Are you travelling to India? Then you must apply for an Indian visa before you leave. On this page, you can find information about the validity period of the visa, i.e. the period during which you are allowed to arrive in India and the maximum length of stay. Read this page carefully before you apply for your visa.

Validity of the tourist visa

If you are travelling to India for a holiday or to visit friends or family, you will need a tourist visa. This so-called ‘e-Touristʼ visa can be applied for easily online, using a digital form. You will then receive the visa by e-mail. This e-visa has a validity period of 30 days and a maximum stay of 30 days.
Indian tourist visa application

E-visa also available with a validity of one year
The India visa is also available with a validity of one year. This visa can also be easily applied for online. You can do this by choosing the option ‘e-Tourist - 1 yearʼ under ‘Visa typeʼ in the application form. A surcharge is charged for the longer validity, bringing the total costs for this visa to € 74,95.

This visa type is valid for one year from the date of issuance. You are allowed to travel to India an unlimited number of times during that year, but each stay cannot exceed 90 days. In addition, any stay in India must be entirely within the 365-day validity period.

Unless otherwise stated, the information on this page pertains to the visa with a validity of 30 days.

Validity period for arriving in India

The tourist visa for India that you can apply for on this website is valid for 30 days. This means that you can arrive in India within a period of 30 days, which starts from the moment your application is approved. The validity period is also stated on the visa.

After your visa has been granted, you may decide to arrive in India on a different day than the one indicated in the application form. You do not need to inform the immigration authorities of this new date. However, the new arrival date must be within the 30-day validity period from the date of granting of the visa.

You can submit your application more than 30 days before departure

The India visa application form asks for an expected arrival date. This is done to ensure that the validity of your visa has not expired when you travel. Did you enter an arrival date more than three weeks in the future? Then your application will be put on hold. Your application will then be automatically processed exactly three weeks before the expected arrival date you entered. This means that you can still decide to arrive in India up to three weeks earlier or up to one week later than your filled in expected arrival date.

Do you want to receive the visa more than three weeks before your expected arrival date, for example because your cruise departs earlier? In that case, you can apply for the e-visa with a validity of one year. Applications for this visa type are processed immediately. You can apply for this visa on this website, using the same online application form. It is not possible to receive the India visa with a validity of 30 more than three weeks before your estimated arrival date.

Maximum duration of stay

The maximum duration of stay in India is 30 days. This is independent of the validity period of the visa.

Your arrival date in India must fall within the validity period of the visa. However, your departure date may also fall outside this validity period, as long as you do not stay longer than 30 consecutive days in India. For example, do you arrive on the last day of the validity period? Then you may still stay in India for 30 days.

Going to India twice with the same visa

You may travel to India up to twice on the same tourist visa. If you want to make use of this, only your first arrival date has to be within the validity period of the visa. The second time you arrive in India may also be outside the validity period. However, the day you leave India for the second time must be within 30 days of your first arrival date.

Validity of the business visa

The business visa for India is also called the ‘e-Businessʼ visa. This business visa for India is valid for one year. It is a so-called multiple-entry visa, which means that you can make an unlimited number of trips to India with the same visa. The day of each arrival must be within the 365-day validity period. The day of departure may also be outside this validity period. The validity period starts immediately after your application has been approved.

The business visa for India has a validity period as well as a maximum length of stay. If you travel to India on business, you may stay in the country for a maximum of 90 consecutive days at a time, even if you do not arrive in India until the end of the validity period. There is an exception for travellers with United Kingdom citizenship, who may stay in India for a maximum of 180 consecutive days on a business visa.

Situations of earlier expiry

In addition to the validity period and maximum duration of stay mentioned above, there are some other things you should take into account. The validity of the visa will also expire if you travel without the passport with which your visa application was submitted, and also if you no longer meet the visa requirements for India. An important requirement for the visa is that the details filled out in the application form are completely correct and up to date. If all the details entered are no longer correct, the validity of the visa will expire.

If you are applying for a new passport
When you apply for your visa for India, you must fill in your passport details. On arrival in India, these details will be checked to ensure that they correspond with the details in the passport, which you must present on arrival. Did you acquire a new passport after applying for your visa? Then take both your old and new passport with you on your trip to India. If your new passport is still valid, it is no problem if your visa is still linked to the old passport, even if your old passport has already expired.

Are you unable to take your old passport to India? Sometimes, an old passport is destroyed or confiscated when you receive a new one, or you might have lost your old passport. In this case, you must apply for a new visa for India before departure with your new passport.

When the details you have entered are no longer up to date
The application form asks, among other things, whether the traveller has ever been to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka or Nepal. It also asks whether the traveller has ever violated any visa rules of any country. All filled in answers must remain applicable throughout the validity period of the visa.

For example, in between applying for a visa and travelling to India, have you travelled through Nepal, even though you declared that you have never been there? Then the immigration service may refuse you entry to India. Changed answers to other questions in the application form will also invalidate the validity of the Indian visa.