INDIA VISA REQUIREMENTS
All American / British / Australian / European Nationals require a visa for India. All nationalities should check with us for their visa requirements. Indian visa must be obtained before arrival in India from the local India Embassy / consulate. OR apply online at least one month in advance it takes 4 to 5 working days to get an approval if all paper work is order. The e-visa is stamped on arrival and has a different counter in the immigration hall. Dharma Adventures, India will not be held responsible for passengers travelling without the correct travel documents.
Please read below advisory before applying for E VISA
STEP 1: DETERMINE IF YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR AN INDIAN E-VISA
There are, of course, various types of Indian Visas that you can apply for, and with the E-Visa they have 3 categories: E-Tourist Visa, E-Business Visa, and E-Medical Visa.
For this particular guide, we will only be discussing the requirements for an Indian E-Tourist Visa For this, you must first determine if you are eligible by reviewing the following conditions:
You must be a citizen of the following countries or territories (Updated on 18 Sep 2018):
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, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan , 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 , Qatar, 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
You are entering India via any of the following airports (given that they’re the only entry points that allow online Indian Visa or E-Visa:
– Ahmedabad
– Amritsar
– Bagdogra
– Bengaluru
– Calicut
– Chennai
– *Sea ports: Cochin, Goa, Mangalore
– Chandigarh
– Cochin
– Coimbatore
– Delhi
– Gaya
– Goa
– Guwahati
– Hyderabad
– Jaipur
– Kolkata
– Lucknow
– Mangalore
– Mumbai
– Nagpur
– Pune
– Tiruchirapalli
– Trivandrum
– Varanasi
NOTE: If your point of entry to India is in another place that’s NOT listed above, you will then have to apply for an Indian Visa in the embassy that’s near you.
STEP 2: PREPARE THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS AND INFORMATION FOR YOUR APPLICATION
Before you lodge your Indian visa application online, it’s best to prepare the following beforehand…
DOCUMENTS (In English)
- Scanned bio page of your passport (showing photo and other details)
NOTE: This must be in a .PDF file with a maximum size of 300kb. To learn how to make .PDF files, go here, and if you want to know how to compress .PDF files, read here. Make sure that when compressing, the details on your passport are not blurred and are still readable.
- Recent digital photo that shows your full face (with white background)
NOTE: The photo must be a .JPEG file with a maximum size of 1MB. Make sure that the height and width of the photo is equal (either way, once you upload it, the website will help you crop the photo).
INFORMATION & OTHERS
- Hotel details (with address and contact number)
- NOTE: This is needed for filling out the ‘References in India’ section on the application form online.
- Entry and exit date of your travel in India
- Point of entry (airport) in India
- Debit card, credit card or PayPal account. NOTE: For debit cards, Visa, Mastercard and Maestro are accepted. For credit cards, Visa and MasterCard are accepted.
STEP 3: PROCESS YOUR INDIAN VISA APPLICATION ONLINE
The Government of India only does E-Visa applications through this website: www.indianvisaonline.gov.in Take note that facilitation by any intermediary, agents, etc. is NOT required to process this kind of online Indian Visa. After all, it’s easy and it’s best that you do it yourself.
In order to do the application, just follow the steps below…
- Visit the E-Visa website at indianvisaonline.gov.in.
- Click the orange button that says “e-Visa Application”. This will open up a short form which you will need to fill out. The rest of the fields are self-explanatory; what’s helpful to note is that: You must click the box beside “e-Tourist Visa“ — for the next prompt, select “Recreation/Sightseeing“ (or select the other options if it’s more applicable to your situation).
- Once done, check the box that says “I have read the instructions…” and then click the orange button that says “Continue”.
- The next page will show you a longer form which asks for Applicant Details, Passport Details, Contact Details, Family Details, Visa Details, Purpose Details, Occupation Details, References, etc. Some tips to remember while filling this out: i) Under “References”, for the section where it asks for a reference in India, if you’re not visiting a family or friend, you can enter here the details of the hotel that you’ll be staying with. If you’re staying at multiple hotels, you can mention the first one you’re staying on. ii) There are 2 pages for this section, you can accomplish it all and click “Save and Continue” — or if you’re missing some info, you can “Save and Temporarily Exit”. Remember that once you click “Save and Continue“, you can NO longer change any of the information, so make sure you’ve got everything right.
- Once you’re finished with the long form, the next pages will ask you to upload your photo AND your passport’s bio page.
- Please take note of the specifications and file size limitations (as mentioned in Step #2; rest assured, the page will remind you of such).
- At this point, the website will give you the auto-generated Application ID # unique to you. Take note of this. (Rest assured, the details will be sent later on in an email, but it’s good practice still to write this number down or take a screenshot of the page).
The next step now will be to make the e-Visa fee payment…
STEP 4: DO THE VISA FEE PAYMENT
On the payment portal click on the bullet that says “Yes”, click on “Pay Now”, and select payment gateway.
HOW MUCH IS THE FEE?
It depends on the reciprocal relationship of your country and India. For a detailed fee chart, you can check here. Otherwise, the fee scheme is in 4 levels…
- FREE: Argentina, Cook Islands, Fiji, Jamaica, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue Island, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uruguay and Vanuatu
- $75: USA, UK, Russia, Ukraine and Mozambique
- $50: Citizens of the majority of countries including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, etc.
- $25: Citizens of Japan, Singapore and Sri Lanka
ANY ADDITIONAL CHARGES?
On top of the visa fee, you will need to also pay for the bank charge which is 2.5% of the value.
IMPORTANT: Payment of this fee is NOT a guarantee that your visa will be approved; it is also non-refundable. In case of any double/triple payments, it will be refunded after due reconciliation within seven (7) days. Either way, please be careful while doing the payment process because if the number of unsuccessful attempts is more than 3, you would have to start afresh and redo the whole application form again with a new application ID #.
STEP 5: WAIT FOR THE RESULTS OF YOUR E-VISA APPLICATION
After you complete the whole online application, you’ll just have to wait for an email update from them that confirms that your E-Visa is “Granted”. If it is, they will proceed to send you your Electronic Travel Authorization or ETA.
Normally, visa processing takes 72 hours.
You need to print this ETA page out and bring it with you when you travel to India because it will serve as your papers once you’re at the immigration counter in the airport.
NOTE: To be entirely sure, please confirm that your ETA status is shown as “Granted” on this website before you fly. If there are any problems, you can contact their support centre at indiatvoa@gov.in.
