e-visa

The e-Visa enables the prospective visitor to apply for an Indian Visa from his/her home country online without visiting the Indian Mission and also pay the visa fee online. Once approved, the applicant receives an email authorizing him/her to travel to India and he/she can travel with a print out of this authorisation. On arrival, the visitor has to present the authorisation to the immigration authorities who would then stamp the entry into the country.

The Government of India had launched e-Visa scheme on November 27, 2014. E-Visa facility with Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA), is presently available to nationals of 167 countries for entry through 30 designated international airports and “06 major seaports”. The scheme has been implemented in completely online mode with provision of pre-authorization of visa in the form of ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation). The visa service under the scheme is being rendered in time-bound manner and decision is communicated to applicant via e-mail within 72 hours of making online application.

Categories of eVisa

e-Visa has been sub-divided into 8 categories i.e. e-tourist visa, e-Business visa, e-Medical visa, e-Conference, e-Medical Attendant, e-AYUSH visa, e-Ayush Attendent Visa and e-Emergency X-Misc Visa. 

Validity of eVisa

The validity of e-Visa would be according to the e-Visa service requested in the application form as -

• For e-Tourist Visa (01 year / 05 years), the validity would be 365 days / 05 years from the date of grant of ETA with Multiple entries and Maximum stay in India during one Calender Year should not exceed 180 days.
• For e-Tourist Visa (30 days), the validity would be 30 days from the date of first arrival in India. Double entries will be granted within the e-Visa validity period stamped on the Passport. The first arrival must be between the date of issue and expiry of ETA.
• For e-Business Visa, the validity would be 365 days from the date of grant of ETA with Multiple entries and continuous stay during each visit which shall not exceed 180 days and no registration would be required if stay is for a period of less than 180 days. However, if the intention is to stay for more than 180 days, then the foreigner shall get himself/herself registered with the FRRO/FRO concerned within two weeks after the expiry of 180 days of his/her arrival in India.
• For e-Conference Visa, the validity would be 30 days from the date of arrival in India with Single entry.
• For e-Medical Visa, the validity would be 60 days from the date of first arrival in India and triple entry will be allowed within the e-Visa validity period stamped on your Passport.
• For e-Medical Attendant Visa, the validity would be 60 days from the date of first arrival in India and triple entry will be allowed within the e-Visa validity period stamped on your Passport.

Countries/territories for which e-Tourist Visa Facility is available

Albania, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameron Union Republic, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Island, Chile, China, China- SAR Hongkong, China- SAR Macau, Colombia, Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote d'lvoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger Republic, Niue Island, Norway, Oman, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal , Republic of Korea, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Island, Tuvalu, UAE, Uganda,Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City-Holy See, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Designated Indian Airports where e-visa holders can enter India

e-Visa holders can enter India through any of the 31 designated Indian Airports -Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bagdogra, Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar, Calicut, Chennai, Chandigarh, Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi, Gaya, Goa(Dabolim), Goa(Mopa), Guwahati, Hyderabad,Indore, Jaipur, Kannur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Madurai, Mangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Port Blair, Pune, Tiruchirapalli, Trivandrum, Varanasi & Visakhapatnam, and 5 designated seaports (i.e. Cochin, Goa, Mangalore, Chennai and Mumbai seaports).

e-Visa holders can depart from any of the Indian Immigration Check Posts (ICPs).

