India India — entry & visa requirements

e-Visa available; regular visa also offered

Max stay: Not stated in our archive

Short answer

Most visitors need either a regular visa from an Indian Mission/Post or an eVisa from the Bureau of Immigration, applied for online at indianvisaonline.gov.in. Visa on arrival is limited to nationals of Japan, South Korea and certain UAE nationals, at selected airports. A valid passport and a visa are mandatory unless a bilateral arrangement exempts you or you hold an OCI card. The archived official sources quote no fee and warn that no agent is authorised to charge for eVisas.

Visa route

Regular visa via an Indian Mission/Post, or eVisa via the Bureau of Immigration[3]

Apply online

indianvisaonline.gov.in[9]

Visa on arrival

Japan, South Korea and certain UAE nationals only, at selected airports[3]

Pre-arrival form

e-Arrival card, submitted within 72 hours before arrival[4]

Sparse archive — being expandedCoverage is thin: the material confirms the e-Visa route and pre-arrival forms but omits fees, stay limits and eligibility lists, and nothing archived contradicts the stated 'e-Visa available' status.

Who can enter without a visa

The archived material gives no country-by-country exemption list. It confirms only that OCI cardholders need no visa, and that everyone else must hold a valid passport plus a regular visa or eVisa unless a bilateral arrangement exempts them.

OCI cardholders do not need a visa to enter India.[9]
All other foreign nationals must enter with a valid national passport and a valid visa from an Indian Mission/Post or an eVisa, unless exempted under a bilateral arrangement.[3]
The MEA visa-exemption page appears in the source list, but only navigation labels were archived, so no exempt nationalities are listed here.[1]

Not included in this section: MEA navigation, consular-service menus, bilateral-brief listings and the visa facility item for Indian nationals, which concerns Indian citizens rather than visitors.

General information

Almost all archived overview text is ministry navigation. The one substantive item is the launch of an e-Ayush/Attendant visa for foreigners travelling to India for Ayush or other Indian-system medical treatment.

An e-Ayush/Attendant visa is available to foreigners seeking treatment through Ayush or other Indian systems of medicine.[4]

Not included in this section: Ministry 'about us' pages, organisational charts, press-release indexes and citizen travel lists.

e-Visa & travel authorisation

India runs two visitor routes: a regular visa issued by an Indian Mission/Post and an eVisa issued by the Bureau of Immigration. Both require a valid passport, and a narrow visa-on-arrival scheme exists for three nationalities.

A regular visa or eVisa together with a valid passport is mandatory for travel to India.[4]
eVisa applications are made online at indianvisaonline.gov.in.[9][3]
Visa on arrival is available to nationals of Japan, South Korea and the UAE, the last only if they previously held an India eVisa or regular visa, at selected airports.[3]
Our official archive does not describe eVisa sub-categories, validity periods, permitted stay or eligible nationalities.[3]

Not included in this section: The conference clearance portal item, which is for event participants, and MEA link menus.

Required documents

Document requirements in the archived text are basic: a valid passport and a visa. The remaining checklist items concern officials, registration formats and application-integrity rules rather than ordinary tourist paperwork.

Every foreign national entering India must hold a valid national passport and a valid visa from an Indian Mission/Post or an eVisa (limited categories) from the Bureau of Immigration.[3]
Using a false or altered document such as a passport or identity paper to support a visa application is treated as an offence in the archived policy material.[6]
Category O1 official visas are for non-diplomatic officials assigned to a diplomatic mission in India travelling on official, service or special passports.[7]
The BoI downloads page provides formats including a medical certificate for registration and an annual salary certificate for visa services.[5]
The archived checklist does not list ordinary tourist documents such as photographs, itinerary or bank statements.[5]

Not included in this section: FRRO registration menus, change-of-address and student or resident services, MHA press-release listings and unrelated downloads.

Fees

No visa fee, validity or stay figure appears anywhere in the archived official sources. The only fee-related material is a government warning that agents may not charge for emergency, express or eVisa facilitation.

The Government of India does not authorise any agent or intermediary to charge fees for emergency or express visas, eVisas or the eArrival card.[3][4]
Tourist visa T1 covers recreation, sightseeing, visiting friends or relatives, short-term yoga, short-duration medical treatment including Ayush and short informal courses of up to six months.[7]

Not included in this section: Navigation and link menus; no fee table was present in the archived material.

How to apply

Applications start online at indianvisaonline.gov.in, with regular visas handled by Indian Missions/Posts and eVisas by the Bureau of Immigration. Two pre-arrival forms are also required: the e-Arrival card and a self-declaration form.

Applications may be completed online at indianvisaonline.gov.in.[9]
Regular or paper visas are issued through Indian Missions/Posts, while eVisas are issued by the Bureau of Immigration.[3]
Foreign nationals and OCI/eOCI cardholders must complete and submit the e-Arrival card.[9]
All passengers must also fill a self-declaration form at airsuvidha.civilaviation.gov.in before reaching the arrival immigration counters.[9]
No agent or intermediary is authorised to charge for emergency, express visa, eVisa or eArrival card facilitation.[9]

Not included in this section: BoI help-desk and download links and MEA portal menus.

