If you’re planning a trip to India from the USA, the UK, or most countries, then you’ll need a visa. Although the process is not complicated for a 30-day visa, the government website can be intimidating at first and there is a fee.
The cheapest way to get an Indian visa is to go to the official website, fill in your details, and apply for a 30-day e-Tourist visa. Beware of websites that look similar to the official website. Or you can pay a respected company like iVisa to handle the process for you.
Government websites, in general, can be poorly designed and confusing, India’s are some of the worst. However, the process can be completed from home in a few hours, if you are getting a 30-day tourist visa.
The cost will be less than $100 and could be significantly lower, depending on your country of origin.
You can also get a 1-year or 5-year tourist visa online now from select countries (the USA is one). This is a great option if you are considering returning to India multiple times since the cost is reasonable.
In this article, we’ll show you how to get an Indian visa in the cheapest way by doing it yourself, as well as cover the visa options that are available to you.
Although there is a way to save time and hassle if you are willing to spend a little more money.
What’s The Easiest Way To Get an Indian Visa?
If you just don’t want to deal with the hassle of filling in the confusing government websites, then you could hire a respected visa service like iVisa (check the updated price with your details at that link).
My girlfriend loved her experience with iVisa. She hates dealing with government websites and having to resize her photos and be sure each detail is correct. Plus, she was initially rejected so iVisa handled the error, sent her an email with exactly what she needed to do and made sure she got her visa quickly.
If you want to check your availability, you can use this cool little widget to check your availability or fill in your country of origin, your destination and your dates at their website:
How Much Does an Indian Tourist Visa Cost?
The cost of a 30-day Indian e-Tourist visa varies based on where you live, but it’s between $0 and $100 USD. You will be required to pay a 2.5% bank processing fee. For US and UK citizens, you will pay $25 for 30 days, $40 for one year, and $80 for five years.
Citizens of neighboring countries of Nepal and Bhutan can arrive in India without visas and work as well. Citizens of the Maldives also do not need a visa and can stay in India for up to 90 days.
Some countries require a visa, yet there is no fee. Citizens of Argentina, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nauru, Niue Island, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uruguay, and Vanuatu can get a free visa.
Citizens of Japan and Mongolia pay much less for visas as well.
What Documents Do You Need To Get An Indian Visa?
You will need to upload a photo of your face with a white background and scan your passport. You will also need a contact number of a “reference” in India, which can just be the number to your hotel.
I was able to handle everything for my 30-day tourist visa in just a few hours in my apartment. There is no need to go buy passport photos or anything like that.
I took a photograph of my face against a white wall with my phone, then I reduced the quality to meet the requirements (50 kb) using the Preview app on my Macbook. Windows has a similar tool that comes with your computer.
You can crop the photo to be square within the website after you upload it.
I then used a free scanner app on my phone to scan my passport. It took a few tries to be sure the important details were clear enough, and it did seem a bit blurry considering it is very high-contrast but it was accepted.
One Important Tip: Fill out all the required fields, even if you aren’t 100% sure. For instance, maybe you don’t have a hotel yet in India so aren’t sure what number to include. Just include the number of a hotel you will likely stay at. One of the biggest reasons someone is rejected is because they didn’t fill out a field.
When Should You Apply For An Indian Tourist Visa?
You can apply no sooner than 120 days before your departure and it is recommended that you apply at least 4 days before your flight for a 30-day tourist visas.
30-day e-Tourist visas are only valid for 120 days, so if you applied sooner than that your visa would expire before your trip began.
I recommend applying for your visa one month before you depart. This will give you plenty of time to get a response (it usually only takes 24-48 hours).
Plus, I have heard of travelers having to change their travel dates, yet you cannot change the dates of your visa, so they had to reapply for a new visa.
How Long Does It Take To Get A Tourist Visa?
If you apply online, you will receive an email confirmation within 24 to 48 hours. If you apply through the mail it could take between 3-5 business days. For 10-year visas or visas requiring a reference check, it could take two weeks to process it.
What Other Types Of Visas Are There?
If you’re traveling to India here there are other visa options as well:
- e-Medical Visa: Starts at $80 for 60 days with 3 entries
- e-Business Visa: Starts at $80 for 365 days with multiple entries
- e-Conference Visa: Starts at $80 for 30 days with a single entry
- e-Medical Attendant Visa: Starts at $80 for 60 days with 3 entries
Please note these prices are subject to change.
How Much Is A 10-year Indian Tourist Visa?
US Citizens can apply for a 10-year tourist visa and stay for up to 180 days at a time. The application fee is $150 + $19.99 for processing. You will need to provide a travel itinerary.
Unfortunately, the process for getting this visa is about three times (that’s a very objective measure 🙂 as complex as an e-visa. It took me a number of weeks to round up the documents and paperwork needed, yet I had the time so was not in a rush.
You can start by going to the official Indian CKGS website. Using a service like iVisa is more advantageous for this type of visa considering the complexities.
For instance, I have a 10-year tourist visa as a US citizen and I can stay for 180 days at a time. Then I do a border run to Sri Lanka for a few days and fly back to restart my 180 days.
What Countries Are Eligible for an Indian e-Tourist Visa?
Not all countries are eligible to get an eVisa, as you can see some notable exceptions on this list are Bangladesh and Pakistan. But most countries are eligible to get an Indian tourist visa online:
- Albania
- Andorra
- Angola
- Anguilla
- Antigua & Barbuda
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Aruba
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Belize
- Benin
- Bolivia
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Brunei
- Bulgaria
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon 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
- East Timor
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Estonia
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Greece
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Latvia
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- 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
- Qatar
- Republic of Korea
- Republic of Macedonia
- Romania
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Saint Christopher and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent & the Grenadines
- Samoa
- San Marino
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islands
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Suriname
- Swaziland
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Togo
- Tonga
- Trinidad & Tobago
- Turks & Caicos Island
- Tuvalu
- UAE
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- Uruguay
- USA
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Vatican City-Holy See
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Zambia and Zimbabwe
Final Words
You can get a 30-day 3-Tourist visa on India’s official website by yourself, which is the cheapest way to get a visa. If you want help, you can pay a bit more to hire a respected service like iVisa. Be sure to apply at least 4 days before your trip and no sooner than 120 days. If you are wanting a longer trip a 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year option are available for US citizens as well as citizens of selected other countries.
If you’re are worried about making a mistake on your visa, I wrote an article about the most common reasons Indian e-visas are rejected.
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