Indian e-Tourist Visa (eTV)

Formerly misleadingly known as an Indian Tourist Visa on Arrival, this system was expanded in November 2014. For most countries in the world, you cannot show up in India without a visa. This visa is a simpler and quicker way to get a traditional tourist visa and doesn’t require you to send anything to a local consulate. It is best for people making a quick trip to India that they do not plan on repeating any time soon. You must apply for the visa through this website.

You can use the regular Indian Visa Online Application Guide to help you navigate the application process.

Approximate processing time:

3-5 days

Difficulty to get:

Easy

Maximum validity:

30 days from the date of approval, single entry, cannot be extended or transferred

Maximum continuous stay:

30 days

What you can do:

• Same as Tourist Visa:
• Recreational activities
• Sight seeing
• Have a casual visit with friends and relatives
• Casual business visits (I’m sure this is open to interpretation)
• Short duration medical treatment

What you cannot do:

• Earn any money
• Volunteer for an NGO or charity
• Study
• Conduct any kind of business

Rules:

• You must apply no less than five days and no more than thirty days before your arrival.
• It is a flat US$60 fee that you must pay on the website at least four days before you travel.
• After you are approved, you will receive the ETA by email. Print this out and carry it with you at all times.
• It can be used a maximum of two times in a year, but you must have a two month gap between visits.
• You must enter the country by one of these airports: Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Trivandrum.
• You may need to show your return ticket to the immigration officer.
• You are ineligible for the ETA if you, your parents, or your grandparents were born or ever lived in Pakistan. You should apply for a normal tourist visa.
• You must be a citizen of one of the approved countries:

• Anguilla
• Antigua & Barbuda
• Australia
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Cambodia
• Canada
• Cayman Island
• Chile
• Cook Islands
• Costa Rica
• Djibouti
• Dominica
• Dominic an Republic
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Estonia
• Fiji
• Finland
• France
• Georgia
• Germany
• Grenada
• Haiti
• HolySee (Vatican)
• Honduras
• Indonesia
• Israel
• Japan
• Jordan
• Kenya
• Kiribati
• Laos
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Macedonia
• Marshall Islands
• Mauritius
• Mexico
• Micronesia
• Montenegro
• Montserrat
• Myanmar
• Nauru
• New Zealand
• Nicaragua
• Niue Island
• Norway
• Oman
• Palau
• Palestine
• Papua New Guinea
• Paraguay
• Philippines
• Russia
• Samoa
• Seychelles
• Singapore
• Solomon Islands
• South Korea
• St.Kitts & Nevis
• Thailand
• Tongo
• Tuvalu
• UAE
• Ukraine
• USA
• Vanuatu
• Vietnam

Back to the full list of visas here