Electronic visa to India – how to get it online in 2024

As many of you may have already heard, the Indian authorities have allowed citizens of more than a hundred countries to obtain a visa online. All you need to do is fill in the application form, pay for the visa and print out the invitation that you receive in the mail.

On arrival in India, on the basis of this invitation, you will get a visa and a stamp in your passport. All this is official, without the services of intermediaries and extra payments to cunning travel agencies. This is an incredibly convenient option that will save Russians, Ukrainians and other tourists from having to go to the Indian Embassy to get another visa.

But it is worth noting one single restriction! This visa is valid only if you arrive in the country through an international airport (i.e. by airplane). In all other cases, you need to apply to the embassy in advance, where you can apply for a regular visa.

In this article, I will discuss how to get an e-visa to India using a clear example, with an illustration and even in video format. I hope you will understand, although if you still have any questions, I will be happy to answer them in the comments.

Please note. The cost of an official visa is $10 – $80 depending on the season and duration. Payable by credit card on the embassy website.

Please note. The cost of an official visa is $10 – $80 depending on the season and duration. Payable by credit card on the embassy website.

Let’s get started on getting a visa. The first thing we start with is to go to the embassy’s website in the visa section at the following link https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html and click e-Tourist Visa (eTV) Application in the top menu.

The beginning of the questionnaire to be filled out for visa on arrival is loaded.

Step one. Fill in all the fields.

• Passport Type – choose the type of passport. There are diplomatic, service, etc., but most people have a regular passport. (Ordinary Passport)
• Nationality – Indicate your nationality.
• Port of Arrival – the airport where you are arriving and where you will be issued a visa on arrival on the basis of the authorization
• Date of Birth – your date of birth
• In the field Email ID enter your work e-mail address to which the authorization will be sent, and in the field Re-enter Email ID repeat it
• Expected Date of Arrival – estimated date of arrival in India
• Visa Type – TOURIST VISA ON ARRIVAL is the default. Fits us.
• Enter Access Code – a place to enter characters from the picture Access Code

When this step is completed, click on the button Continue and move on to step number two.

Step two. Addresses, relatives, jobs.

Here the questionnaire becomes much larger and there will be more fields to fill in.

Applicant Details

• Surname (as shown in your Passport) – last name. Exactly as it appears on the passport
• Given Name/s (as shown in your Passport) – a name like a passport
• Have you ever changed your name? If yes, click the box and give details. – if you have changed your surname or name, you need to check the checkbox and in the lines that appear, indicate your previous surname and name. It is mainly relevant for girls who changed their surname after marriage.
• Sex – you have to choose a gender (Male, Female or Transgender)
• Town/City of birth – hometown
• Country of birth
• Citizenship/National Id No – is the series and number of the general civil passport. If there is no such passport – specify NA (for example – citizens of Belarus)
• Religion – your religious preferences. Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants, understandably, choose Christian
• Visible identification marks – “visible differences,” a point that often raises questions. In fact, these are just signs, like scars and tattoos. If you don’t have any of these, just write in NA
• Educational Qualification – education, it’s hard to compare it to our education system, but it’s like this.
  • Below Matriculation – less than 11 years of education
  • Graduate – college or university
  • Higher secondary – graduated from college
  • Illiterate – no education
  • Matriculation – university applicant
  • Post Graduate – graduate student
  • Professional – professional education on the basis of courses or trainings, certified
• Did you acquire Nationality by birth or by naturalization? – do you have your current citizenship by birth or naturalization?
  • By Birth – You must indicate if you were granted citizenship at birth
  • Naturalization – when you acquire citizenship after moving, as a result of marriage, etc. That is, if you have changed citizenship. And then a drop-down list will appear where you can select your previous citizenship.
• Have you lived for at least two years in the country where you are applying visa

Passport Details

In this part of the application form we fill in the basic information about our passport

• Passport No. – passport series and number
• Place of Issue – Problem – you need to specify the city, but in passports of many countries of the world (for example, Ukrainian passports) the number of the issuing unit is indicated in digital format. The solution is to simply transliterate the name of the city where the place of issue is located.
• Date of Issue – passport issue date
• Date of Expiry – passport expiration date
• Any other valid Passport/Identity Certificate(IC) held – do you have another passport or residence permit? For example, a second passport (citizens of Ukraine and Russia may have one), a second citizenship or residence permit somewhere in Europe or the USA, etc. If you ticked Yes – indicate the details of the second document, if No – you do not need to fill in anything else.

Once you’ve filled it out, click on Save and continue. We are thrown to step three of the questionnaire.

Applicant’s Address Details – home address details

Present Address – current address

• House No./Street – street and house of residence
• Village/Town/City
• State/Province/District – area, region
• Postal/Zip Code – postal code
• Country
• Phone No – home telephone number with country and city codes
• Mobile No – cell phone number

Permanent Address (enter the address where you are registered). Everything is filled out in the same way, and if it coincides with the address of residence – tick the checkbox Click Here for Same Address

Family Details – information about the parents. For the father, fill in Father’s Details, and for mom. Mother’s Details.

• Name – parent’s name
• Nationality
• Previous Nationality – previous citizenship, if you changed it
• Place of Birth
• Country of Birth

I personally realize that these fields are silly bureaucracy, there is no way to check them. So if you don’t know anything about your parents, you can make it up.

Applicant’s Marital Status – check Merried if you’re married and Single – if you haven’t. If you checked Merried – then you will also have to fill out information for your spouse, similar to parents.

