Planning Guides9 min readUpdated October 17, 2026
Every US citizen needs a visa to enter India — there is no visa-free or visa-on-arrival provision for Americans. The overwhelming majority of leisure travelers use the e-Tourist Visa: an entirely online process that, done correctly, takes twenty minutes of form-filling and is typically approved within a few business days.
The single most important sentence on this page: apply only through the official government portal, indianvisaonline.gov.in. The internet is thick with convincing lookalike sites that charge multiples of the official fee for the same — or for no — service. Search results for this subject are dominated by them. Bookmark the official address and type it yourself.
What it costs
The e-Tourist Visa fee depends on which validity you choose and, for the shortest one, on when you travel. These are the official figures for US passport holders, from the government's own country-wise fee schedule.
| Validity | Fee (US$) | Entries | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days, April–June | $10 | Multiple | The low-season rate on the shortest visa |
| 30 days, July–March | $25 | Multiple | The standard 30-day rate |
| 1 year | $40 | Multiple | Valid 365 days from the date the authorization is granted |
| 5 years | $160 | Multiple | Valid five years from the date the authorization is granted |
Official fees from indianvisaonline.gov.in, schedule dated 8 September 2026. A bank transaction charge of 3% is added on top (4% if paying through PayPal). The fee is non-refundable — it pays for processing the application, not for the outcome. Verify the current figure on the portal before paying; these do change.
The April-to-June discount on the 30-day visa is real and almost nobody mentions it. It is also the one window in which we would not advise most travelers to come: that is peak Indian summer in the north. Treat it as a curiosity rather than a reason.
If a site quotes you $80, $150 or $300 for an e-Tourist Visa, you are on an intermediary, not the government. Some of them do file the application. Many do not.
How long it lasts, and how long you may stay
Validity and permitted stay are two different things, and conflating them is the most common misunderstanding we encounter. The validity is how long the visa itself remains usable; the permitted stay is how long you may remain in the country on any one trip.
| Visa | Validity runs from | Maximum stay |
|---|---|---|
| 30-day e-Tourist | Date of arrival in India | 30 days |
| 1-year e-Tourist | Date the authorization is granted | 180 days per calendar year |
| 5-year e-Tourist | Date the authorization is granted | 180 days per calendar year |
The 180-day allowance applies to US, UK, Canadian and Japanese passport holders; nationals of most other countries are limited to 90 days per visit on the same visas. The e-Tourist Visa is non-extendable and cannot be converted into another visa category once you are in India.
Note what the one-year and five-year visas measure from: the grant date, not your arrival. A five-year visa issued in January and first used in November has already spent ten months of its life. For a single journey this is irrelevant. For anyone who expects to return — and a surprising number of our travelers do — it is worth applying close to the first trip rather than far ahead of it.
What you upload, and the file specifications that trip people up
The application itself is a questionnaire. The rejections come from the attachments, and almost always from the photograph, because the portal's requirements are stricter than a passport photo booth's.
The e-Tourist Visa upload checklist
- A recent photograph, front-facing, on a plain light or white background — JPEG format, between 10 KB and 1 MB, and square: equal height and width. This last requirement is the one that fails. A standard passport photo is not square.
- The biographical page of your passport as a PDF, between 10 KB and 300 KB.
- A passport with at least six months' validity remaining at the time of application, and at least two blank pages for stamping.
- The passport you apply with must be the passport you travel on. A renewal between application and departure invalidates the authorization.
- Every document other than the photograph must be in English.
For a minor traveling with you, the passport must be valid for at least six months from the date of arrival in India, which is a slightly different test from the adult requirement.
When to apply
The official rules set both a floor and a ceiling, and most people only know about one of them.
| Rule | What it means |
|---|---|
| Earliest | 120 days before your date of arrival |
| Latest | 4 days before your date of arrival |
| Payment | The fee must also be paid at least 4 days before travel, or the application is not processed |
Where the e-visa lets you land
The e-Tourist Visa admits you through a designated list of airports and seaports — every major international gateway a leisure traveler would use is on it: Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Jaipur, Goa, Varanasi, Amritsar and Ahmedabad among them.
One honest caveat about the official page itself: it states the number inconsistently. The checkpost section lists thirty-seven airports; the FAQ on the same page says thirty-three. The seaport count differs between the two sections as well, and the page contradicts itself on whether land crossings are permitted at all — the checkpost list names twelve land ports while the FAQ says entry is by air and sea only. If your itinerary depends on a smaller airport or on entering overland, confirm it with the portal or the embassy rather than with any list, ours included.
