Except for the citizens of neighboring Bhutan and Nepal, all visitors need to acquire Indian visa before they can gain entry to this beautiful country. At present, there is an assessment for Visa on Arrival Facility for tourists coming from Singapore, New Zealand, Luxemburg, Japan and Finland. But if you are from any other nation, you need to have your Indian visa ready before entering India.

Visa Type Requirement for India

A Transit Visa can be obtained by visitors who are going to stay in India for less than 72 hours. If they will be staying for more than 72 hours, and Indian Tourist Visa is required.

Generally, Indian Tourist visas are valid for six months, depending on the nationality of the visa holder. But there are countries issuing Indian Tourist Visas which are good for shorter durations like three months or longer durations like one year. Most Indian visas are multiple entry visas.

If you are a citizen of the United States, you can obtain Indian visas with ten year validity. There are also five year Indian visas available for citizens from 18 countries namely the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, France, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Spain, Finland, New Zealand, Vietnam, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, South Korea and Japan.

Nevertheless, a tourist is not permitted to stay in India for over 180 days (6 months) no matter what the length of his or her Indian Tourist Visa is. In addition, only up to 90 days (3 months) stay at a time is allowed for the above mentioned 5 year tourist visa.

Cost for Indian Tourist Visa

There are varying costs for an Indian Tourist Visa depending on the arrangement between governments of different countries. The cost for a six month Indian Tourist Visa is $70 in the United States, $90 in Australia and £30 the United Kingdom.

For some countries like Mongolia, Jamaica, Argentina, South Africa and Japan, India made special agreements with them allowing lesser cost for an Indian Tourist Visa for their citizens.

How to Apply for an Indian Visa

To make processing for an Indian Tourist Visa more efficient, the Indian Visa application process has been outsourced in many countries to private processing agencies. Travisa Outsourcing is responsible for issuing Indian Visas in the United States. Indian visas are being issued by VSF Global in most other countries including France, Australia, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, China and Thailand.

A person planning to obtain an India visa has two ways of getting an application form, first is obtaining the application form from the Indian embassy in your country and second is by completing an online application form on any of the websites of visa processing agencies.

The requirements for an Indian Tourist Visa include a latest passport size picture, a passport with at least 6 months validity and at least 2 blank pages, details of your itinerary, along with the application fee and duly accomplished application form. Proof of residential address may be a requisite in some countries. There may be a space for Indian referees in the visa application form but completing the section is not usually a requirement for Indian tourist visas.