular visa
- Each application form is meant for one person only
- While filling out the application form you can save the online application form and resume later
- Once the online application form is submitted changes are not allowed
- Write down or copy the Application ID after submitting the online form. If something goes wrong you will need this Application ID for further communication.
Make an appointment at the Indian Embassy or Consulate
The Indian Government uses a different name for Embassy or Consulate which is Indian Mission. You can make an appointment at the Embassy but in my experience you have to wait in line even with a booked appointment. Make sure you bring all the necessary documents. Check the website of the Indian Embassy and/ or Consulate which documents you need to bring. It can be different in each country. I had to show them proof of funds for the entire stay in India.
Generally it takes 5-10 business days before you can pick up your passport at the Indian Embassy or Consulate. Make sure you plan your trip accordingly. A Regular visa process can easily take 2 weeks even without any delays.
Photo Requirements
Applicants need to upload a digital photograph to complete the E-visa and Regular visa application. The photo should meet the following requirements:
- Format JPEG
- Size: minimum 10KB, maximum 300KB
- Height and width must be equal
- Photo should present full face, front view and eyes open
- Centre your head within the frame and present your head from the top of hair to your chin
- Background must be white or plain light colour
- No shadows on the background or face
- Without any borders
Keep in mind the requirements for your passport photo. If you make a photo that is allowed as passport photo it will definitely meet the above requirements. I made a high resolution photo of an extra passport photo I had left over. This works perfectly.
Using a visa service
If you don’t want to go through all this trouble yourself it is possbile to use a visa service. They manage visa and passport issues and the related administrative tasks. You pay a service fee but you don’t have the hassle of applying for a visa yourself. Be careful which visa service you use. There are fraudulent services who let you pay but never deliver the visa. Do some online research, read reviews and check if the company is certified.
Get your visa hassle-free via iVisa
Do you have issues with your credit card not being accepted, a government website that isn’t working or do you have problems submitting your application online? iVisa is a third party helping out with your visa application. The price of the fee is usually around 35 US dollars but can vary depending on destination, type of visa and requirements.
How does it work?
1. Use this link to visit the iVisa website.This is an affiliate link to iVisa which means we make a small commission if you click this link. You don’t pay anything extra. We recommend using iVisa if you don’t want the extra hassle when applying for a visa.
2. Tell them your nationality and where you are going to.
3. Fill out the application which is usually the same information you need to provide at the official government websites.
4. You have several options in processing time; standard processing is 5 business days, rush processing is 3 business and super rush processing is 2 business day.
5. Once you have finished your application check if your details are correct. Or double check if you are a control freak like I am. When everything is correct you can proceed and pay. They ask you to create an account if you like.
6. The last thing you need to do is upload a copy of your passport and passport photo with a white background. If you have uploaded the images you are finished and need to ‘Save and Complete request’.
If you completed the process you will receive a confirmation email from iVisa. As soon as they received your visa they send it you via email. You can save the email or print the visa and bring it to the airport. Contact the customer service of iVisa if you have any issues. They are available 24/7.
Get your passport photo online via iVisa
Do you need an approved passport photo? At iVisa they have a photo service. You only pay 1 dollar per photo. Their team will check your photo to make sure it meets the government requirements. Use this link to get your passport photo online. This is an affiliate link to iVisa which means we make a small commission if you click this link. You don’t pay anything extra.
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