Were your Grandfather/ Grandmother (paternal/maternal) Pakistan Nationals or Belong to Pakistan held area. – did your grandparents have Pakistani citizenship or resided in Pakistan?

Profession / Occupation Details of Applicant – information  about your job. Fill in your place of work and company contacts. If you are a housewife, student or unemployed – instead of your employer’s data you should provide the contacts of your sponsor – spouse or father.

Are/were you in a Military/Semi-Military/Police/Security. Organization? – Are you a member of a military organization? Are you a member of a military organization? Are you a member of a police or security organization, national guard, etc.? Select Yes or No. If you select Yes, you must provide your rank, duty station, and other information.

After filling it out, click Save and continue. We already have step 4 of the questionnaire in front of us.

Details of Visa Sought

• Places likely to be visited
• Purpose of Visit – choose Tourism
• Expected Date journey
• Expected Port of Exit from India – the airport from which you plan to depart at the end of your trip

Previous Visa/Currently valid Visa Details – To be filled in if you have previously held an Indian visa

Have you ever visited India before

• Address – the address where you lived at the time of your last visit
• Cities previously visited in India – the cities visited last time, separated by commas.
• Last Indian Visa No/Currently valid Indian Visa No. – previous Indian visa number
• Type of Visa – previous visa type
• Place of Issue
• Date of Issue

Has permission to visit or to extend stay in India previously been refused – Indicate if you have previously had Indian visa denials or been deported from the country.

Other Information – countries visited in the last 10 years, separated by commas

SAARC Country Visit Details  – visited in the last 3 years countries SAARC (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka), if any. In addition, the year and number of visits are indicated. By default, one item is shown, if you need more, click on the button Add Row.

Reference – Contacts in India and home country who can be contacted in case of emergency. The most common contacts are close relatives, parents, spouse, sponsors.

To upload Photo click “Upload Image” .Photo upload is mandatory – click on the button and upload a photo of you (you can take the photo yourself at home). Photo is obligatory. However, there are no strict requirements. An ordinary passport photo will do. The format – JPEG, size not less than 350 x 350 pixels, “weight” from 10 kilobytes to 1 megabyte. And after uploading the photo you can trim (crop) it a bit. As one blogger said – “well, how else do you crop your fellow bloggers? That’s right!” :lol:

Once the photo has been uploaded and you have confirmed its format (Confirm), another window will appear. You need to upload a scan of the main page of your passport, with your photo and series-number.

File requirements – PDF format, from 10 to 200 kilobytes. You can scan to PDF format quickly and easily using Scan2PDF program or any other program convenient for you.

You have to make a scan of the passport that you will be submitting at the visa clearance counter at the Indian airport.

Confirm the loading of our document by clicking the Continue to Next Page button. We are given a long – long page that displays all the information we entered.

Your task is to study it all and make sure that you haven’t made any mistakes anywhere. If you have made a mistake, just press Modify/Edit, and if everything’s okay, we click on Verified and Continue.

We are asked to make a mandatory note of our Application ID, with which we can always return to complete the application form or make a payment.

By checking Yes you choose Pay Now or Pay Later. I recommend that you pay right away.

The cost of the visa is $70. It can be paid by Visa, MasterCard or PayPal without any problems. Without payment the pro-visa is not valid, which means that you will not be able to get a visa on arrival.

In case of successful payment, you will receive a letter in your mail which will contain your visa authorization on arrival. You need to print it out and present it at the check-in desk at the airport of departure and then at the airport in India to obtain your visa.

Frequent questions

What should I do if I entered the wrong first or last name?

If you misspell your name by one or two letters, you will be issued a visa at the airport of arrival. However, note that the airline may refuse to let you board the flight if the e-visa is not in your name, so Photoshop to your aid, but not at the Indian border! at your own risk.

What visa do I need for Goa?

Goa is a state of India and hence an Indian visa is also required.

How much does an e-visa to India cost?

The fee for a 30-day visa for the months of April through June is only 10 dollars. The same visa for other months will cost 25 dollars. In addition, there is the possibility of registration of multiple-entry visa for a year (40 dollars) and 5 years (80 dollars).

Can I enter twice on the same visa?

No, the e-visa is single entry and entitles you to one entry.

If the visa is single entry, does that mean I can’t fly within India?

No, if the flights are domestic and you don’t go through border control – then you can use them with that visa in your passport.

What do I put in “place of passport issuance” if I have numbers written in?

Simply write in Latin letters the name of the city where you obtained your passport.

Do I have to fill out a separate questionnaire for children?

Yes, each child must also obtain an e-visa at full price. However, online visa issuance is possible only for children who have their own passport. For a child registered in the parents’ passport, you must obtain a visa at the embassy.

Is it possible or not to not indicate the number of the previous visa, if it has already been lost and there is no possibility to restore it?

Yes, you can.

Which port of arrival to specify and where to apply for e-visa if ticket from Amsterdam via Mumbai to Goa?

You have to specify the airport where you will be going through passport control. In this case it is Mumbai, as the flight to Goa will be a domestic flight.

Had applied for visa on arrival with Mumbai as the port of entry. But then a little change of plans and I will be flying to Bengaluru. Will it be a problem at passport control?

No, the base is shared and you will be issued a visa at the airport you flew into.

I hope this article will help you to get an Indian visa online by yourself quickly and without involving intermediaries and travel agencies! I will be happy to answer your questions in the comments.