India e-Visa Guide for US Passport Holders (2026)

The India e-visa is the simplest way for most US citizens to get permission to visit India. US passport holders need a visa for India. For a tourist trip, the usual choice is the e-Tourist visa, which you apply for online at the government portal, indianvisaonline.gov.in. As of October 2026 it comes in three versions: 30 days, 1 year and 5 years. Official guidance names one refusal cause: choosing the wrong visa category. Visa-service companies commonly add a name that doesn't match the passport and a poor photo.

Fees changed during 2026, and the government is still adding airports where e-visa holders can arrive. Fees below are as of October 2026, and the entry-point count is as of August 2026. Some specs below couldn't be confirmed on a current official page and are marked as such. Re-check the official portal before you pay, and watch our travel news for fee and airport-list changes.

Use only the official site

The only Government of India e-visa site is indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa. The application page is /evisa/tvoa.html. Indian embassies and consulates do not process e-visas.

The Embassy of India in Washington warns applicants not to use "any other website which may appear to represent the Government of India." Indian missions elsewhere repeat the same warning about unauthorized third-party sites. Type the official address, indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html, yourself and avoid sponsored search results.

If you need help, the official support email addresses are indian-evisa@gov.in and support-indian-evisa@gov.in. The helplines are +91 82 7808 7808 and +91 11 24300666. These are Indian numbers, so expect international calling rates.

India e-visa types, fees and validity for US citizens

An ETA (electronic travel authorization) is the approval email you receive when India grants your e-visa. When the visa's validity starts depends on which version you hold. The 30-day visa runs from the day you arrive in India. The 1-year and 5-year visas run from the day the ETA is granted, whether or not you have traveled yet.

Visa	Fee for US nationals (Oct 2026)	Entries	Valid for	Longest single stay
30-day e-Tourist	$25 for arrivals July–March; $10 for arrivals April–June	Two	30 days from arrival	30 days
1-year e-Tourist	$40 (reduced from $80)	Multiple	365 days from ETA grant	Up to 180 days, per Indian mission pages
5-year e-Tourist	$80	Multiple	5 years from ETA grant	Up to 180 days, per Indian mission pages

The table leaves out a few points:

The 180-day stay is reported for US citizens. Indian mission pages say most nationalities can stay up to 90 days per visit. They say nationals of the USA, UK, Canada and Japan can stay up to 180 days. This matters only on the 1-year and 5-year visas, because the 30-day visa expires 30 days after you land.
The US State Department gives different wording. Its India page still describes the e-Tourist visa as "for short stays under 60 days." That wording looks outdated next to the Indian government's own pages, but the two sources do disagree. If you plan to stay longer than 60 days, check the stay limit on the portal before you finalize your plans. Look at the details for the specific visa you're buying, and keep a copy of what it says.
The 30-day visa can't be extended or converted. If your trip might run past 30 days, buy a longer visa from the start.
The fee cuts are recent. The embassy announced the reduced 1-year fee and the low-season 30-day fee in 2026, but its press release didn't give an effective date. Check the fee shown on the portal before you pay.
There may be a cap of two visits per year. Older official guidance limited e-Tourist visits to two per calendar year. Current pages don't make clear whether this still applies to the multiple-entry versions. If you plan three or more trips in a year, ask the official helpline first.

Choosing between them: the 30-day visa allows two entries, but both must fall within 30 days of your first arrival, and the second entry must also come through a designated e-visa entry point. Choose the 1-year visa if your stay might run past 30 days, if you'll need more than two entries, or if your trips are spread over several months. In high season it costs $15 more than the 30-day visa.

At current fees, one 5-year visa ($80) costs the same as two 1-year visas ($40 each). So if you'll be back more than a year after your first trip, the two options break even on the visa fee. The 5-year visa only comes out cheaper if you'd otherwise buy three or more 1-year visas, plus a little on the 2.5% charge you'd pay on each separate purchase. Otherwise, choose it for the convenience of applying once.

What you'll actually pay: a 2.5% bank transaction charge is added on top of the visa fee. Approximate totals, per person:

Visa	Visa fee	Approximate total with 2.5% charge
30-day, July–March arrival	$25	about $25.63
30-day, April–June arrival	$10	about $10.25
1-year	$40	about $41.00
5-year	$80	about $82.00

Fees paid are non-refundable, even if your application is refused.

Other e-visa types

If tourism isn't your main purpose, choose the category that matches it:

e-Business: valid 1 year from ETA grant, multiple entry, stays up to 180 days per visit. If you stay longer than 180 days, you must register within two weeks with the FRRO/FRO, India's foreigners' registration offices.
e-Medical: for medical treatment, including Indian systems of medicine. It allows three entries. It can sometimes be extended up to six months through the FRRO/FRO, decided case by case.
e-Conference: single entry, valid 30 days from arrival. The conference organizer must upload documents at conference.mha.gov.in.

We couldn't read the US fees for these categories on the official fee page when we checked. Look them up at indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/VisaFee.html before applying.

If your trip mixes purposes, such as a holiday plus business meetings, official guidance says to declare all of them in one application and include supporting documents for each.

Timing, documents and photos

When to apply: at least 4 days before you arrive, and no more than 120 days before. Decisions normally come within 72 hours, but don't plan around the minimum. Applying two to three weeks ahead gives you time to fix a problem. Older official pages also describe a 30-day window in which you must arrive after approval on the 30-day visa. It's unclear whether that still applies, so check on the portal whether an arrival window applies to your visa.

