India Visa Process in 2021 – New COVID 19 India eVISA Guidelines

The Indian government decided to make it easier to get Indian visa online by implementing India E-Tourist visa (India ETV or eTA) which allows citizens of 180 countries to visit India for either, tourism, medical or business. However after the pandemic struck, the visa was stopped and as of Oct 15 2021, has been reopened to allow foreign tourists to India.

This article will give you all the information about Indian visa requirements and the changes in requirement for COVID 19 updated for 2021.

Apply for India Visa Online

India government as waived off India visa fee for the first 500,000 applications. Apply now to get your India visa at just processing fee cost of $25 with us.

We also take care of procuring your mandatory self declaration form for all foreigners visiting India.

Note: The duration of stay will be limited to 30 till Feb 2022.

What is Electronic Indian visa (India e VISA or Indian eTV Visa) ?

It is an electronic visa which one can apply online to visit India for the purpose of tourism, medical or business. Indian eVisa is available in different formats and purposes such as 30 days single entry, 30 days multiple entry, 60 days visa. The type of visa can be further categorized into Indian tourist eVisa, Indian business eVISA or Indian medical eVISA depending on your purpose of visit.

Types of visas

If you are visiting India for the purpose of sight-seeing, general backpacking, casual visit of friends or relatives or explore the country as a tourist, then this visa applies to you. There are several types of India visa depending on your needs.

30 days India tourist visa, this is applicable for anyone who is visiting India for a short duration of 30 days Double entry. Which means you can exit & enter India twice. Each visa will contain within itself date of entry and expiry of visa within which you need to make use of this eVISA.

1 year India tourist e-visa, this is for anyone one who want to explore the whole country or in general stay for one full year. This visa is multiple entry which means you can enter and exit India as many times as you please as long as your visa is not expired.

5 years tourist e-visa gives you 5 years of validity and it is multiple entry visa. With this visa you can stay for a maximum period of 90 days at a time as long as your visa is valid. The stay period is extended to 180 days for UK passport holders.

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We also take care of procuring your mandatory self declaration form for all foreigners visiting India.

Multiple entry Tourist Visa may be granted for a period of 10 years to the nationals of USA, Canada and Japan with a stipulation that “continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 180 days and registration not required”

Cost of India tourist Visa revised after COVID pandemic

As of Nov 2021, India e-Tourist visa is only available as for 30 days single entry only. This visa is not extendable & non convertible to any other type. The cost this visa has been waived off for the first 500,000 applications. Post which, the fee depends on the nationality of the applicant.

Indian Visa TypesIndia Visa FeeVisa Validity
e-Tourist Visa 30 Days$2530 Days – Double Entry
e-Tourist Visa 1 Year$40365 Days – Multiple Entry
e-Business Visa$80365 Days – Multiple Entry
e-Conference Visa$8030 Days – Single Entry
e-Medical Visa$8060 Days – Triple Entry
e-Medical Attendant Visa$8060 Days – Triple Entry
  • Free: Citizens of 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.
  • $25: Citizens of Japan, Singapore and Sri Lanka.
  • $80: Citizens of the majority of countries including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
  • $100 Citizens of the US, UK, Russia, Ukraine, and Mozambique.

Types of Business eVisa for India

If your purpose of visiting India is for business meetings or trade then you need to apply for India business visa. The validity of your business https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/index.htmlvisa will depend on your nationality. For citizens of UK, US, Canada, Japan or South Africa, the validity can be extended to 10 years. For other countries, the maximum validity will be limited to 5 years. In both cases you cannot stay for more than 180 days from the date of entry.

For citizens of China, Bangladesh or Pakistan applying for India business visa visa the requirements changes from time to time.

Apply for business visa @$25


We also take care of procuring your mandatory self declaration form for all foreigners visiting India. Outsource your visa headache to us.

What is the cost of India e-Business visa ? What is the fee ?

As of Nov 2021, the fee has been revised for India business visa. Also, Indian government has restricted the visa validity to just 1 year. The updated fee after the pandemic for all nationalities is $50.

Continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 180 days.If the intension is to stay for more than 180 days, shall get registered with FRRO/FRO concerned within two weeks after the expiry of 180 days.

Types of Medical eVisa for India

A medical visa (MED Visa) is granted to a foreigner whose sole purpose is to seek medical
treatment in established/recognized/specialized hospitals/treatment centres in India. In case the
foreign national desires to avail of treatment under the Indian systems of medicine, his/her case
will also be considered.

Medical Attendant visa : Attendants/ family members of the patient coming to India for medical treatment may be
granted Medical Attendant visa (MED X visa) co-terminus with the ‘Med Visa’ of the
patient. However, minor children accompanying a parent, who has come for medical
treatment on a Medical Visa, may be granted ‘X-Misc.’ visa co-terminus with the
Medical Visa of the principal visa holder.

There are some documents that are needed to be filled both by the patient and the hospital as well as your hotel representative. Download the documents required below.

Apply for visa @$25


We also take care of procuring your mandatory self declaration form for all foreigners visiting India.

What is the cost of e-Medical visa ?

As of NOV 2021, the cost of e-Medical visa has been revised to $50. This allows you 60 days of stay for medical purposes and is a triple entry visa and the same rules and fee is applicable to both the patient and the care takes who has applied for MED-X visa.

What are the new requirements for Indian visa after COVID ?

