How to get a visa for India (e-Visa)

Are you preparing your trip and don’t know if you need a visa for India? Then you came to the right place! Planning a trip to India is not easy, since requires a lot of planning. For example, you should get the recommended vaccinations on time, have all your documents ready and book the right services, since improvising is not advisable in India. In the next article We tell you everything you need to know to get a visa for India.

HOW TO GET A VISA FOR INDIA

1. Do I need a visa to travel to India if I am going for tourism?

Yeah, Both Spanish citizens and those born in Latin American countries need to obtain an electronic visa to travel to India. In total, there are 166 countries eligible for this electronic visa, which include Spain and all Latin Americans, so you will not need to apply for a regular visa to enter the country. And this is a relief!

That means you will not need to go to any embassy to process it. You will do the process online and you will only have to bring the printed paper of your visa resolution to enter India, as well as all your valid documents.

Normally the resolution is approved in a few hours and you must process it at least 4 days in advance and at most 30 days in advance.

1.1. What type of e-Visa do I need?

There are several types of visa to travel to India for tourist purposes.. In each case, it will depend on the type of trip you want to make. The most common (and the one we request) is the first.

• The double entry electronic visa, valid for 30 days with a permitted stay of one month.
• The multiple entry electronic visa, valid for 1 year with a permitted stay of 90 days.
• The multiple entry electronic visa, valid for 5 years with a permitted stay of 90 days.

2. What can I do with the e-Visa in India

Obviously, the e-Visa is used for tourism. It is totally prohibited to carry out work activities under this visa.

All tourist visas to travel to India allow double entry. What does that mean? Let’s give an example to make it clearer.

Double entry within 30 days

You are going to travel to India in November 2024, and you apply for the first tourist visa, which allows you to be in India for 30 days, in October 2024. Even if you are approved a few days later, The visa will not come into force until the day you enter India. That is, if you land in New Delhi on November 1, 2024, from that day onwards the 30 days of validity of your visa will be counted. Keep in mind that immigration officials will put the deadline for your stay in India in your passport.

But the best thing is that, if during those 30 days of validity of your e-Visa you want to leave India to visit another country and then re-enter, you can do it perfectly. For example, You can travel to the Maldives and then re-enter India on the same trip (as long as you do not exceed 30 days from your entry into India).

Entry points with your e-Visa

You can apply for your visa for India as long as your entry point to the country is one of the following. Obviously, we advise against entering India through any point other than one of these for security reasons.

• One of these 29 national airports: Nueva Delhi, Bombay (Mumbai), Chennai, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Goa, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Gaya, Jaipur, Lucknow, Trichy, Varanasi, Calicut, Mangalore, Pune, Nagpur, Coimbatore, Bagdogra, Guwahati, Chandigarh, Visakhapatnam, Madurai, Bhubaneswar, Port Blair and Kannur.
• One of these 5 seaports: Bombay (Mumbai), Cochin, Goa, Chennai, New Mangalore. However, travelers can depart from any of the authorized Immigration Check Posts (ICP) in India.

3. What do I need to get a visa for India

Processing the visa for India is really simple and fast, although it all depends on the platform you end up choosing to request it (we’ll see about that later). So that you have a reference, to obtain the visa for India you will need the following:

• Passport with a minimum validity of 6 months. They will ask you to scan it, so you should have it with you as well.
• An ID photo in digital format with a white background. Please note that the photograph must be recent. If you don’t have it, you can take it with your phone (as long as it meets the requirements).
• Personal information to fill out the application: Be aware that they are going to ask you for a lot of information, even if you have tattoos, a contact number in India…
• Date of entry and exit to the country: Whether by air or sea, you must be clear about your arrival and departure dates from India.

4. Where and how can I process the visa for India

There are a wide variety of platform options to process the visa for India. But you should be very careful with scams! For this reason, We only recommend two: the government website and iVisa.com.

4.1. Process the visa for India on the government website

This is, a priori, the most common option to process the visa for India. You will do the application personally on the Indian government website.

Basically you will have to fill a super long form (in English) with a lot of information. You know, they will ask for your family information, where you work, reasons for traveling, contacts in India…

The main advantage is that The process is free, you will only have to pay the visa fee, which can cost you between $10 and $25, depending on the date of your trip. Keep in mind that in high season it is more expensive! You can check the rates at the following link.

However, one of the negative aspects is that The procedure is 100% in English and this can make it difficult for people who are not fluent in the language. Besides, the platform is quite old and the form is really long so It is not the most comfortable option to get your visa for India.

Payment must be made by debit or credit card at the end of the application. You can also pay with PayPal, although they charge you a commission. What is very important is that Before paying, copy the application number (Application ID)since later you will need it to check the status of your visa.

You should receive the resolution of your visa within a maximum period of 72 hours. If you are approved, your status should be GRANTED and you should print the document at this link (do not show the email they send you).

Process your visa on the government website

4.2. Apply for your visa for India at iVisa

If you don’t want to complicate your life and don’t mind paying a little more, You can apply for your visa for India at iVisa. They are the number one company in the world for visa management, so you can trust them 100%.

The main advantage is that the visa application process is super simple and is in Spanish. The interface is super intuitive and modern, and they don’t ask for even half of the information they ask for on the government website.

However, for the 30-day visa, in addition to paying $27.50 in government fees (on the government website it is $25), you will have to pay the cost of the procedure, which ranges between $76 and $90. . It is more expensive, but it is more comfortable.

Process your visa for India at iVisa.com

5. When should I apply for the e-Visa for India

Everything will depend on the type of e-Visa you want to apply for.

• If you want to obtain the most common tourist e-Visa, For 30 days and double entry, you can apply up to 30 days before your arrival in India and with a minimum of 4 days in advance.
• If you want to get a Multiple entry e-Visayou can start your request up to 120 days in advance of the scheduled date of your trip.

6. Be very careful with scams!

Finally, to finish this article on the visa for Indiayou should know that There are many platforms that try to take advantage of tourists. You will find a lot of websites where they will offer you services, although we only recommend the two that we have mentioned above. More than anything, because there are several platforms that try to deceive you by offering their services at much higher prices. Never trust them!