Passport: it must be valid for at least six months from your arrival date in India, and it needs at least two blank pages. Our documents tool has a passport validity checker that does the date arithmetic for you. It also has an entry-requirements lookup by nationality and destination, with links to official sources. See also our guide to the six-month passport rule.

Photo: recent, facing the camera, on a plain white or light background, with no borders or shadows. It must be a JPEG between 10 KB and 1 MB. The portal reportedly requires a square crop (equal height and width), so check the upload instructions before you take the picture.

Passport scan: the photo page, saved as a PDF between 10 KB and 300 KB.

New passport after approval? You can still enter India on the e-visa, but carry your old passport as well.

How to apply, step by step

Go to the official form at indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html. Choose the e-visa category that matches your purpose.
Fill in your details exactly as they appear in your passport. This includes middle names, date of birth and passport number. Give a hotel or host address and phone number in India as your reference.
Upload your photo and passport scan in the formats described above.
Pay the visa fee plus the 2.5% bank charge online. Remember that the fee is non-refundable.
Wait for the ETA email. Decisions normally arrive within 72 hours.
Print the ETA and carry it with your passport. Bring your old passport too if you've renewed since approval.
Fly into a designated e-visa entry point. At the designated airports, e-visa holders are typically processed at dedicated e-visa immigration counters. Signage and practice vary by airport, so ask staff if you can't see the right line. Immigration takes your fingerprints and photo on arrival, and this is mandatory.

Where you can enter, and where you can't

An e-visa is valid only at designated entry points. A visa-news summary of a Bureau of Immigration update reported 85 entry points as of August 2026: 36 airports, 38 seaports and 11 land border crossings. Confirm the current list at boi.gov.in before you book flights.

The major airports on the list include:

Delhi, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai
Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata
Cochin and both Goa airports (Dabolim and Mopa)
Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Pune, Trivandrum, Amritsar, Varanasi and Guwahati
Tirupati and Bhopal, both added in 2026

If you're pricing flights, the "Cheapest dates" mode in our trip planner shows the cheapest recent fares on a route by month or by day. These are recent cached prices, not live quotes. If you connect onward inside India after landing, see our guide to the Delhi T1 to T3 transfer.

You can leave India through any authorized immigration checkpoint, not only the listed entry points. Arriving overland, for example from Nepal or Bhutan, is different. The State Department notes that e-visas are valid only at designated airports, seaports and selected land border crossings. Check that your specific crossing accepts e-visas.

The e-visa is not valid for protected, restricted or cantonment (military) areas. If your itinerary includes any of these, check what permission you need well before you travel.

Who can't use the e-visa

These people are not eligible, according to official sources:

Holders of Pakistani passports, and people of Pakistani origin (including through a parent or grandparent). They must apply for a regular visa at an Indian mission.
Holders of diplomatic or official passports.
Holders of a laissez-passer or an "International Travel Document."
People endorsed on a parent's or spouse's passport. Each traveler needs their own individual passport.

Common reasons the India e-visa is rejected

This cause comes from official guidance:

Wrong category. Using an e-Tourist visa for paid work or a conference can lead to refusal.

Visa-service companies commonly report the causes below. They aren't official statistics:

Your name not matching the passport exactly. Middle names are a frequent source of mismatches. Typos in your date of birth or passport number cause the same problem.
A non-compliant photo. Selfies, off-white backgrounds and non-JPEG files are the usual culprits.
Blurry or cropped passport scans.
Incomplete or wrong "reference in India" details. This means the hotel or host's address and phone number.
Undisclosed history. Previous overstays, visa violations, or criminal records that aren't declared count against you. Fraudulent applications can reportedly lead to an entry ban of up to 10 years.

If you're rejected:

Visa-service sites describe the application status changing to "Rejected" on the portal. Our sources don't say whether the reason is given, so don't count on one.
Check your application against the causes above, and fix the problem before you reapply.
Expect to pay again. The fee is non-refundable, so a new application means a new fee.
If the e-visa route keeps failing, or you're ineligible, apply for a regular paper visa through VFS Global.

When the e-visa isn't the right route

Regular (paper) visa: handled for US applicants by VFS Global. You pay a $3 Indian Community Welfare Fund fee plus the VFS service charge. VFS opened additional centers in Seattle and Bellevue in August 2026. According to the State Department, a regular tourist visa for US citizens is valid for 10 years.
OCI card: Overseas Citizens of India don't need a visa.
Visa on arrival: not available to Americans. It covers only nationals of Japan and South Korea, plus UAE nationals who have previously held an Indian e-visa or paper visa.

Frequently asked questions

How long can a US citizen stay in India on an e-Tourist visa?

Up to 180 days per visit on the 1-year or 5-year visa, according to Indian mission pages, and 30 days from arrival on the 30-day visa. The US State Department's older wording differs, so see the notes under the fee table before planning anything longer than 60 days.

When does my e-visa's validity start?

The 30-day visa runs for 30 days from the day you arrive. The 1-year and 5-year visas run from the date the ETA is granted, not from your first trip.

Which airports accept the India e-visa?

As of August 2026, 36 airports were reported as e-visa entry points. These include Delhi, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Cochin, both Goa airports, and newer additions Tirupati and Bhopal. Confirm the current list at boi.gov.in before you book.

Can I get my e-visa fee back if I'm rejected?

No. Fees paid are non-refundable, even if your visa is refused.

Do I need to print my e-visa?

Yes. Print the ETA email and carry it with your passport. If you've renewed your passport since the visa was granted, carry the old one as well.