India Visa Guide
for Foreign Tourists (2026)

Validity and 'duration of stay' are two different things, and confusing them is a common mistake. Validity is the window during which your visa can be used to enter India (for example, one year from issue); duration of stay is how long you may remain per visit, which for most e-Tourist Visas is capped at 90 days at a time, regardless of how long the visa itself remains valid. The 30-day e-Tourist Visa is a double-entry visa, while the 1-year and 5-year options are multiple-entry, letting you exit and re-enter India repeatedly within their validity window.

In 2026 India shifted to a sort of “reciprocal pricing” approach for parts of its e-Visa fee structure, so a few categories can now shift depending on the traveller’s nationality based on what their home country charges Indian citizens. For most people the usual tourist costs stay pretty much the same, but the business class fees and the longer-validity options, have climbed quite a bit for several specific countries. Still, double check the exact amount you owe on the official fee schedule before you pay, because the payment is non-refundable no matter how things go.

Going to India for reasons that aren’t just about relaxing, it kinda changes the whole e-Visa sub-category thing. The e-Business Visa, for example, needs a scanned business card as well as an invitation letter from an Indian company, written on official letterhead. Meanwhile the e-Medical Visa works differently, you’ll need an invitation from a recognised Indian hospital that actually outlines the intended treatment plan, and yes it can be extended, up to six months, but only case-by-case through the local Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) . That kind of room to move isn’t really there for the usual tourist-like classifications.

Comprehensive travel insurance isn’t always strictly required for the usual e-Tourist Visa, but honestly it’s still one of the more valuable items you can bring along. India is huge, healthcare standards can swing a lot between metropolitan hubs and rural stretches, and even small travel hiccups—like a missed connection, a monsoon delay, or a stomach bug—feel much easier to handle if you already have solid medical support plus trip coverage. India Heritage Travel advises every guest to carry a policy that covers emergency medical treatment, evacuation, and trip interruption through the entire length of the stay.

The single most important piece of advice in this entire guide is: go through only indianvisaonline. gov.in. There is this big ecosystem of look alike websites and paid search ads , that mimic the official portal look and they charge two to five times the real government fee for the same service. And some of them go further, they collect sensitive passport data without ever actually filing a genuine application for you, like for real. Now sure, there are licensed visa assistance agencies that can help with more complex situations, but you want them to be upfront and transparent about their own service fee, and that fee should sit on top of the government charge , not replace it. When in doubt, just type the official URL directly instead of clicking a search result or a social media ad.

The single most important piece of advice in this entire guide is: go through only indianvisaonline. gov.in. There is this big ecosystem of look alike websites and paid search ads , that mimic the official portal look and they charge two to five times the real government fee for the same service. And some of them go further, they collect sensitive passport data without ever actually filing a genuine application for you, like for real. Now sure, there are licensed visa assistance agencies that can help with more complex situations, but you want them to be upfront and transparent about their own service fee, and that fee should sit on top of the government charge , not replace it. When in doubt, just type the official URL directly instead of clicking a search result or a social media ad.