Citizens of nearly 160 countries can apply for an e-visa to travel to India and the online process is now streamlined and simple to follow, given that you have all the necessary documents for verification.
Eligibility:
- The traveler should have a valid passport (valid for at least 6 months after visa).
- They should have sufficient monetary funds to spend during the stay.
- They must have a return or onward ticket.
- According to the government website for Indian Visa, only those whose visit falls under these categories are eligible to e-visa application: “International travelers whose sole objective for visiting India is recreation, sight-seeing, casual visit to visit friends and relatives, attending a short term yoga programme, medical treatment including treatment under Indian systems of medicine, business purpose, as attendant to e-Medical visa holder, attending a conference/ seminar/ workshop organized by a Ministry or Department of the Government of India, State Governments or UT Administrations etc. & their subordinate/ attached organizations & PSUs and no other purpose/activity.”
It is advisable to check if your country is listed in the list of countries whose citizens can apply for Indian e-visa.
Check here: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html
Also see: Most Beautiful Tourist Places in India
You may apply for e-visa of any of the five types:
- e-Tourist Visa
- e-Business Visa
- e-Medical Visa
- e-Medical Attendant Visa (2 of these are granted with one e-Medical Visa)
- e-Conference Visa
Some key points:
- One can apply up to 4 days prior to their arrival in the country.
- The documents required for each e-visa may differ from the visa type. You can check the documents required on the government’s website: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html
All documents must be in English, otherwise, they are prone to rejection. - The application fee for the e-visa is different for citizens of different countries but most of the countries have a fee of $80 USD or $100 USD, while Japan, Sri Lanka, and Singapore citizens have to pay a $25 USD fee. You can check with respect to your country on the above-mentioned website.
- Nationals of Yellow Fever affected countries or travelers traveling from these countries must carry “YELLOW FEVER VACCINATION CARD” at the time of their arrival in India. In other cases, they may be quarantined for 6 days upon their arrival.
- There is no e-visa fee for the citizens of the following countries: Argentina, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Jamaica, Tonga, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Myanmar, Niue Island, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Seychelles, South Africa, Uruguay and Vanuatu.
- Once you get a confirmation via email about your e-visa, you need to print out the Electronic Travel Authorization or ETA and present it, along with your passport, at Immigration Check upon your arrival in the country.
- Although the process is streamlined and simple, you must be aware of fraudulent websites that may scam you into submitting your private data. There are only a few websites authorized to enable e-visa services including the government website (most recommended and favorable).
Some of the legitimate websites are:
Time duration:
Filling up the online application may take 10-15 minutes, but it is advised to wait for 2 hours for the update in your payment status.
Usually, the processing time for the e-Tourist visa for India is up to 72 hours, if all the required documents and forms are submitted by the applicant to the concerned website. The process may extend if there are some errors in the submission of these documents, or if some clarification is needed regarding the documents.
Once you have completed the procedure and paid the necessary fees, you will receive an Application ID and the ETA via email within three to five days. You can check your application status on the website you used to register, or the government portal here: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/StatusEnquiry It must show the status as “Granted” for you to be eligible to travel.
Also see: Best Yoga Destinations to Visit in India
Validity:
e-Business visas and e-Tourist visas are now valid for one year from the date of grant of the ETA. While e-Medical and e-Medical Attendant visas are valid for up to 60 days starting from the date of arrival in India, e-Conference visas are only valid for 30 days from the date of arrival.
Although the grant is for one year, you cannot stay for more than 90 days continuously. An exception if you are a citizen of the US, Canada, UK, and Japan; then you can stay for 180 days continuously. All the holders of the e-Business visa can stay for 180 days continuously.
e-Tourist Visa and e-Business Visa permit double entry while e-Medical Visa permits triple entry but can only be issued twice in a year. These visas are non-extendable.
Form: A sample form with screenshots can be downloaded here from the government’s site.
You can start your application from here: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/Registration
For further info, visit the website or contact them:
Contact Number: +91-11-24300666 (24 x 7)
Email: indiatvoa@gov.in