Can I apply for an Indian tourist visa online?

Most eligible nationalities apply on indianvisaonline.gov.in for the e-Tourist Visa, with 30-day double-entry, one-year, and five-year products available. Travellers outside the e-Visa list, or those entering by land border, must use the paper sticker route through a VFS centre instead.

How long does the e-Visa take to issue?

The portal typically issues e-Tourist Visas within 72 hours for clean cases, but the timeline drifts to several days during the October–March peak. Apply at least four working days before travel, and longer for paper sticker visas.

Why is the fee shown as Varies?

The Indian government sets fees by nationality, by visa variant (30-day, one-year, five-year, paper sticker), and by reciprocity with the source country, so a single number cannot represent the whole table. The live amount appears on indianvisaonline.gov.in or the consulate's site at the application step.

Where can I land with an e-Visa?

The e-Visa is restricted to designated airports and a small list of seaports; arrivals at non-listed gateways or any land border invalidate the e-Visa. The Ministry of External Affairs updates the airport list periodically, so confirm the current list before booking flights.

Do I need separate permits for protected areas?

Yes — Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, the Andaman & Nicobar interior, and parts of the North-East are governed by Inner Line Permits, Protected Area Permits, or Restricted Area Permits issued separately from the visa. Plan these well in advance, as some are only granted to organised tour groups.

Can children be added to one parent's e-Visa?

No — every traveller, including infants, needs an individual e-Visa or paper visa with their own application, photograph, and fee. Lodgements can be filed in parallel under the same trip dates, but each is assessed and paid for individually.

What if my e-Visa application is rejected?

Rejections under the e-Tourist programme do not carry a formal appeal, and re-applying immediately rarely helps because the same evidence is reviewed. Address the specific concern — usually photo or passport scan quality, mismatched details, or eligibility — and re-lodge once the issue is fixed, or apply through the paper sticker route via VFS.

India visa

By Sofía C.

EU mobility researcher

India splits short-visit access into two parallel streams — an online e-Visa for more than 160 eligible nationalities, and a traditional paper sticker via VFS for everyone else. The e-Tourist Visa offers 30-day double-entry, one-year, and five-year products, with most clean cases decided on indianvisaonline.gov.in within 72 hours. Both processing time and fee are listed as Varies because each variant carries a different consular charge that depends on the applicant's nationality and the validity selected. The e-Visa is restricted to designated airports and seaports, and travellers arriving by land border (from Nepal, Bhutan, or elsewhere) must apply for the paper sticker instead. Several states (Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, parts of the North-East, and the Andaman interior) require additional Inner Line, Protected Area, or Restricted Area Permits issued separately from the visa.

Eligibility summary
Visa required	Varies — verify on the official source
e-Visa available	Varies — verify on the official source

Visa types, requirements & fees

Visa type	Visa required	Processing	Fee
Student	Yes (source)	Varies — verify on the official source	Varies — verify on the official source
Tourist	Yes (source)	3–5 days (source)	40 USD (source)
Work	Yes (source)	Varies — verify on the official source	Varies — verify on the official source

Fees and processing times vary by visa type and can change — verify on the official source before applying.

Requirements

e-Tourist Visa eligibility

Hold a passport from a nationality on the e-Visa eligibility list; otherwise apply for the paper sticker through VFS.
Hold a passport with at least six months' validity beyond the planned arrival and at least two blank pages.
Plan to arrive at one of the designated airports or seaports — entries by land border are not covered by the e-Visa.
Provide a travel itinerary, hotel reservation or invitation letter, and bank statements demonstrating sufficient funds.
Upload a square-crop photograph (white background, full face, no glasses) and a passport bio-page scan that meet the portal's strict format rules.
For trips covering Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, the Andaman interior, or parts of the North-East: arrange Inner Line, Protected Area, or Restricted Area Permits separately.
Carry a yellow-fever vaccination certificate if arriving from a listed country.
Comply with the validity rules of the chosen variant (30-day double-entry, one-year, or five-year) and the maximum stay per visit specified on the grant.

Documents checklist

India's e-Visa platform pulls most evidence from uploaded scans, so the photo and passport scan format is the area where applicants stumble most often — both must satisfy the portal's strict aspect-ratio and quality rules.

Passport with at least six months' validity beyond the planned arrival and at least two blank pages.
Recent passport-style photograph: square crop, white background, full face, no glasses.
Bio-page scan of the passport (PDF, within the portal's file-size limit).
Travel itinerary or confirmed flight reservation arriving at a designated airport.
Hotel booking, hostel reservation, or invitation letter for accommodation in India.
Bank statements covering recent months demonstrating sufficient funds for the trip.
For paper-stream applicants: completed visa application form printed from indianvisaonline.gov.in plus VFS submission slip.
Yellow-fever vaccination certificate for travellers arriving from countries where it is required.
Letter of Invitation from a host in India, with the host's identification and address proof.
Protected Area Permit or Restricted Area Permit, separately, if visiting Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, the Andaman interior, or parts of the North-East.

Application steps

Verify whether the passport is on the e-Visa eligibility list and whether the planned arrival is at a designated airport or seaport — entries by land border require the paper sticker route via VFS instead.
Open the official portal at indianvisaonline.gov.in and start a new e-Tourist Visa application (or the appropriate sub-category for the trip).
Complete the form, providing personal details, travel plans, and accommodation; upload a passport bio-page scan and a square-crop photo with a white background that meets the portal's strict format.
Pay the visa fee online by international card; the live charge depends on nationality and the chosen variant (30-day double-entry, one-year, or five-year).
Receive the application reference number and wait for the decision — most clean cases issue inside 72 hours, with peak-season files taking a few days longer.
Download and print the e-Visa or ETA email; carry the printout to the airport even though the visa is digital.
Arrange any Inner Line, Protected Area, or Restricted Area Permits separately if visiting Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, the Andaman interior, or parts of the North-East.
Travel to India and present the passport plus the printed ETA at the immigration counter; biometrics are captured on arrival.

