India e-Tourist Visa
Indian e-Tourist Visa
India, with her vast population, has been a tourist destination for a lot of people. With tourism contributing around 10% of the country’s GDP and also providing around 8% of her total employment, this visa category is of importance to the government of India. To ease the application process for would-be visitors, India has since 2014, and like for other categories of visa, made application of tourists to the country easy by allowing them to complete their application process online. The e-tourist visa allows intending sightseers, casual visitors, recreation seekers, and people on a religious function to apply for their electronic travel authorization (ETA) document online without a physical appearance at the Indian high commissions or embassies in the <165 eligible countries>.
Documents needed to apply for an Indian E-tourist visa
Before applying, make sure you have these following documents handy:
- Passport photograph (colored passport with white background, less than 3MB in size, must be in either JPG, PDF or PNG format).
- Scanned copy of your passport’s information page.
- Scanned pages of your passport showing that you still have at least two pages left.
How to apply for an Indian E-tourist visa
Follow us as we provide you with a very easy approach to apply for the Indian E-tourist visa:
- Completing the online application
The website (registration portal) will require you to provide some general information about the trip and information of each applicant or the single applicant as the case may be. They include:
- Full name
- Date of birth
- Country of birth
- Country of citizenship
- Gender
- Visible identification marks
- Email address
- Applicant(s) full name (as it appears on their passport)
- Applicant(s) date and place of birth, gender, and nationality
- International passport information (issue and expiry dates, and passport number)
- What type of e-tourist visa you are applying
- Expected arrival date
- Additional yes or no questions
- Preferred port of arrival
- Passport size photograph
- Additional medical record (if needed)
- Apply for the India self-declaration form.
- Review all information provided.
- Pay and confirm payment of all fees for the category you selected. This can be done using cheque, debit/credit card or a PayPal account.
- Check your email to receive your approved India e-tourist visa and self-declaration form.
- You are ready for your pleasurable trip to India.
- Be ready for your India trip. The two documents alongside your passport will be presented as an authorized permit to allow you entry into India.
Available categories of India e-tourist visa
The validity of India Tourist single or double entry Visa is 3 months for the first time. You can also get an extension for up to six months. However, this extension is subject to approval.
The double entry India tourist visa is for some countries while others it is simply single entry. You may confirm these countries here. Also, note that you cannot seek an extension when you are not residing in India.
Visa Processing Time
Depending on your choice, there are three options of e-tourist visa available. They vary from the cost of application to the number of possible entries, to their validity.
- One month (double entry)
Valid for 30 days from the date ETA it is issued. Even though non-convertible, nor non-extendable, it allows for two entries at the most. It should be noted, that it does not expire after the 30th day of issuance. An applicant can decide to enter India any day before the expiration and such person will still be able to spend another 30 days in India.
- One year (multiple entries)
Valid for 365 days from the date ETA of issue. It is also non-convertible, nor non-extendable, it allows for multiple entries for tourism.
- Five years (multiple entries)
Valid for 5 years from the date ETA of issue. Except for UK, USA, Canada and Japanese nationals who can stay in India for at most 180 days during each visit, other eligible countries can only stay for a maximum of 90 days on each visit.
Other things travelers must note concerning their e-tourist visa application
- That total visa fees chargeable (non-refundable) is a combination of the e-visa fee and a visa service fee.
- That if you can't complete your application at a go, you can save and return to continue at a later time from where you stopped.
- That you can check the status of your visa application via the government website.
- You can return to the page to print your approved application at any time. It is not a one-time generated document.
- With a one-year e-tourist visa, you can stay for up to 6 months in India for any duration during the year.
- You can apply for multiple applicants at once via the online page.
- You are required to apply for your e-tourist visa not later than 4 days before you enter India.
- Your passport must have at least two blank pages left as at the time of application.
- You're required to buy a round trip ticket or provide adequate proof of fund showing that you can afford a return ticket after landing in India.
- An e-tourist visa holder can leave India from any immigration check posts but while entering they should note that their e-tourist visas are only presentable at twenty-eight (28) authorized airports and five (5) authorized seaports. Click here to see those designated ports.
FAQs Relating To India e-Tourist Visa Application
Your e-tourist visa can be ready in 24 hours, but from the immigration office’s timeline, a maximum of 4 days is advised.
Except that you can apply together, there are no exemptions for any member of the family. The documents required will be for each person.
Yes, while you are in India, you can take any (6 months or less) course for which you will not be issued a certificate.
Yes, the three e-tourist categories are available for the 165 eligible countries. Click here to see which of them is your country eligible for.
No, you don’t have to, provided your visa validity will cover your intended stay period.
Yes, there are. You can only apply twice in a calendar year.
Yes, you can come into India through flight or cruise.
No, your visa will be invalid after the expiration of your approved visa date.
Yes. Also, note that your trip must be a non-commercial one.
No, your e-tourist visa allows you to visit family members, meet friends, attend a Yoga program, volunteer for up to a month all over the country.
If your country is not listed here, you don’t have to worry. While you will not be able to enjoy the fast processing time and convenience of the e-tourist visa, you may consider applying for a visa using the regular, non-electronic method.
The regular visa is a lot cheaper. The cost of the e-tourist type is country dependent. There are no standard rates, click here to confirm your processing fees.
Please click here to see the list of special attractions as provided by the ministry of tourism.
The complete processing time can be up to four (4) working days and can be as fast as a day. All the same, it's a quick and efficient process. The online application part only takes a few minutes provided all the required documents and details are at the reach of the applicant by the time of application. After submission, a mail will be sent to notify applicants that their e-visas are ready for download.
No, you can't. The government of India only allows international passport holders to apply for the e-tourist visa. Diplomatic passport holders and other international travel documents holders are not considered for the Indian e-tourist visa.
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