Published 7 years ago, updated 6 years ago

The best advice is to use the official Indian Government website – https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa

The Government advises not to use an agent or intermediary which promises, for an extra fee, a ‘fast-track’ service. It also advises not to share your personal information with any unauthorised website.

It is possible to apply for your visa with as little as 4 days before you plan to arrive. The visa must be used within 6 months of issue and is valid for 60 days from the date of arrival in India. Double entry is permitted on the e-Tourist visa.

The fee charged depends on the nationality of the applicant. Most are charged US$50, while some are free. Others, including UK and USA citizens, are charged US$75. There is an additional 2.5% bank transaction fee.

The E-Visa is valid for entry through 25 designated Airports (i.e. Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bagdogra, Bengaluru, Calicut, Chennai, Chandigarh, Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi, Gaya, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Tiruchirapalli, Trivandrum ,Varanasi & Vishakhapatnam).

The E-visa is also valid for entry through 3 designated seaports (i.e. Cochin, Goa, Mangalore). Cochin is probably the most useful Port of Entry for cruising boats.

Visitors can leave the country from any of the authorised Immigration Check Posts (ICPs) in India.

First-Hand Report

From Anthony of SV Wild Fox 

Who secured an E-Visa for Cochin in December 2017

For those interested, I have just applied for and been granted an Indian Evisa for Kochi. You can also get visas for Goa and Mangalore but Kochi will probably be of most interest to cruisers.

The application is reasonably straightforward and took less than 20 minutes to complete. There is the odd glitch – for example, it asks for a port of entry and you get a drop-down box. The choice of interest to me was Kochi Seaport; there was also Kochi Airport listed. Next question is a port of embarkation; another drop-down menu. This time Kochi Airport is listed, but no Kochi Seaport. So I ticked Airport. When leaving I may then have to take my boat as hand luggage on the plane!

The approval took six days with another two days for the printable visa, complete with photo, to arrive. You get 60 days from the date of arrival and extensions are nigh on impossible. You can apply four months in advance. The total cost was 8,950 Rupees or about 105 pounds Sterling (note that Anthony applied via an Agent website, therefore, the cost was higher).

Before going online make sure you have the following available for upload:-

Passport photograph

Clear copy of your passport

Credit card details

The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of noonsite.com or the World Cruising Club