We’re supposed to be in India now. For months, we had planned to go on a backpacking trip from Nepal to India to Sri Lanka. We had almost everything taken care of including our hotels and an India visa. But something personal came up so we had to cancel the whole thing. I’m still a little bit bummed, but I guess some things are really just out of our control.
The good news is because I have tried applying for an India visa, I can now write about the experience. I was actually quite surprised to learn that we needed a pre-issued visa to enter India. Filipinos used to be able to avail of visa-on-arrival, but that had been discontinued a couple of years ago.
Today, Philippine nationals visiting India may apply for an e-Tourist visa, e-Business Visa, or e-Medical visa. In this post, we’ll be focusing on the e-Tourist Visa only. It’s actually pretty easy. I finished my application in an hour and got my visa the next day. Here’s how to do it.
Indian Visa Requirements:
But first, here are the requirements.
It’s the shortest list of requirements for a visa application that I’ve seen. Basically, before you apply online, you must have the following:
ü Scanned copy of your passport’s bio page.
ü Recent photo. Front facing and against a white background.
ü Fee, you can pay via credit card or PayPal.
Indian Visa Application Process:
Make Sure You Are Eligible for an E-visa
ü Apply for an e-visa if at least 4 days in advance of the arrival date with a window of 120 days. The Embassy site gives this example: If you are applying on September 1 then you can select arrival date from September 5 to January 2.
ü Your sole objective in India is recreation (tour, sightseeing), visit friends or relatives, or casual business visit.
ü Your passport must have at least 6 months validity from your arrival date. It must also have at least two blank pages.
ü You must have a return ticket or an onward journey ticket and enough money to spend during your stay.
ü Apply for an e-visa only if you’re entering India via any of the following airports because these are the only ones that would accept it.
Complete the Requirements:
I enumerated the requirements above, but just in case you missed it, here’s the list again.
It’s the shortest list of requirements for a visa application that I’ve seen. Haha. Basically, before you apply online, you must have the following:
ü Scanned copy of your passport’s bio page.
ü Recent photo. Front facing and against a white background.
ü Fee, you can pay via credit card or PayPal.
In addition, you should also have the following details of your trip because you will be asked for these during the online application:
ü Travel Dates
ü Airport of entry
ü Hotel Address and Contact Number
That’s it. Now all you need to do is apply and pay online.
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