The requirements after COVID lockdown for India visa is slightly modified. You need to be fully vaccinated and carry your vaccination certificate. Along with that you need to submit mandatory self declaration form when you are at the airport. We will fill your self declaration form for you along with application of your visa.

So now the requirements for India tourist visa is:

  • Scanned passport copy of front and back in pdf format. The passport must have atleast 6 months of validity from the date of your entry.
  • Soft copy of your passport size photo in a white background.
  • self declaration form.
  • A return or onward ticket out of India
  • vaccination certificate.

Nationals who can apply for Indian visa online

Although 180 countries of the world can apply for India visa online, there are specific restrictions depending on the nationality. Also, these restrictions can be in the form of duration of stay or validity period of an approved visa.

In respect of nationals of 30 countries namely, (1) Iran, (2) Egypt, (3) Libya, (4) Qatar, (5),Iraq, (6) Syria, (7) Sudan, (8)Tunisia, (9) Kuwait, (10)Yemen, (11) Algeria,(12)Bahrain, (13) Turkey, (14) Morocco, (15) Kyrgyzstan, (16) Turkmenistan, (17),Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), (18) Lebanon, (19) Afghanistan,
(20) Saudi Arabia, (21) Uganda, (22) Congo, (23) Ethiopia, (24) Nigeria, (25) Belarus,(26) Somalia, (27) South Sudan, (28) Kazakhstan, (29) Uzbekistan and (30) Sri Lanka.
Note that the duration of visa for the above countries to a maximum of 5 years with the stipulation “continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 90 days and registration not required”.

In respect of nationals of Bangladesh and China, provisions as available in the bilateral agreements/ policy guidelines, as issued from time to time, will be applicable.

List of nationals who can apply for India e-Visa : Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Albania, Austria, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, 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, EastTimor, Ecuador, ElSalvador, Estonia, Eritrea, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malawi, 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, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia,

Saint Vincent & the Grenadines,San Marino, Samoa, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland,

Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Island, Tuvalu, UAE, Ukraine, United Kingdom(UK), United States of America (USA), Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City-Holy See, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda.

So, how to get an Indian Visa online the easy way?

Although you’ll be able to get Indian visa online yourself, most of you’d not wish to bear the effort of addressing the Indian government portal isn’t that user-friendly, has long forms to fill and often crashes out.

If you are like me who would rather not spend 3 hours of your life filling forms don’t mind getting it done by a travel agent then you can get your Indian visa done using our consultation services.

There are two ways of applying for an Indian visa online, either on the government portal or via a qualified visa agent. Most tourists prefer the latter due to the ease, convenience, and error-free visa application. Also, there are constant payment issues on the government site and crashes.

According to the WTTC, in terms of GDP India’s is the world’s 7th largest tourism economy. The travel and tourism sector generated Rs 14.1 trillion (USD 208.9 billion) in 2016. India expects to grow by at least 50% by 2020.

Apply for India Visa Online

India government as waived off India visa fee for the first 500,000 applications. Apply now to get your India visa at just processing fee cost of $25 with us.

We also take care of procuring your mandatory self declaration form for all foreigners visiting India.

Note: The duration of stay will be limited to 30 till Feb 2022.

Entry points with Indian eVisa

Persons holding e-Visa are allowed to enter into India only through the designated international airports namely, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Trivandrum, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Cochin, Goa, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Gaya , Jaipur, Lucknow, Trichy, Varanasi, Calicut, Mangalore, Pune, Nagpur, Coimbatore, Bagdogra, Guwahati, Chandigarh & Visakhapatnam.

Further, e-visa facility is also provided for entry at 5 major Indian seaports namely, Mumbai, Cochin, Mormugao, Chennai & New Mangalore for cruise tourists.Persons holding e-Visa can depart from any of the authorised Immigration Check Posts in India.

Can we get visa on arrival at the airport ?

Visa on arrival for India is only available for Japanese Citizens and no other nationals are eligible for India visa on arrival Moreover, Visa-on-Arrival is provided to Japanese nationals only at 6 designated international airports namely, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Also, a fee of Rs 2000/- or equivalent in foreign currency per passenger (including children), will be charged from each Japanese national.

What are the types of India visa?

There are are two types of Indian visa which you can get and depend on the purpose of travel to India as follows;

  • Regular India visa
  • India E-Tourist Visa (India e visa)

Regular India visa: An Indian visa (passport sticker visa) which you have to get at the Indian embassy. The main benefit of this Indian visa is that it is valid for up to 10 years and it costs about $100. So, you need to get an appointment before you can approach the embassy for this visa.

India e visa: This Indian visa can be obtained online by visiting either the government website or by using an online Indian visa agent

Which Indian Visa available Online?

There are other types of India visa online as follows.

  1. Tourist e-visa
  2. Business e-visa
  3. Medical e-visa

I applied for an Indian tourist visa online. Needless to say, based on the purpose of your visit, you may opt for either of these visa to India.

Why to get your visa processed by experts ?

The government website then crashed multiple times over the course of the application and once I managed to get my application form filled the India visa payment gateway failed. The worst problem with India visa payment gateway is after 3 failed attempts you need to fill the India visa application form again. Strike 3 and out !!.

I then searched for India visa problems and found that several thousand people were facing the same problem. you can read all about them below.

If India wants to make a serious attempt to improve her tourism, it needs a competent India visa application portal. In my first India visa application attempt, the portal crashed midway I had to type my visa application all over again.

FAQ on India eVISA