Applying for a visa can sometimes be quite a challenging task. I experienced this while applying for my own visa for India. Viaia which website do you apply to, what is the right price, and which visa do you choose are some difficult questions whose answers are not very clear always when you apply for the first time. Do you have plans to go to India, but can't quite get around the VISA process? Then keep reading on....
Which visa do you choose?
When you plan to travel to India you can choose between 3 different visas- for 5 years, for 1 year, or an E-Visa for 60 days. You must apply for the first two at the embassy, ​​which means that you must first make an appointment at one of the offices (in Amsterdam, Rotterdam or The Hague). You bring everything you need with you and when your visa is approved, you can pick it up one week later. With the E-visa you arrange everything online. You fill in a form and when everything is in order, you will receive the visa in the mail. I chose the latter option for myself, because I wouldn't stay longer than 60 days and found it quite easy to arrange everything online.
Step-by-step plan for the E-visa
The electronic visa for India is therefore an easy option and if you follow the steps below carefully, you will receive the visa within 2 days.
1. You stay in India for a maximum of 60 days
2. The e-visa is valid for a maximum of two entries and you must enter through one of the airports or seaports equipped with biometric equipment.
!This can be done via the following airports: 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 and the following seaports: Cochin, Goa, Mangalore,Mumbai,Chennai.
3. Because the e-visa is a double entry visa, you can leave India and come back via a land border, so you can combine your trip with Nepal, for example.
4. You are allowed a maximum of 2 e-visas for India per calendar year.
5. You can apply for the visa up to 4 days before arrival.
6. You cannot extend the visa.
7. In the protected and cantonment areas you have no access, more information.
8. You must upload the following documents during your application:
- Scan of your passport (must be valid for atleast 6 months on arrival in India)
- Scan of a recent passport photo with a white background (5 by 5 cm)
9. It is important that you can show the flight ticket with the return date or transit date on arrival in India.
10. Bring your printed e-visa with you and show it along with your passport.
11. Upon arrival at the airport in India, a photo and fingerprints will be taken.
Where do I apply for my e-visa?
The Indian government has a special website, Indian Visa Online, where you can apply for a visa online. This is the cheapest option, and costs around 70 euros, the only problem is that it is only available in English. It is important that you fill in your visa application correctly. With a small mistake, your visa can be refused, or worse you will be refused on arrival in India.
I, therefore, preferred to submit my application in the Netherlands through an organization. There are several available online. Not only your application, but also the information about the validity of the visa can be read here in Dutch. The costs are slightly higher, but the application form takes an average of five minutes and you can pay via iDEAL, bank transfer or PayPal.
If you have any questions after reading this blog, please let us know!