How to get in India: Visa possibility

After the government shift in 2014, there has been a shift in the policy for the Tourist Visa in India.

In India, there are different types of visa available, they are : 

1. Freedom of Movement

2. Visa-free entry

3. Visa on Arrival 

4. eVisa or Electronic Visa

5. Regular Visa

After the government shift in 2014, there has been a shift in the policy for the Tourist Visa in India.

Let us find out about the first four types of visa.

1. Freedom of Movement: India has a collaboration with 2 countries namely Bhutan and Nepal. So, people from the two countries are given a special permission to work, live or own a property in India without any hurdles.

So, Freedom of Movement is provided to the citizens of Nepal and Bhutan.

2. Visa-free entry: India provides visa-free entry only to one country that is Maldives. The citizens of Maldives can enter India and reside here for not more than 90 days.

3. Visa on Arrival: In 2016, India opened the facility of visa on arrival after closing it in 2014 for one country. India provides visa on arrival for the citizens of Japan. The Visa on Arrival can be availed at Six airports in India. The fees for Visa on arrival is They are: 

▪                                    Delhi

▪                                    Mumbai

▪                                    Chennai

▪                                    Hyderabad

▪                                    Kolkata

▪                                    Bangalore

4. eVisa: eVisa is a new scheme that India launched in 2014 to increase the inbound of people to India.  Currently, Evisa is available for 162 countries. The 162 countries personnel who can get the visa are listed below:

Albania	Djibouti	Madagascar	Saint  Vincent & the Grenadines
Andorra	Dominica	Malawi	Samoa
Angola	Dominican Republic	Malaysia	San Marino
Anguilla	East Timor	Mali	Senegal
Antigua  & Barbuda	Ecuador	Malta	Serbia
Argentina	El Salvador	Marshall Islands	Seychelles
Armenia	Eritrea	Mauritius	Sierra Leone
Aruba	Estonia	Mexico	Singapore
Australia	Fiji	Micronesia	Slovakia
Austria	Finland	Moldova	Slovenia
Azerbaijan	France	Monaco	Solomon Islands
Bahamas	Gabon	Mongolia	South Africa
Barbados	Gambia	Montenegro	Spain
Belgium	Georgia	Montserrat	Sri Lanka
Belize	Germany	Mozambique	Suriname
Bolivia	Ghana	Myanmar	Swaziland
Bosnia  & Herzegovina	Greece	Namibia	Sweden
Botswana	Grenada	Nauru	Switzerland
Brazil	Guatemala	Netherlands	Taiwan
Brunei	Guinea	New Zealand	Tajikistan
Bulgaria	Guyana	Nicaragua	Tanzania
Burundi	Haiti	Niger Republic	Thailand
Cambodia	Honduras	Niue Island	Tonga
Cameron  Union Republic	Hungary	Norway	Trinidad & Tobago
Canada	Iceland	Oman	Turks & Caicos  Island
Cape  Verde	Indonesia	Palau	Tuvalu
Cayman  Island	Ireland	Palestine	UAE
Chile	Israel	Panama	Uganda
China	Italy	Papua New Guinea	Ukraine
China-  SAR Hongkong	Jamaica	Paraguay	United Kingdom
China-  SAR Macau	Japan	Peru	Uruguay
Colombia	Jordan	Philippines	USA
Comoros	Kenya	Poland	Uzbekistan
Cook  Islands	Kiribati	Portugal	Vanuatu
Costa  Rica	Laos	Republic of Korea	Vatican City-Holy See
Cote  d'lvoire	Latvia	Republic of Macedonia	Venezuela
Croatia	Lesotho	Romania	Vietnam
Cuba	Liberia	Russia	Zambia
Cyprus	Liechtenstein	Rwanda	Zimbabwe
Czech  Republic	Lithuania	Saint Christopher and Nevis
Denmark	Luxembourg	Saint Lucia

For the above-mentioned countries, they can get the eVisa for which, they need to apply a minimum of 4 days before travelling to India.

Criteria: As quoted by the Indian government:

International Travellers whose sole objective of visiting India is recreation, sightseeing, casual visit to meet friends or relatives, short duration medical treatment or casual business visit.

The Price for the eVisa is divided into four different categories: The Pricing of these 4 categories are:

1  Free($0): 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

2  $75: Citizens of US, UK, Russia, Ukraine and Mozambique.

3  $50: Citizens of the majority of countries including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

4  $25: Citizens of Japan, Singapore and Sri Lanka.

Different type of eVisa and their categories are:

1  For e-Tourist Visa: Scanned Bio Page of the passport showing the Photograph and Details

2  For e-Medical Visa: Scanned Bio Page of the passport showing the Photograph and Details. Copy of Letter from the Hospital concerned in India on its letterhead

3  For e-Business Visa: Scanned Bio Page of the passport showing the Photograph and Details and copy of Business Card

4  For e-Business Visa visiting "To deliver lecture/s under Global Initiative for Academic Networks (GIAN)": Scanned Bio Page of the passport showing the Photograph and Details. Invitation of the host institute to the foreign faculty. Copy of the sanction order under GIAN issued by the National Coordinating Institute viz. IIT Kharagpur. Copy of the synopsis of the courses to be taken up by the faculty

The validity of this visa is for 60 days.


Airports from where you can enter with the E-visa are:


Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bagdogra, Bangalore, Calicut, Chennai, Chandigarh, Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi, Gaya, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Tiruchirapalli, Trivandrum and Varanasi.


The people of the Pakistani Origin are not covered under this any of the Indian scheme other than the normal visa formality.