Processing time

Processing time depends on the visa type — see the breakdown above.

Visa cost

Fees depend on the visa type — see the breakdown above.

India publishes the tourist visa fee as Varies because the amount depends on nationality, the chosen sub-stream (e-Visa or paper sticker), and the validity selected — there is no single price across passports.

Whatever the amount on the official portal, it covers the consular assessment and issuance; VFS service-centre fees, the printing or courier of a paper sticker, and any agent costs are billed in addition. The e-Visa portal accepts international cards directly, while paper applications are normally paid in local currency at the VAC counter.

The fee table is updated by the Ministry of External Affairs from time to time, so the live figure should be pulled from indianvisaonline.gov.in or the consulate's site before paying.

Common mistakes to avoid

India's tourist routing splits between an online e-Visa for many nationalities and a paper visa for everyone else, with both processing times and fees varying by passport — confirm the route before starting any form.

Lodging the wrong product. The e-Visa portal accepts only listed nationalities and only for designated airports and seaports; arriving by land or at a non-listed port voids the e-Visa.
Uploading the wrong photo or passport scan. The portal rejects images that do not match the strict aspect ratio, white background, and bio-page-only requirement; resubmissions reset the queue.
Treating the e-Visa as multi-entry by default. Tourist e-Visas come in 30-day double-entry, one-year, or five-year variants, but the per-stay cap and entry rules differ; read the grant carefully.
Letting the passport validity slip. India requires at least six months of validity beyond arrival and at least two blank pages; falling short blocks both online and paper streams.
Misdescribing the trip purpose. Volunteering, journalism, research, and short paid engagements are not covered by tourism; entering on a tourist stream and pivoting to those activities is a common cause of fines on departure.
Underestimating photo and printout requirements at the airport. Even with a fully digital e-Visa, immigration counters frequently expect a printed copy of the ETA email — bring one.
Mixing up Protected and Restricted Area Permits. Several states (Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, parts of the North-East, and the Andamans) require additional permits that the e-Visa does not include.

Country context & recent trends

India runs two parallel routes for short visits — the e-Visa for 160-plus eligible nationalities and the paper sticker via VFS — and consular nuances differ by both passport and the consulate of jurisdiction. Where one consulate may take weeks to issue a sticker, the e-Visa portal can clear straightforward cases in 72 hours.

Recent rule changes

The e-Visa list has expanded steadily since 2022, and 30-day double-entry, one-year, and five-year products are all currently available for tourist purposes. The Ministry of External Affairs revised fee tables in 2023 and added clearer rules on protected and restricted area permits for several North-East states and the Andaman Islands.

Peak periods

October–March is the high-tourism window and pulls e-Visa processing closer to the upper end of the published target. April–May visa-on-arrival demand at major airports (Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata) is the second peak; arrive with a printed ETA copy to keep arrival queues short.

How it compares to nearby destinations

Within South Asia, India's e-Visa programme stands alongside the visa schemes of Sri Lanka, Nepal, and the Maldives — each runs on a different operational model.

Destination	Visa required	Typical processing	Indicative fee
India (e-Tourist Visa)	Yes for many	Varies	Varies
Sri Lanka (ETA)	Yes	~ 24–48 hours	~ 50 USD
Nepal (Visa on Arrival)	Yes	On arrival	~ 30–125 USD by duration
Maldives	Visa-free 30 days	On arrival	0

India offers a broader range of multi-entry validities (one-year and five-year products) than its neighbours, while the Maldives and Nepal remain the simplest entries for short visits.

Frequently asked questions

Can I apply for an Indian tourist visa online?

Most eligible nationalities apply on indianvisaonline.gov.in for the e-Tourist Visa, with 30-day double-entry, one-year, and five-year products available. Travellers outside the e-Visa list, or those entering by land border, must use the paper sticker route through a VFS centre instead.
How long does the e-Visa take to issue?

The portal typically issues e-Tourist Visas within 72 hours for clean cases, but the timeline drifts to several days during the October–March peak. Apply at least four working days before travel, and longer for paper sticker visas.
Why is the fee shown as Varies?

The Indian government sets fees by nationality, by visa variant (30-day, one-year, five-year, paper sticker), and by reciprocity with the source country, so a single number cannot represent the whole table. The live amount appears on indianvisaonline.gov.in or the consulate's site at the application step.
Where can I land with an e-Visa?

The e-Visa is restricted to designated airports and a small list of seaports; arrivals at non-listed gateways or any land border invalidate the e-Visa. The Ministry of External Affairs updates the airport list periodically, so confirm the current list before booking flights.
Do I need separate permits for protected areas?

Yes — Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, the Andaman & Nicobar interior, and parts of the North-East are governed by Inner Line Permits, Protected Area Permits, or Restricted Area Permits issued separately from the visa. Plan these well in advance, as some are only granted to organised tour groups.
Can children be added to one parent's e-Visa?

No — every traveller, including infants, needs an individual e-Visa or paper visa with their own application, photograph, and fee. Lodgements can be filed in parallel under the same trip dates, but each is assessed and paid for individually.
What if my e-Visa application is rejected?

Rejections under the e-Tourist programme do not carry a formal appeal, and re-applying immediately rarely helps because the same evidence is reviewed. Address the specific concern — usually photo or passport scan quality, mismatched details, or eligibility — and re-lodge once the issue is fixed, or apply through the paper sticker route via VFS.