At the border

Two formalities are archived for arrival: the e-Arrival card and the self-declaration form. The sources also point to country-specific guidance, but give no stay-duration or overstay rules.

Foreigners and OCI cardholders may submit the e-Arrival card online within 72 hours before arrival at boi.gov.in, indianvisaonline.gov.in or through the official 'Indian Visa Su-Swagatam' app.[4]
The e-Arrival card provides arrival information only and is not a visa.[4]
Country-specific guidelines are published for tourism, business, medical treatment, study, work and transit, along with rules for restricted, protected and prohibited areas.[5]
No rules on permitted length of stay or extension were archived in these sources.[5]

Not included in this section: MHA internal division lists and general BoI menu headings.

Notices & things to watch

The only dated traveller notice archived concerns Pakistani nationals. Apart from that, this section held nothing but link lists and a Bureau of Immigration banner.

All existing valid visas issued to Pakistani nationals, except medical, long-term, diplomatic and official visas, were revoked with immediate effect from 27 April 2025.[4]
Medical visas issued to Pakistani nationals remained valid only until 29 April 2025.[4]
No other current notices for ordinary visitors were archived.[5]

Not included in this section: MHA important-links, communal-violence and fitness-protocol menus and other unrelated link lists.

Legal basis

Indian immigration now sits on a 2025 framework: the Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025, its Rules and its Order, which replace older statutes including the Foreigners Act 1946.

The Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025 regulates immigration, entry and stay of foreigners, registration, carrier liability and accommodation-keepers' obligations, and repeals four earlier acts.[6]
The Immigration and Foreigners Rules 2025 consolidate and modernise the rules governing entry, stay and exit of foreign nationals.[6]
The Immigration and Foreigners Order 2025 supersedes the Foreigners Order 1948 and the protected areas, restricted areas and tribunals orders.[6]
The Passports Act 1967 governs the issue of passports and travel documents and regulates the departure of Indian citizens.[6]
The Bureau of Immigration, established in 1971 under the Commissioner of Immigration, publishes these regulations and visa policies.[4]

Official downloads

4 documents · grouped by how they are used4 files as ZIP ≈1.7 MB

Four official legal PDFs from the Bureau of Immigration: the 2025 Immigration and Foreigners Act, its Rules and Order, and the Passports Act 1967. They are background statute text; a visitor visa applicant does not submit them.

PDF

boi gov in boi pdf Annexure Immigration and Foreigners Rules 2025 pdf 20260910 152704

The Immigration and Foreigners Rules 2025, which govern entry, stay and exit of foreign nationals; useful only if you need the underlying legal detail.

BackgroundOther857 KBboi_gov_in_boi_pdf_Annexure_Immigration_and_Foreigners_Rules_2025_pdf_20260910_152704.pdf

[10]
PDF

boi gov in boi pdf Annexure Immigration and Froeigners Order 2025 pdf 20260910 152746

The Immigration and Foreigners Order 2025, which replaces the 1948 Foreigners Order and the protected, restricted and tribunal orders.

BackgroundOther450 KBboi_gov_in_boi_pdf_Annexure_Immigration_and_Froeigners_Order_2025_pdf_20260910_152746.pdf

[11]
PDF

boi gov in boi pdf Annexure THE PASSPORTS ACT 1967 pdf 20260910 152846

The Passports Act 1967, covering passport issue and the departure of Indian citizens; not a visitor entry document.

BackgroundRegulation10 pp249 KBenboi_gov_in_boi_pdf_Annexure_THE_PASSPORTS_ACT_1967_pdf_20260910_152846.pdf

[12]
PDF

boi gov in boi pdf Annexure The Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025 pd 20260910 152622

The Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025, the parent statute for immigration, entry and stay of foreigners in India.

BackgroundOther233 KBboi_gov_in_boi_pdf_Annexure_The_Immigration_and_Foreigners_Act_2025_pd_20260910_152622.pdf

[13]

Official sources

40 citations · 8 unique pages · 4 official domains

The sources are official (MEA, Bureau of Immigration, MHA) but much of the archived text is navigation markup, so visa categories, fee amounts and permitted length of stay are largely absent.

Numbers match the markers in the text above; click a marker to jump here. Groups are collapsed by domain - click a heading to expand. A source cited more than once keeps a single number.

boi.gov.in5 URLs · cited 29 times

4boi.gov.in/boicited 9×
5boi.gov.in/boi/contents/help-support/downloadscited 6×
6boi.gov.in/boi/contents/immigration/policy-and-law/immigration-policies-processcited 5×
7boi.gov.in/boi/contents/visa-oci/apply-for-visa/list-of-visascited 2×
9boi.gov.in/boi/contents/visa-oci/apply-for-visa/how-to-applycited 7×

indianvisaonline.gov.in1 URL · cited 9 times

3indianvisaonline.gov.incited 9×

www.mea.gov.in1 URL · cited 1 time

1www.mea.gov.in

www.mha.gov.in1 URL · cited 1 time

8www.mha.gov.in/en

Popularity rank #15 (score 34.28). This page was written by an AI from the official material listed above and adds no facts from outside it; visa rules change, so always confirm on the official portal before you apply.