That matters most for one specific journey. If you are combining India with Nepal — as many of our travelers do — and returning overland rather than by air, check the crossing before you rely on it. Flying Kathmandu–Delhi avoids the question entirely, and a multiple-entry visa covers the return leg.
A handful of sensitive regions — parts of the Northeast, Ladakh's restricted valleys — layer special permits on top of the visa. If your journey goes there, we arrange them.
What actually causes a rejection
There is no published rejection-reason breakdown, so treat this as what the requirements imply rather than as statistics. In our own experience the same handful of causes account for nearly all of it.
The avoidable failures
- A photograph that is not square, is too large or too small, or has a patterned or shadowed background.
- A passport with less than six months' validity at the time of application — not at the time of travel.
- A name entered differently from the passport. It must match the machine-readable zone exactly, including middle names and hyphens.
- Applying fewer than four days before travel, or paying the fee inside that window.
- Filing through a lookalike site that takes the money and never reaches the government portal.
- Applying on one passport and traveling on another after a renewal.
A rejected e-visa is not a bar on India. You reapply, or you apply for a regular paper visa through the consulate, which is slower but not difficult. The one thing you cannot do is fix it at the airport — the airline checks the authorization at check-in and will not board you without one.
And for the meticulous: the rules genuinely do change periodically. Verify current requirements on the official portal or with the Indian embassy before you rely on any page — including this one. Everything here was checked against the government's own pages on 17 October 2026.
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Begin Your Private EnquiryQuestions, Answered
Do US citizens need a visa for India?
Yes — all US passport holders need a visa before travel. There is no visa-free entry and no visa on arrival for Americans. Most tourists use the e-Tourist Visa, applied for online at the official portal indianvisaonline.gov.in and delivered by email as an Electronic Travel Authorization.
How much does the India e-visa cost for US citizens?
The official e-Tourist Visa fee for US passport holders is $25 for the 30-day visa from July to March, $10 for the 30-day visa from April to June, $40 for the one-year visa and $160 for the five-year visa. A 3% bank transaction charge is added on top, or 4% through PayPal. The fee is non-refundable. Third-party sites charge several times this for the same application.
How long does the India e-visa take to be approved?
Usually two to four business days. The official rule is to apply at least four days before arrival, and the fee must be paid inside that window too. Applying about a month ahead removes all stress and leaves room to resubmit if the photograph fails validation. Rush cases sometimes clear in 24 hours, but never count on it.
How long can a US citizen stay in India on an e-visa?
Thirty days on the 30-day visa. On the one-year and five-year e-Tourist Visas, US, UK, Canadian and Japanese passport holders may stay up to 180 days per calendar year; nationals of most other countries are limited to 90 days per visit. The e-Tourist Visa cannot be extended or converted once you are in India.
What are the passport requirements for an India visa?
At least six months' validity remaining at the time of application, and at least two blank pages for stamping. The passport you apply with must be the passport you travel on — if you renew between applying and flying, the authorization no longer matches and you must reapply.
What photo does the India e-visa require?
A recent front-facing photograph on a plain light or white background, supplied as a JPEG between 10 KB and 1 MB, with equal height and width. The square requirement is the one most applications fail, because a standard passport photo is not square. The passport biographical page is uploaded separately as a PDF between 10 KB and 300 KB.
How far in advance can I apply for the India e-visa?
Up to 120 days before your date of arrival, and no later than four days before it. Note that the one-year and five-year visas run from the date the authorization is granted rather than from your arrival, so applying many months early spends validity you have not used.
Can I visit Nepal and return to India on one visa?
Yes — the e-Tourist Visa is multiple-entry in all its validities, so an India–Nepal–India loop is covered. The caution is the crossing rather than the visa: the official portal is inconsistent about whether e-visa holders may enter overland, so if you plan to return by land rather than fly, confirm the specific crossing with the portal or the embassy first.
Which airports accept the India e-visa?
Every major international gateway — Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Jaipur, Goa, Varanasi, Amritsar and Ahmedabad among them. The government's own page states the total inconsistently, listing thirty-seven airports in one section and thirty-three in another, so if your itinerary depends on a smaller airport, confirm it on the portal before booking.
What happens if my India e-visa is rejected?
You can reapply, or apply for a regular paper visa through the Indian consulate, which takes longer but is not difficult. The fee is not refunded either way. What you cannot do is resolve it at the airport — the airline checks the authorization at check-in and will not board you without one.
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