India Visa Checklist — e-Visa vs Regular Visa
Two tracks, two completely different photo rules: the e-Visa wants a square digital upload, the regular sticker visa wants a 2 × 2 inch print. Written for US applicants (UK/Canada notes included). Verified against the official e-Visa portal and embassy fee tables, September 2026 — fees change, confirm on the portal before you pay.
How the India visa process actually works (2026)
US applicants have two options, and mixing up their requirements is the #1 mistake:
- e-Visa (tourism, business, medical, conference and more): fully online. Upload a photo + passport scan → pay → receive the ETA by email → print it and present it at Immigration, where the e-Visa is stamped into your passport. No embassy visit at all.
- Regular (sticker) visa: fill the online form, then submit your passport in person or by mail through VFS Global (the only authorised service provider in the US). Needed when you want the longest validity — up to 10 years for tourism.
Key timing rule: apply at least 4 days before travel (up to 120 days ahead), and pay the fee at least 4 days before departure or the application is not processed. There is no visa on arrival for US citizens — only Japanese, South Korean and UAE passports qualify (UAE with conditions). Don't fly before your ETA status shows GRANTED.
1. Core documents (both tracks)
| Passport | Valid ≥ 6 months at application, with 2 blank pages. Each traveller needs their own passport — children cannot ride on a parent's. If you renew after applying, carry old and new passports together. |
| Photo | Depends on the track — see section 4. This is where applications die. Make it free: India photo tool → |
| Passport bio page scan | e-Visa only: PDF, 10KB–300KB. All uploaded documents must be in English — non-English documents can sink the application. |
| Return/onward ticket + funds | Immigration can ask for your onward journey ticket and proof of sufficient funds for the stay. |
2. Track 1 — e-Visa: fees and rules (US passport)
Official e-Tourist fee table for US nationals (plus a 3% bank transaction charge):
| 30-day e-Tourist (July–March) | $25 — valid 30 days from first arrival, multiple entries within that window (older "double entry" guides are outdated) |
| 30-day e-Tourist (April–June) | $10 — the official off-season price; travel in this window and you save $15 |
| 1-year e-Tourist | $40 — multiple entries, max 180 days per calendar year in India |
| 5-year e-Tourist | $160 — same 180-days-per-year cap. UK passports pay $484 and Canadian $200 for this same visa — nationality pricing worth knowing before you choose a track |
Documents per purpose (all uploads in English): e-Tourist = passport bio page scan; e-Business = bio page + business card (invitation letter optional); e-Medical = letter from the Indian hospital on letterhead with admission date, your name, nationality and passport number (up to 2 attendants per patient); e-Conference = organiser invitation + MEA political clearance (both required).
3. Track 2 — Regular visa via VFS Global (US)
- Tourist (T) visa: up to 10 years, single or multiple entry — $160 flat. Business (B) is also $160. That's the same price as the 5-year e-Visa: one extra VFS trip doubles the validity.
- Extras on top: ICWF $3.00 + VFS service fee (check the VFS portal for your mission's current amount).
- You submit your physical passport — in person at an ICAC centre (Washington DC, Raleigh NC) or by mail, per your consulate's instructions. Eight embassy/consulate districts cover the US; confirm yours before booking.
- Other categories: Transit $40; Entry (X), Employment, Student, Medical, Conference and Journalist visas have their own fee tiers on the embassy fee table.
4. The photo rules are different on each track
This is the hook most generic guides get wrong — the US muscle memory of "2 × 2 inches" only applies to the regular visa:
| e-Visa (digital upload) | Square JPEG, 10KB–1MB, height exactly equal to width (no official pixel range — sites quoting "350×350 to 1000×1000" are third-party noise). Face fully visible, eyes open, no glasses, plain light/white background, no shadow on face or background, no border. Non-compliant uploads can be rejected outright, or you'll get a 24-hour re-upload email. |
| Regular visa (print) | 2 × 2 inches (51 × 51 mm) on glossy paper, white background, front view — and the physical photo must be identical to the one you uploaded in the online form. One photo shoot, two deliverables. |
Both formats come out of the same session: shoot once against a plain background, export the square JPEG for the e-Visa upload or the 2 × 2 print for VFS. Start with the India visa photo tool →
5. What NOT to do (the traps that cost money)
- Don't book flights before the visa is granted. The e-Visa fee is non-refundable regardless of outcome, and no processing time is officially promised.
- Don't enter by land. e-Visa holders may enter only at 33 designated airports + 19 designated seaports; land crossings are not permitted. Exiting India is fine at any immigration checkpoint. Cruise entry only at Mumbai, Chennai, Cochin, Goa or Mangalore.
- Don't pay for "express processing". The official advisory is blunt: no emergency/express e-Visa service exists, and anyone charging for one is scamming you.
- Don't use look-alike portals. The only official entry point is indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html — the embassy explicitly warns against imitation "Government of India" websites.
- Don't re-pay when payment status hangs. Status updates can take up to 2 hours; paying twice doesn't speed it up. Three failed payment attempts may force a full re-submission.
- Don't wear glasses in the e-Visa photo — even clear lenses. It's an explicit rejection ground.
- Don't treat the 30-day e-Visa as a year-long pass — it dies 30 days after first arrival. And the 1/5-year caps are 180 days per calendar year, not per trip.
- Don't use an e-Visa for employment, journalism or NGO work, or travel to Protected/Restricted/Cantonment areas — it's non-extendable and non-convertible.
- Don't skip the e-Arrival Card. Foreigners (and OCI holders) must submit it online within 72 hours before arrival — it's an arrival information form, not a visa, but checking in without it slows your entry.
6. UK and Canada applicants
- Canada: all regular visa applications go through BLS International — in person only, with biometrics collected at the centre. Mail applications are not accepted, whatever their duration. Plan around the trip.
- UK: applications route via the High Commission's appointed channels; expect a service fee on top of the visa fee. GBP amounts vary by category — use the current official fee pages rather than third-party tables.
- Both: e-Visa fees for UK/Canadian passports follow the same official table (UK 5-year = $484, Canada 5-year = $200); the square-upload photo rules are identical to the US track.
60-second check
- ✅ Passport ≥ 6 months validity + 2 blank pages (old passport too, if renewed after applying)
- ✅ Track chosen: e-Visa (square JPEG ≤ 1MB, no glasses) vs regular (2 × 2 print identical to upload) — photo tool
- ✅ Applying 4–120 days ahead; fee paid ≥ 4 days before departure
- ✅ Flights only after ETA shows GRANTED; printed ETA in hand (biometrics taken on arrival)
- ✅ Arriving at one of the 33 designated airports / 19 seaports — not by land
- ✅ Documents in English; e-Arrival Card submitted within 72 h of arrival
- ✅ Yellow fever vaccination card if arriving from an endemic country within the last 6 days
Fees and rules change without notice — the official e-Visa portal and your embassy's current fee table are authoritative. Processing times are not officially published for either track.
Make your India visa photo → · Related: digital file requirements · China visa checklist · US visa checklist