India e-Visa for US Citizens 2026: Types, Fees, e-Arrival Card and How to Apply

Do US Citizens Need a Visa for India? (2026 Quick Answer)

Yes. The Bureau of Immigration requires a valid passport plus a regular visa, e-Visa or OCI card (or e-OCI), and on 6 July 2026 the US Embassy in New Delhi reminded US citizens they still need the appropriate Indian visa before traveling.

The USA is on the e-Visa portal's eligible list, but Americans get no visa on arrival, which the portal limits to nationals of Japan, South Korea and, with conditions, the UAE. US travelers apply online and wait until the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) is granted.

As of September 2026: an e-Visa covers most tourist, business and medical trips; the longer e-Tourist visas allow US citizens up to 180 days per visit, capped at 180 days per calendar year; and every foreign visitor files a free e-Arrival card before landing.

India e-Visa Types for Americans

As of September 2026, the portal accepts e-Tourist, e-Business, e-Medical, e-Medical Attendant, e-Student, e-Family, e-Transit and e-Miscellaneous applications. Every e-Visa is non-extendable, non-convertible and not valid for Protected or Restricted Areas or cantonments.

e-Tourist

It covers sightseeing, visiting friends and relatives, short yoga programs and informal courses, and unpaid voluntary work of up to one month.

• 30 days: valid for 30 days from your first arrival, which has to fall between the ETA's issue and expiry dates. Official sources disagree on the number of entries, so check the entries shown on your ETA.
• One year: 365 days from the ETA grant date, multiple entries.
• Five years: five years from the ETA grant date, multiple entries.

On one-year and five-year e-Tourist visas, the Bureau of Immigration allows US nationals up to 180 days per visit (most other nationalities get 90) without registration. The catch is an annual cap of 180 days in total on tourist visas per calendar year, so two 100-day visits in one year would exceed it.

e-Business and conferences

The e-Business visa (e-B1 V) runs up to one year from the ETA grant, with multiple entries and up to 180 days per visit; longer stays require FRRO/FRO registration, with the deadline best confirmed at the FRRO. Applicants upload a business card and Indian company details, or the company's invitation letter.

Conferences fall under the e-Business visa (e-B5 V), valid for 30 days from arrival; it requires the organizer's invitation and political clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs, and an MHA event clearance may also be needed.

e-Medical and e-Medical Attendant

Both need a letter from the Indian hospital on its letterhead with the admission date or a tentative one, and also cover Ayush treatment; at most two attendant visas are granted per patient. Official pages disagree on validity, so rely on the validity and entries printed on the ETA, which depend on the sub-type granted.

Fees for US Passport Holders

Official fees for US nationals as of September 2026, from the portal's tables dated 8 September 2026 (e-Tourist) and 15 April 2026 (other e-Visas):

• e-Tourist, 30 days: US$10 (table column April to June) or US$25 (column July to March)
• e-Tourist, one year: US$40
• e-Tourist, five years: US$160
• e-Business: US$140
• e-Medical and e-Medical Attendant: US$100 each

The table does not say which date decides the 30-day column, and conference travel has no separate figure, so check the amount on the portal before paying.

A bank charge of 3% by card or 4% via PayPal, taxes included, comes on top. Payment runs through SBIePay (internationally issued Visa or MasterCard) or PayPal and has to be made at least 4 days before travel; the status can take up to 2 hours to update, so applicants should wait before paying again.

The fee is non-refundable, even if the ETA is rejected or the trip is cancelled, and there is no official express or emergency e-Visa fee or any charge at the airport.

How to Apply on the Official Portal Step by Step

The only official e-Visa website is indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa, and the government says the service is fully online, with no intermediary needed. The Consulate General of India in San Francisco has published a list of fake look-alike sites and asks applicants not to apply anywhere else.

• Step 1: fill in the form (about 10 to 15 minutes with payment) and upload the photo and passport bio page.
• Step 2: pay the fee online.
• Step 3: receive the ETA by email.
• Step 4: print the ETA and show it at the immigration check post, where the e-Visa is stamped in your passport.

Documents need to be in English. An unsuitable photo or document triggers an emailed re-upload request, normally within 24 hours; errors in passport details are the applicant's responsibility.

The Bureau of Immigration in New Delhi processes e-Visas; India's Embassy and consulates in the USA and VFS Global cannot see applications, so queries go to the e-Visa helpdesk (+91-82-7808-7808, [email protected]).

Visarun is a private service, not the Government of India: we help you check which visa fits your trip and prepare the application, and Indian authorities make the decision.

Photo and Passport Scan Requirements

Unclear or off-spec uploads can lead to rejection. The photo needs to be:

• JPEG, 10 KB to 1 MB, square (height equal to width)
• full face, front view, eyes open, no glasses
• head centered, from the top of the hair to the bottom of the chin
• on a plain white or light-colored background, with no shadows and no border

The passport scan is the bio page with your photo and details, as a PDF of 10 KB to 300 KB; business or medical documents use the same limit.

The passport needs at least two blank pages and six months of validity; the portal counts from application and the Embassy of India in Washington from arrival, so we recommend six months beyond arrival. Each traveler, children included, needs their own passport and e-Visa, a return or onward ticket and enough money for the stay.

Processing Time and When to Apply

As of September 2026, the portal publishes no standard e-Visa processing time. It sets a window instead: applications open 120 days before the planned travel date and close 4 days before arrival.

One-year and five-year e-Tourist visas run from the ETA grant date, so applying very early uses up validity before you land; the 30-day visa runs from first arrival. We recommend applying a few weeks ahead rather than at the 4-day minimum, leaving time for any re-upload request.