Eligibility

• International Travellers whose sole objective of visiting India is Recreation and sightseeing, Casual visit to meet friends and relatives, Attending short term yoga programme or short term courses on local languages, music, dance, arts & crafts, cooking, medicine etc. which should not be a formal or structured course/programme (courses not exceeding 6 months duration and not issuing a qualifying certificate/diploma etc. to the participants), Voluntary work of short duration (for a maximum period of one month, which do not involve any monetary payment or consideration of any kind in return), Medical treatment, including treatment under Indian systems of medicine, As attendant to e-Medical visa holder, Business purpose and Attending a conference/ seminar/ workshop.
• Passport should have at least six months validity at the time of making application for grant of e-Visa and a re-entry permit, if that is required under the law of the country of nationality of the applicant. The passport should have at least two blank pages for stamping by the Immigration Officer.
• International Travellers should have return ticket or onward journey ticket,with sufficient money to spend during his/her stay in India.
• Foreigners of Pakistani origin or having Pakistani Passport are not eligible for e-Visa. Foreigners who are not Pakistani nationals, but whose parents or grandparents (either paternal or maternal) was born in, or was permanently resident in Pakistan, are also not eligible for e-Visa. They may apply for regular Visa at Indian Mission.
• Not available to Diplomatic/Official Passport Holders or Laissez-passer/ international travel document holders.
• Not available to individuals endorsed on Parent's/Spouse's Passport i.e. each individual should have a separate passport.

e-VISA Application Process

• Apply online. Upload Photo and Passport Page
• Pay visa fee online using Credit / Debit card
• Receive eVisa Online. eVisa Will be sent to your e-mail
• Fly To India. Print eVisa and carry at the time of travel

e-Visa fees

e-Visa fee is country/Territory specific. Bank transaction charges of 2.5% for Payment Gateway Card transactions will be charged additionally on applicable e-Visa fees. The fee must be paid at least 4 days before the expected date of travel otherwise application will not be processed. 

Things to know

• When to apply
  • For e-Tourist Visa (01 year / 05 years), e-Business Visa, e-Medical, e-Medical Attendant and e-Conference visa, applicants of the eligible countries/territories may apply online minimum 4 days in advance of the date of arrival. Such application can be made 120 days in advance from proposed date of travel.
  • For e-Tourist Visa (30 days) , applicants of the eligible countries/territories may apply online minimum 4 days in advance of the date of arrival. Such application can be made 30 days in advance from proposed date of travel.
• Recent front facing photograph with white background and photo page of Passport containing personal details like name,date of birth, nationality , expiry date etc. to be uploaded by the applicant. The application is liable to be rejected if the uploaded document and photograph are not clear / as per specification.
• e-Visa fee is country/Territory specific. Bank transaction charges of 2.5% / 3.5 % will be charged additionally on applicable e-Visa fees. The fee must be paid at least 4 days before the expected date of travel otherwise application will not be processed.
• e-Visa fee once submitted is non-refundable as the fee is for processing of the application and is not dependent on either Grant or Rejection of VISA.
• Applicant should carry a copy of eVisa along with him/her at the time of travel.
• Biometric details of the applicant will be mandatorily captured at Immigration on arrival in India.
• This facility is in addition to the existing Visa services.
• e-Visa is non-extendable, non-convertible & not valid for visiting Protected/Restricted and Cantonment Areas.
• Applicants can track the status of their application online by clicking Visa Status.
• Please be careful while making payment of the eVisa fee. If the number of unsuccessful attempts is more than three (03), then the application id would be blocked and the applicant would be required to apply afresh by filling the application form again and regenerating a new application id.
• Before re-applying, the applicants are requested to wait for 4 hours for payment status updating, after final submission of the application form and payment of the fee. The payment status updating may take up to 4 hours.
• Nationals of Yellow Fever affected countries must carry YELLOW FEVER VACCINATION CARD at the time of arrival in India, otherwise they may be quarantined for 6 days upon arrival in India. Please visit the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare latest guidelines regarding yellow fever countries here.
• For any assistance call 24 * 7 Visa support center at 91 11 24300666 or send email to indian-evisa@gov.in

Visa on arrival

The Visa on Arrival facility is only for the nationals of Japan, South Korea and UAE (only for such UAE nationals who had earlier obtained e-Visa or regular/paper visa for India). Visa-on-Arrival facility is available to nationals of the above mentioned countried for Tourism, Business, conference and medical purposes for 60 days with double entry for entry through 06 designated airports. The Visa-on-Arrival facility is not available to holders of Diplomatic/Official passports.

Details of Visa on arrival

Source : e-Tourist Visa