India : The e-Visa will be liberalised again in the coming days

The very popular electronic visa for India is (still) evolving. In the spirit of the times in recent months, the Indian e-Visa will very soon be more open and will offer tourists and business travellers more flexibility for their travel.

Indeed and as announced by the Indian authorities of New Zealand on their social networks (at the bottom of the article), the electronic visa will, in the coming days, be valid for a period of 1 year and will allow multiple entries to be made on Indian soil. Currently, the e-Visa is valid for 120 days, upon approval, to complete 60 days of stay with one possible entry with an e-Conference Visa, two entries for e-Tourist Visa and e-Business Visa and three entries for e-Medical Visa and e-Medical Attendant Visa.

The authorised stay per entry will be 90 days for tourists (e-Tourist Visa) and 180 days for professionals (e-Business Visa) without any obligation to register with the FRRO (Foreigners Regional Registration Office). Visa e-Business holders who intend to stay more than 180 days, per entry or during the calendar year, must, however, register within two weeks of the expiry of the 180-day period.

Launched in 2014 for 43 eligible countries, the e-Visa is now available to 166 nationalities, can be claimed 3 times per calendar year and allows arrival in India at 28 airports* and 5 seaports**. For French citizens, the cost of the e-Visa is US$80 (approximately €70.00 excluding additional bank charges of 2.5% depending on the payment method chosen). A downward revision of these fees is still under discussion with the Indian authorities.

According to official figures, more than 2 million (2,061,511) foreign tourists arrived in India between January and November 2018 on presentation of an e-Visa compared to 1.4 million (1,456,615) for the same period in 2017, recording a 41.5% growth, including a high participation of French travellers.