The Indian e-Visa: who it is for and who it is not
The Indian e-Visa is an electronic visa applied for online and linked to your passport. No consulate visit, no sticker, no appointment. For most travellers to India from the United States it is the whole procedure.
Who the e-Visa is not for
The exclusions are specific and each one has caught people out.
| If you are… | Then |
|---|---|
| A diplomatic or official passport holder | Not eligible. Apply through the consulate |
| Endorsed on a parent's or spouse's passport | Not eligible. Each person needs their own passport |
| Travelling on an international travel document | Not eligible |
| Going to a Protected or Restricted Area | The e-Visa does not cover it |
| Hoping to extend or convert it later | It is neither extendable nor convertible |
Cantonments, and why the map matters
Protected and Restricted Areas cover parts of the northeast, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and stretches of the border regions. Cantonment areas are military. An e-Visa will not get you into any of them, and finding that out at a checkpoint is expensive.
What the consulate can still do
Where the e-Visa does not apply, the visa is a paper application through the VFS centre. That is a different route with a different fee, and it is the only one open to a diplomatic passport.
- Use indianvisaonline.gov.in and nothing else
- Everyone travelling needs their own passport, children included
- Check whether your destination sits in a Protected or Restricted Area
- Print the approval and carry it; the airline will ask
- It cannot be extended once you are there
What to do if it is refused
An e-Visa refusal comes with no explanation, and there is no appeal. The route from there is a paper visa through the VFS centre, where the file is examined by a person and where the reason for the earlier refusal can be addressed.
Applying again on the portal after a refusal, with the same information, produces the same result.
Validity is counted from approval, not arrival
The clock starts when the visa is granted, so applying months ahead of a trip wastes part of it. A few weeks before departure is the sensible window, and the portal itself sets a minimum notice.