India Visa for US Citizens: e-Visa Fees, Rules, Processing

India Visa Rules at a Glance

The table below summarizes the whole framework for a US passport holder. Anything marked with a fee was last verified in October 2026 against Indian government publications — always confirm the figure the portal displays at payment, because India reviews e-Visa fees periodically and adds a bank transaction charge.

e-Visa Categories, Validity and Stay

India's e-Visa system is not one visa — it is a family of categories, each with its own validity, entry count and permitted activities. The official portal now lists nine e-sub-categories in total, but the three that cover almost every US traveler are the e-Tourist visa, the e-Business visa and the e-Medical visa. Choosing the wrong one is a classic rejection cause: business meetings on an e-Tourist visa, or medical treatment on an e-Business visa, are both category violations. Foreigners may club activities permitted under different categories (except e-Conference, which can only be clubbed with e-Tourist), so a mixed trip is usually possible if you declare it correctly on the form.

Two details trip people up. First, the 30-day e-Tourist visa is double-entry, so a side trip to Nepal or Sri Lanka and back is fine, but a third crossing is not. Second, on the 1-year and 5-year e-Tourist visas the 180-day cap is per calendar year, not per visit — the portal's own FAQ is explicit that maximum stay in India during one calendar year should not exceed 180 days. Business travelers on the e-Business visa get a separate 180-day allowance for each visit within the 365-day validity.

The e-Medical route is designed for treatment at registered hospitals: you upload the hospital's invitation, and up to two e-Medical Attendant visas are granted for companions against one e-Medical visa. If your treatment will run longer than the medical validity allows, plan the exit and re-entry, because the e-Visa cannot be extended or converted in India.

Official e-Visa Fees for US Citizens

India sets e-Visa fees by country on a reciprocal basis, and the figures below are the ones published for United States of America passport holders. All fees were last verified in October 2026 against the Consulate General of India's e-Visa page and the official country-wise e-Visa fee schedule on indianvisaonline.gov.in. Bank transaction charges of roughly 2.5–3% are added on top at payment, and the fee is non-refundable — it pays for processing whether the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) is granted or refused.

Pay with a card directly on the Government of India portal. If your payment is debited but the status does not update, wait two hours before re-applying — the portal says status syncing can take up to two hours, and paying twice is not refunded. Never use an intermediary website that charges a markup: the Embassy's own advisory warns that e-Visa applications require no facilitation by any agent, and only indianvisaonline.gov.in is the Government of India address. A 24×7 helpline (+91-11-24300666) and the email indiatvoa@gov.in handle queries.

How to Apply on indianvisaonline.gov.in

The whole process is online, takes the portal's own estimate of 10–15 minutes to complete, and requires no consulate visit, no mailing of your passport and no biometrics at application. Steps in order:

1. Start at the official portal. Go to indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa and click Apply for e-Visa. Check the URL character by character — clone sites are the single biggest source of overpayment.
2. Pick the exact category and sub-category. e-Tourist (30-day, 1-year, 5-year), e-Business or e-Medical, plus your expected date of arrival. The system only lets you apply a minimum of 4 days in advance; for e-Medical, e-Medical Attendant and e-Conference the arrival date must fall in a 120-day window from your application date.
3. Fill the form with passport-exact details. Name, date of birth, passport number and nationality must match your passport character for character. A mismatch at immigration is a refusal waiting to happen.
4. Upload the photograph and passport page. A 2×2 inch front-facing photo on white background (JPEG, under 1 MB) and a clear scan of the passport bio page within the size limit shown on the upload screen. Add the category-specific document — for e-Business that includes the invitation or business card in English.
5. Pay the fee. Card payment only, with the bank charge added. Save the PDF confirmation and the application ID.
6. Wait for the ETA and check its status. Processing averages about 4 days. Before you fly, return to the portal and confirm the status reads GRANTED, then print or save a copy of the ETA to carry with you.

Entry is allowed on a new passport even if the ETA was issued on the old one — but only if you carry the old passport too. And you must travel on the passport you applied with whenever possible; the portal asks you to.

Photo Rules, Biometrics and Processing Time

Photograph. India is unusually strict about image specifications, and a non-compliant photo is one of the most frequent rejection triggers. The rules: recent, front-facing, white background, 2 inches by 2 inches (51 × 51 mm), in JPEG format and under 1 MB. No caps, sunglasses or heavy glare; the face should be squarely in frame. The passport photo-page scan must also be sharp and legible within the portal's stated size limit (the portal accepts a PDF scan in the region of 300 KB — follow the on-screen limit).

Biometrics. The official e-Visa guidelines state that biometric details of the applicant will be mandatorily captured at Immigration on arrival in India. There is nothing to do in advance: you clear immigration, an officer takes your fingerprints and photograph, and the stamp goes in. First-time e-Visa arrivals at Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru typically add a few minutes for this step compared with a sticker visa lane.

