COVID Update: Issuance of New Tourist Visas are temporarily on hold
Indian e Tourist visa is now for FIVE year?!! Yes, 5 Year Indian E-Tourist visa is the new star!
Too good to be true. Right? But it is true!
Yes, you read that right, India is offering E-visa for the tourists for a period of 5 years along with 30 days and 1 year. It’s been upgraded from 30 days to 1 year to 5 years now. This great news was published as on August 2019. This is really a great news for the people who love India and want to experience it for a longer time.
Table of Contents
Here is the good news about Indian e-visa in detail.
- The validity of e-Tourist visa has been extended to 5 years from the date of grant of ETA while you can still avail e-Tourist Visa and e-Business Visa for one year as well. Multiple entries will be permitted on e-Tourist Visa and e-Business visa.
- On e-Tourist Visa continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 90 days in case of nationals of all countries who are eligible for grant of e-visa except nationals of USA, UK, Canada and Japan.
- In case of nationals of USA, UK, Canada and Japan continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 180 days.
No more extensions of visas or visiting the embassy for applying a longer visa is needed anymore. Now you can get your permission to visit India in the comfort of your home. You can apply for 5 year e-tourist visa all by yourself without leaving your home. Here is how you can do it.
First step for applying for any e-Visa is to visit the government website for Visa application. Visit the Official website for Indian e-visa by following this link.
Eligibility : You can check your eligibility from below.
1. 166 countries are eligible to apply for an Indian e-visa. Below given are the complete list of countries/territories
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, Cameroon 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
2. Passport should have at least six months’ validity from the date of arrival in India.
3. The passport should have at least two blank pages.
4. Should have return ticket or onward journey ticket with sufficient money to spend during your stay in India.
Be ready with the required documents and photographs before starting to apply for the e-Visa. All the documents should be in English, otherwise e-visa application will get rejected.
♦ Scanned Bio Page of the passport showing the Photograph and Details
♦ Digital photograph
Many people would say filling out Indian e-visa form is a lot of work. Yes, they do ask you a lot of questions. Here is a sample copy of the e-visa form.
This is the first Page of Indian e-visa application form.
Below mentioned are the complete list of designated Airports and Seaports through which a person with an Indian e-Tourist visa can enter India.
e-Visa is valid for entry through 28 designated Airports (i.e. 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) and 5 designated seaports (i.e. Cochin, Goa, Mangalore,Mumbai,Chennai). However, the foreigner can take exit from any of the authorized Immigration Check Posts (ICPs) in India.
If you are planning to enter in India using an e-visa, then you can do that ONLY through the above mentioned Airports or Seaports. In case you are coming to any other ports other than the ones mentioned here, you need to apply for the regular visa.
Once you finish the first page, it leads to this page. Here you will give your Personal details and Passport details.
This is the Third Page of Indian e-visa application form. Here you will give your Present and Permanent address as well as Family details and Professional details.
This is the Fourth Page of Indian e-visa application form. Here you will give your Indian Travel Plans and Mention your travel history. Here you can also see the Duration of Visa and Number of entries allowed.
♦ In this form you have to mention the places you are planning to visit. If you are feeling lazy, you can copy paste this list.
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Goa, Alleppey, Varanasi, Agra.
♦ It also asks you, if you have visited any SAARC countries in the last 3 years. Here is the List of SAARC Countries. Just mention if you have visited any of these countries other than India.
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
♦ What should be the reference in India?
Reference in India can be the Address of the Hotel you’ve booked for the first few days. If you have any Indian friends you can use their contact details too.
This is the Fifth Page of Indian e-visa application form. Here you will answer some additional questions and make a self declaration that all the furnished details are true to your knowledge. In most normal cases, all the answers to the above questions will be “No”.
This is the Sixth Page of Indian e-visa application form. Here you will have to upload your Photo as per the correct specifications.
Indian Visa Photo Specification
The application might get rejected for not adhering to the specifications. So please do not try to upload any selfies instead of a proper passport style photograph.
This is the Seventh Page of Indian e-visa application form. Here you will have to upload your Passport Copy in PDF format which has your photo, DOB, Nationality, Passport Date of issue and expiry etc.
Passport Personal page Scan Specification
Make sure you are uploading a clear scan of the correct page of the correct passport. Do not use the scanned page of an expired passport by mistake.
This is the Eight stage of Indian e-visa application form. Here you will have to Verify your details and confirm the same. If you want to make any changes, you can still modify it at this point.
If you think you have filled up this rather long form correctly, you can click ‘Verified and Continue’ button. Now the only step remaining will be the payment part.
This is the Ninth page of Indian e-visa application form. Here you will have to Pay the required amount as Visa Fees. In the below table you can find the cost of Indian e-Tourist visa.
