News report | | 06-12-2022 | ±3 minutes reading time

Sometimes, a travellerʼs profession can affect the type of visa that can be applied for, regardless of the purpose of travel. This is the case, for example, for journalists travelling to India. They must always apply for a Journalist Visa (J Visa). What is the J Visa and why do journalists have to apply for this visa if they are only going on holiday?

The Journalist Visa

The journalist visa is not only intended for journalists. Editors and writers of television and radio programmes must also apply for this visa to travel to India, for example, to make a documentary. To make a television series, a reality show, or any other form of entertainment, a different visa is required.

Travel purpose and visa

Generally, a certain visa must be applied for based on the travel purpose. For example, a student visa is meant for studying, a work visa for working, and a tourist visa or a holiday. However, for people who work in journalism who travel to India for a holiday, this is not the case.

People with a profession in journalism always need a J visa to visit India, even if they only travel to India for a holiday and without the intention to do journalistic work. This also applies even if they meet all the requirements of the e-visa for tourism. The website of the Indian High Commission in London does not explain why this is the case.

Requirements for travelling with a visa

Many countries have requirements for using visas in combination with certain professions. These requirements are usually about which professions or activities may be carried out with a certain digital travel authorisation or visa. An example of this is Canada. For example, with an eTA Canada, the digital travel authorisation for Canada, as a journalist or member of a film crew, you can temporarily travel to Canada. However, the eTA is not sufficient for certain physical work or employment with a Canadian employer.

India also has such requirements, which are intended to prevent someone with the wrong visa from joining an Indian company. The India e-visa that can be applied for through e-Visa.ie is intended for tourist travel. This visa can therefore not be used for other travel purposes.

The application form on this website asks about your profession. If you select that you are a journalist or select another profession for which India has specific requirements, you will receive a warning that you need to apply for another visa. If you work in journalism, you will need to apply for the J visa. This visa is significantly more expensive than the e-visa for tourism. The price of the J visa is £99 for a stay of up to three months or £148 in the case of a stay exceeding three months. The permitted duration of stay with this visa is therefore longer than that of the e-visa.

Applying for the India e-visa

If you are not a journalist and do not have another profession for which you need a specific visa, you can easily apply for an e-visa for a holiday to India. You can do this for € 59,95 through our website. It is cheaper than a physical visa. The maximum stay allowed with the e-visa 30 days. For most travellers who travel to India for a holiday, this is more than enough.

If you leave India once during these 30 days to visit a neighbouring country, for example, you can travel back into India with the same e-visa. In this case, the second arrival date has to be within the maximum duration of stay of 30 days, counted from the first arrival date. With a second arrival, the maximum length of stay does not start again; it continues from the first arrival date.

Please note: this news article about the visa for India is more than one year old. It might contain outdated information and advice, and no rights can therefore be derived from this article. Are you going on a trip soon and do you wish to do know what rules currently apply? Read all about the up-to-date information about the visa for India.

e-Visa.ie is a commercial and professional visa agency, and supports travellers in obtaining, among others, the India visa. e-Visa.ie is an official partner of the International Air Transport Association, IATA, with membership number 57231226, acts as an intermediary, is no law firm, nor does it employ lawyers, does not provide legal advice, and is in no way part of any government. You can also apply for a visa directly with the immigration service (25,63 USD per visa, via indianvisaonline.gov.in). However, not with our level of support. If you submit your application via e-Visa.ie, our support centre is available to you 24/7. In addition, we manually check your application and all the documents you provide before submitting it to the immigration authorities on your behalf. If we suspect any errors or omissions while doing so, we will personally contact you to ensure that your application can still be processed quickly and correctly. To use our services, you pay us 25,63 USD in consular fees, which we pay to the immigration service on your behalf, as well as € 36,61 in service fees as compensation for our services, including VAT. Our services have saved many travellers from major problems during their trip. Should an application be rejected despite our support and verification, we will refund the full purchase price (unless an application for a previous India visa was rejected for the same traveller). Read more about our services here.