Processing time. Indian missions publish an average of about 4 days for e-Visa issuance, versus roughly 7 working days for a regular paper visa. Peak season (October–February) and festival periods stretch this, so the working rule is: apply at least a week, ideally two to three weeks, before departure and never later than the 4-day legal minimum. Payment confirmation itself can lag up to two hours, and a rejected upload costs you the entire cycle because the fee is non-refundable.

Designated Entry Ports and Arrival

An e-Visa is only valid for entry at designated immigration check posts — you cannot land at a non-designated airport, cross at a random land border or dock at a small cruise pier and expect the visa to work. The portal's own FAQ names 33 designated airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Goa (Dabolim and Mopa), Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Nagpur, Pune, Coimbatore, Bagdogra, Gaya, Port Blair, Bhopal and Tirupati, plus a growing list of designated seaports for cruise passengers. The Ministry of Home Affairs has expanded the list repeatedly through 2026 — including additional airports and land crossings — so verify your exact arrival point on the portal's port-of-entry page before booking. Departure is flexible: you may exit from any authorised immigration check post in India.

At the airport, follow the e-Visa / foreigner counters with your passport and printed ETA ready. The officer verifies the authorization, collects biometrics and stamps your permitted stay. Have a return or onward ticket and enough funds for your visit — the official guidance asks international travelers to carry both — and if you are arriving from or transiting a Yellow Fever risk country, bring the vaccination card or you can be quarantined.

Extensions, FRRO Registration and Overstays

Here the rule is blunt: the e-Visa is non-extendable and non-convertible. You cannot swap an e-Tourist for a longer permission, cannot convert it to a student or work status, and cannot renew it from inside India. Needing more time means leaving before the permitted-until date and applying again — and Indian immigration charges overstays heavily, with daily penalties and the possibility of detention or a future refusal.

One registration rule does apply to longer stays: foreigners on visas of more than 180 days (student, medical, employment) must register with the FRRO/FRO within 14 days of arrival, and business visa holders — including e-Business holders whose stay crosses the 180-day mark — are expected to register as well under the consulate's visa guidelines. Short e-Tourist trips never require registration. If you plan a long medical treatment or extended business project, confirm the registration threshold with the FRRO before you fly, and remember that Protected/Restricted areas need separate permission whatever visa you hold.

Document Checklist

Gather these before you open the application — the form times out and uploads fail more often than people expect. Our free visa document checklist and passport validity checker cover the universal items.

• Passport with at least six months validity from your date of arrival in India and at least two blank pages for stamping.
• Passport bio-page scan — clear, within the portal's size limit, showing name, date of birth, nationality and expiry.
• Photograph — 2×2 in (51×51 mm), white background, front-facing, JPEG under 1 MB.
• Return or onward ticket and an idea of sufficient funds for the trip (the official guidance requires both at travel).
• Category document — e-Business: invitation letter and business card in English; e-Medical: hospital invitation in English.
• Accommodation details — hotel bookings or host's address for the first nights.
• Payment card for the fee plus bank charge, in your own name where possible.
• Printed ETA copy with status GRANTED, plus your old passport if it was reissued after the application.
• Yellow Fever certificate if arriving from or transiting an affected country.

Common Rejections and Mistakes

The fee is non-refundable, so it pays to know how applications fail. These are the patterns Indian missions and the portal itself call out:

• Unclear or off-spec images. The portal states the application is liable to be rejected if the uploaded documents and photograph are not clear or not per specification. Re-scan, do not photograph a screen.
• Documents not in English. Invitation letters, business cards and hospital letters must be in English — otherwise the application is liable for rejection.
• Applying too late. Less than 4 days before arrival is not accepted, and payment must clear at least 4 days before travel.
• Passport-data mismatch. A single flipped digit in the passport number or a name order that differs from the passport page invalidates the ETA at immigration.
• Wrong category. Attending meetings on an e-Tourist visa, or doing tourism on an e-Medical, is a category breach — pick the right sub-category and club activities properly.
• Non-English or missing supporting documents, blurry business cards, or an invitation without clear dates.
• Unofficial websites. Paying an agent's markup does not speed anything up and can lose your money entirely; only the Government of India portal processes e-Visas.
• Ignoring payment status. If the fee was debited but the status shows pending, wait two hours and check Verify Payment before paying again.

Travelers with Pakistani origin or passport, diplomatic/official passport holders, and anyone endorsed on a parent's or spouse's passport cannot use the e-Visa at all and must apply through the mission.

e-Visa vs Regular Sticker Visa

For most US tourists, the e-Visa wins on speed and price. But the two are not interchangeable, and knowing when to use the paper visa saves a ruined trip.

The regular tourist visa for US citizens is issued for up to 10 years with multiple entries at an official fee of US$160 (last verified October 2026), plus the Indian Community Welfare Fund contribution of US$3 and the VFS service charge. If India is a repeat destination for you, that sticker can be cheaper per trip than buying 5-year e-Visas — but the e-Visa remains the fastest route for a single holiday.

Frequently Asked Questions