Below mentioned are the costs connected with different types of e-Tourist visas to India.
| Government Fee (US$) | Country | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days e-TV (April to June) | 30 days e-TV (July to March) | 01 year e-TV | 05 year e-TV | |
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 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 |
| 10 | 35 | 35 | 65 | Japan, Singapore and Sri Lanka |
| 10 | 25 | 40 | 80 | Albania, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Island, Chile, China, China- Sar Hongkong, China – Macau, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Vatican City – Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Cote D’Ivoire, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali,Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger Republic, Norway, Oman, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Macedonia, Romania, Rwanda, Russia, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent And The Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Saint Christopher And Nevis, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania,Thailand, Trinidad And Tobago , Turks And Caicos Isl, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe. |
| Visa fee | Country |
| Free | Argentina, Cook Islands, Fiji, Jamaica, Indonesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nauru, Niue Island, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uruguay, Vanuatu |
| US$25 | Japan, Singapore, Sri Lanka |
| US$80 | Albania, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Island, Chile, China, China – Sar Hong Kong, China – Macau, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Vatican City – Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Iran, Cote d’Ivoire, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Korea, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger Republic, Norway, Oman, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal,Qatar, Macedonia, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago , Turks and Caicos, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
| US$100 | Mozambique, Russia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA |
There are some additional banking charges connected with paying the visa fee online.
Once you Click “Yes” to the Undertaking, as mentioned in page 9 of Indian e-visa form, three payment options will appear.
You can pay using any one of these options, namely Sbi e-pay, Paypal or Axis bank. All these options accept International cards. It can processes Credit card and Debit Card transactions for all the cards issued internationally by Visa & MasterCard, both with and without 3D Secure authentication.
Apart from the Visa fees, there is an extra bank fees one has to pay.
Once the payment has been made successfully, the ‘Payment Success’ window appears.
In an ideal scenario, once the transaction is processed, the applicant shall be presented with a payment successful page along with a reference number as shown above.
In some rare scenarios it may happen where the application is not shown Payment successful page even after the completion of transaction, which may be due to a drop in connectivity leading to non-receipt of success response. If the applicant does not receive any success message even after card account has been charged, a refund shall be initiated after due reconciliation process to the applicant’s card account.
Congratulations then! Now all you have to do is cross your fingers and wait. Your shiny new Indian e-visa is getting processed. You will soon receive it in your inbox. Usually you will get it in 24 to 72 hour’s time.
Applicant should carry a copy of Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) along with him/her at the time of travel. Please confirm that your ETA status is shown as ‘GRANTED’ on the website prior to commencement of your journey. Applicants can track the status of their application online by clicking VisaStatus.
When you arrive at one of the 33 designated ports where e-Visa entry is valid, the immigration officer will check your documents and capture the Biometric details and you are ready to explore India.
Nationals of Yellow Fever affected countries or travelers arriving from these 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.
Country requirement: anyone (except infants up to the age of 6 months) arriving by air or sea without a yellow fever vaccination certificate is detained in isolation for up to 6 days if that person
(i) arrives within 6 days of departure from an area with risk of yellow fever transmission, or
(ii) has been in such an area in transit (except those passengers and members of the crew who, while in transit through an airport situated in an area with risk of yellow fever transmission, remained within the airport premises during the period of their entire stay and the Health Officer agrees to such exemption), or
(iii) arrives on a ship that started from or touched at any port in an area with risk of yellow fever transmission up to 30 days before its arrival in India, unless such a ship has been disinsected in accordance with the procedure laid down by WHO, or
(iv) arrives on an aircraft that has been in an area with risk of yellow fever transmission and has not been disinsected in accordance with the Indian Aircraft Public Health Rules, 1954, or as recommended by WHO.The following are regarded as countries and areas with risk of yellow fever transmission:
Africa: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte dʼIvoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea‐Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Sudan, Togo and Uganda.
America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad (Trinidad only), Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of).
Note: When a case of yellow fever is reported from any country, that country is regarded by the Government of India as a country with risk of yellow fever transmission and is added to the above list.
Apart from e-Tourist Visa, one can apply for e-Business Visa, e-Medical Visa, e-Medical Attendant Visa and e-Conference Visa using the same website.
Required Documents :
For e-Business Visa visiting “To deliver lecture/s under Global Initiative for Academic Networks (GIAN)”
Required Documents :
Required Documents :
Note :
Visa on Arrival (VOA) 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).
Depending on one’s Country, one can stay in India only for 90 days or 180 days continuously. Before reaching this limit, one has to leave India to avoid visa complications. If one wish to come back to stay longer can do so.
To be able to successfully complete the visa run and to come back to India to stay longer, one has to be outside of India for a complete day, meaning you can’t cross the border and come back to India on the same day. Even one day of staying out of India will do, but mostly travelers do a couple of days of exploring a neighboring country.
*So minimum length of time you have to be out of India after your 90/180 days are up before you can re-enter on the 1 year tourist visa is 1 day
One can use any land border or airports to go outside India and can use any one of these borders to re-enter.
If you are in the North of India, Nepal is the most preferred country for a visa run from India. One can cross the border either by land or by flight. But Delhi offers direct flights to many other economical destinations.
If you are somewhere in the South of India, Sri Lanka is another cheaper option. Flights to Colombo from Madurai and Chennai are pretty economical.
If you are at the East side of India, consider Thailand or Malaysia. Try Bhubaneshwar to Kuala Lumpur or Phuket.
If you are in the west side, Mumbai opens up a wide array of economical destinations with direct flight options, which includes Malaysia, Thaiand, UAE etc.
*I have gathered above mentioned information from the experience of various travelers.
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Main content Last Updated on : 02.02.2020
