India e-Visa for Tourists: How to Apply, Timing and What to Carry

Sorting the visa is the one piece of Golden Triangle planning you have to do yourself, and it is easier than most people expect. This guide covers what our guests actually need to know; rules and fees change, so always confirm on the official portal before you apply.

Who needs a visa

Nearly all foreign nationals need a visa to enter India. A small number of countries have visa-free or visa-on-arrival arrangements, but travelers from Europe, the Americas, Australia, Japan and most of Asia apply in advance. The good news is that for tourism, the online e-Visa covers the vast majority of nationalities.

The e-Tourist Visa options

The Indian e-Visa for tourism comes in three lengths:

• 30-day e-Tourist Visa — double entry, valid from the date of arrival
• 1-year e-Tourist Visa — multiple entry, with a limit on the length of each stay
• 5-year e-Tourist Visa — multiple entry, with the same per-stay limit

For a single Golden Triangle trip the 30-day visa is enough. If you think you will return within a year or two, the longer versions are often only slightly more expensive.

How to apply

1. 1Go to the official portal only: indianvisaonline.gov.in. Unofficial sites with similar names process the same application for a much higher fee.
2. 2Complete the online form with your passport details, travel dates and a reference address in India (your first hotel is fine).
3. 3Upload a passport-style photo and a scan of your passport's photo page.
4. 4Pay the fee online. The amount depends on your nationality and the visa length.
5. 5Wait for the approval email — the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).

Timing

The government asks for applications at least four days before the date of arrival, and most approvals arrive within 72 hours. Our advice is to apply one to two weeks ahead so a request for clarification does not become a crisis. You can apply up to 120 days before travel for the 30-day visa.

Passport requirements

• At least six months' validity from your arrival date
• At least two blank pages for stamps
• The passport you apply with must be the one you travel on

On arrival

Enter through a designated airport or seaport. Delhi (DEL) and Jaipur (JAI) are both on the list, as are Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and the other major international airports. At immigration you will show:

• Your passport
• A printout of the ETA approval
• Your return or onward ticket if asked

Biometrics (fingerprints and a photo) are taken at the counter on first entry. Queues at Delhi can be long in the early hours when several long-haul flights land together, so build that into your first-day plan — we schedule airport pickups with this in mind.

Common mistakes we see

• Applying on a lookalike website and paying triple the fee
• Uploading a photo that is rejected for a plain-background rule
• Leaving it to the last 48 hours
• Booking a Golden Triangle tour that starts the day you land, before immigration queues are accounted for

Once the visa is done, everything else — the car, the guides, the tickets — is our job. If you are unsure whether your nationality qualifies for the e-Visa, message us and we will point you to the right page.