The decision arrives by email, and the portal's Check your Visa Status tab shows progress. The portal asks travelers to confirm that the ETA shows GRANTED before setting off and to carry a copy.

The e-Arrival Card and Entry at Indian Airports

Since 1 October 2025, every foreign national, OCI cardholders included, is required to complete the e-Arrival card, the digital version of the old paper disembarkation card. It is filed in the 72 hours before arrival at indianvisaonline.gov.in/earrival or in the official Indian Visa Su-Swagatam app.

The card is free and is not a visa, and the Bureau of Immigration says no agent is authorized to charge for it. It asks for passport and trip details, including countries visited in the last 6 days; family members can be added to one submission, and false information can lead to denial of entry.

For repeat trips on a multiple-entry visa, we recommend filing a new card each time; official pages do not address this.

Air Suvidha 2.0 health declaration

As of September 2026, India also requires all international arrivals to submit the Air Suvidha 2.0 health self-declaration, an Ebola surveillance measure covering the last three weeks of travel, at airsuvidha.civilaviation.gov.in. It is separate from the e-Arrival card. We recommend filing it in the 72 hours before arrival, ideally before departure, and keeping the acknowledgment email for immigration. The rule can change, so it is worth checking the site before flying.

Entry airports and immigration

The first entry has to be through a designated airport or seaport, not necessarily the one named in the application. Every official list includes Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Ahmedabad and Goa (Dabolim and Mopa), and the portal's newest list adds Navi Mumbai, Bhopal and Tirupati. Official totals differ, so we recommend checking the portal's list for other airports or a cruise or overland arrival.

The ETA becomes an e-Visa only when the immigration officer admits you and stamps the passport; biometrics are captured on arrival, and entry remains at the discretion of the immigration authorities.

e-Visa, Regular Visa or OCI - Which One You Need

Regular paper visas remain available through VFS Global for the Embassy and consulates; the Embassy of India in Washington lists a tourist visa of up to 10 years at US$160 for US nationals, plus a US$3 Indian Community Welfare Fund charge and the VFS Global fee; the table is undated, so confirm the total with VFS Global.

A regular visa is needed for employment, NGO activities, journalism and diplomatic or official passports. Foreigners of Pakistani origin, including anyone whose parent or grandparent was born in or permanently resident in Pakistan, are not eligible for an e-Visa.

For a genuine family emergency, the Embassy offers an Emergency Visa of up to six months only to US passport holders of Indian origin and their family members, with documentary evidence and an emergency service fee.

Americans of Indian origin without OCI

If you ever held an Indian passport, or you or a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent was born and permanently resident in India (some country exclusions apply), the Bureau of Immigration calls the Entry (X-1) visa the most appropriate category, though other types can fit.

Its electronic version, e-X1 V (e-Miscellaneous), is valid for 3 months from first entry with multiple entries. Proof of the Indian link can be a parent's or spouse's Indian passport or OCI card, or your own cancelled or surrendered Indian passport with surrender certificate (if surrendered in or after 2010), plus a birth or marriage certificate.

Former Indian citizens lose Indian nationality, as dual citizenship is not allowed, and need to surrender the passport and obtain a surrender certificate through VFS Global.

OCI cardholders

OCI holders need no visa but still file the e-Arrival card. OCI is open, in short, to foreign citizens who were Indian citizens on or after 26 January 1950, their descendants up to great-grandchildren, and foreign spouses of Indian citizens or OCI holders after at least two years of registered marriage. Anyone whose parent, grandparent or great-grandparent is or was a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh is excluded.

Our guide to the OCI card from the USA and Canada covers the application, fees and the e-OCI.

Recent Changes (2025-2026)

• e-Arrival card: mandatory for all foreign nationals, including OCI cardholders, since 1 October 2025. According to immigration law firm Fragomen, paper disembarkation cards were discontinued from 1 April 2026.
• Air Suvidha 2.0: a mandatory health self-declaration, flagged by the US Embassy in New Delhi on 6 July 2026 and in force as of September 2026.
• Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025: now governs the entry, stay and exit of foreigners, replacing four older laws, including the Foreigners Act 1946.
• 2026 fee tables: dated 15 April and 8 September 2026; where an older page shows other amounts, the portal's tables are the reference.
• PIO cards: conversion to OCI ended after 31 December 2025, so unconverted PIO holders need a visa or a fresh OCI application.
• e-OCI: OCI cards are now also issued electronically, without changing an existing card's validity or status.

FAQ

Can US citizens get a visa on arrival in India?

No. The portal limits it to nationals of Japan, South Korea and, with conditions, the UAE.

Can I extend an e-Visa in India?

No. Every e-Visa is non-extendable and non-convertible, so the category and length need to cover the whole trip.

Can I use a new passport with an ETA issued on the old one?

Yes, according to the portal, if you also carry the old passport on which the ETA was issued.

Do I need a visa to change planes in India?

The Bureau of Immigration says passengers may be permitted up to 24 hours in the airport's designated transit area; a longer wait needs a transit visa.

Can I go sightseeing on an e-Business or e-Medical visa?

Yes. The Bureau of Immigration allows foreign nationals other than Pakistani nationals to do tourist-visa activities on any visa type.

Can I arrive by cruise ship or overland on an e-Visa?

Official pages contradict each other on this, so we recommend entering by air through a major designated airport or checking the portal's current list first.

What happens if I overstay?

The Bureau of Immigration says breaches of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, including overstays, can bring fines of up to 3 lakh rupees per offense and possible imprisonment.

Can an agent or visa service get my e-Visa faster?

No. There is no official express or emergency e-Visa fee, and the Bureau of Immigration says no agent is authorized to charge for one. Visarun helps you choose the visa and prepare the application; Indian authorities decide.