India is a bright, colorful and attractive country for tourists, where people go for a variety of purposes: some want to bask on the beach and swim in the ocean, others want to do yoga, others want to get acquainted with an ancient and unique culture, and still others go on a business trip. In any case, Russian citizens need a visa to travel to India. According to COUNTRYAAH, India is a country that starts with letter I.
India issues different visas: single, double and multiple visas, allowing an unlimited number of times to enter and leave the country until the validity of the document expires.
The easiest way to apply for an e-visa is online: permission will be sent to your e-mail, to visit the country you only need to print it out. But you can also use the traditional way: personally submit documents to the consulate or visa center.
India Tourist Visa: General Information
| Do they give multivisa? | give for 2 months and 2 entries |
| Term of receipt | from 4 working days |
| Validity limit | 6 months at the time of entry |
- The cost of a regular visa: 2600R
- Express visa: 7800R
- Visa fees: 237R
Visa types
India issues the following types of visas:
- tourist – it is it that travelers most often draw up;
- transit – for those who plan to make a transplant in India; issued for a period of 24 to 72 hours, in practice it is very rare;
- business – for those who travel for work or business purposes;
- working – for those who have concluded a work contract with an Indian company and have an employment contract in their hands;
- student – for studying at the universities of the country;
- medical – for treatment or examination in India;
To obtain each type of document, confirmation of the purpose of the trip is required, for example, for medical purposes – a document from the clinic on the need for treatment, for students – a certificate of enrollment in studies, etc.
A tourist visa can be issued online (stay in the country will be 2 months) or in person at the embassy (you can come for a longer period). In addition, an electronic visa can be obtained only twice per calendar year – from January to December, and a regular one can be issued immediately upon returning to your homeland.
Visa to India on arrival
There is information on the net that India issues visas upon arrival to tourists. This is not entirely true: in the traditional sense, there is no such visa in India. Every traveler needs an entry permit issued through the official Indian e-visa website. That is, we are talking about an electronic visa, which can be obtained even 4 days before the trip.
In order to apply for a permit, you need to fill out a form at the office. Indian e-visa website (in English), attaching a scan of the first page of the passport and a photo. In addition, you will need to pay a consular fee (you can make a transfer from a bank card). Within 4 days, a document will be sent to your e-mail, you must print it and take it with you to cross the border.
Applying for a visa online
The official name of the Indian e-visa is Indian e-visa. The purpose of the trip in this case can only be tourism, treatment or a business visit.
An application for an online visa must be submitted between 120 and 4 days before the date of entry. The permit is issued for two months of stay in India and allows two visits to the country (three for treatment); corridor of entry – 120 days. The validity of a visa begins at the time of the first entry into the country, in contrast to a regular visa, the validity of which begins from the moment of receipt. This means that a tourist who received their visa in the mail on August 1 can enter the country between August 1 and December 1 and stay there for as many days as specified in the visa.
Travelers who have issued an electronic visa can only arrive at 24 airports in the country: the largest Delhi, Mumbai, Goa and Jaipur, as well as Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bagdogra, Bangalore, Kalijet, Chennai, Chandigarh, Cochin, Coimbatore, Gaya, Guwahatti, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangalore, Nagpur, Pune, Tiruchirapalli, Trivandrum and Varanasi. In addition, you can use the three seaports – Cochin, Goa, Mangalore.
The restrictions are related to the fact that only these points of entry have equipment for taking biometric data, including fingerprints, which are carried out by a border control officer.
In India, there are territories with limited access – Sikkim, Andaman, some lands in Ladakh, where you need to obtain additional permits, the so-called permits. Travelers with e-visas can apply for them in the same way as those with a regular visa.
India e-Visa documents
In order to obtain an e-visa, you must:
- fill in the questionnaire in English at the Indian e-visa website (in English);
- attach a scanned first page of the passport;
- upload a JPEG photo, from 10 KB to 3 MB, the face should be located on a light, preferably white background, in the center of the frame, the expression is neutral, the eyes are open;
- pay the consular fee online;
- receive the document by e-mail and print it.
In addition, upon entry, you need a passport valid for at least six months from the date of entry into the country and two blank pages for stamps on arrival, it is also important to have return tickets and an amount sufficient for travel (50 USD per day per person), an extract will do from a bank account.
e-visa cost
An electronic visa for 30 days from April to June will cost 10 USD, and from July to March – 26 USD. An annual visa costs 40 USD, a five- year visa costs 80 USD. The prices on the page are for October 2022.
Applying for a regular visa to India
The second type of visa is a regular, paper one, which is pasted into the passport. It is issued in the official visa centers of India, which are in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Residents of St. Petersburg, Leningrad, Pskov, Vologda, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Novgorod regions, as well as Karelia and the Komi Republic can apply to the representative office of the Northern capital. Residents of all other regions must visit the visa application center in Moscow.
Indian visa documents
Required documents for obtaining a tourist visa:
- international passport
Valid for six months at the time of submission, with two blank pages;
- Copy of international passport
Need a first page
- Questionnaire
Completed in English, the form can be found on the official website of the India Visa Application Centre;
- Photo
Color photograph on a white background 3.5×4.5 cm, the applicant’s face should be in the center and occupy about 75% of the image area;
- Copy of tickets
A photocopy of air tickets or round-trip reservations;
- Copy of hotel reservation
Hotel reservation or notarized invitation;
- Copy of internal passport
A copy of the Russian passport – pages with a photo and registration;
All documents must have notarized copies and be translated into English.
In order to submit documents, you must pre-register, you can do this at the office. India Visa Application Center website.
The cost of a regular visa to India depends on the duration of its validity, the number of entries allowed, the nationality of the traveler, the purpose of the trip and the place where the document was issued. There is a special calculator for its calculation.
Applying for a visa for children
Minor citizens of Russia can receive both regular and electronic visas, provided that they have their own passport. Children entered in the parent’s document apply only for a regular, paper visa.
To apply for a travel permit for children, the following papers are required (in addition to the standard set):
- birth certificate and its notarized copy;
- consent from the second parent to the departure of the child (or from both parents, if the minor is traveling with third parties) – children cannot travel unaccompanied;
- a copy of the passport of the parent who gave consent.
If mom or dad is raising a child alone, then you must provide a notarized certificate of absence of the second parent, with a translation into English.
