Most travelers to India will use the e-Visa — it's online, there's no consulate appointment, and no one takes your passport away for two weeks. But the e-Visa is a genuinely different document from the regular (paper, consulate-issued) tourist visa, with real restrictions that catch people out. A handful of travelers each year book flights on an e-Visa that cannot legally be used at the airport they're flying into.
Here's how to tell which one you need, with every restriction below taken from the official portal at indianvisaonline.gov.in.
The short answer
Use the e-Visa if you're a tourist from an eligible country, flying into a major Indian airport, staying within the visa's validity, and not planning to visit a Protected or Restricted Area. That covers the overwhelming majority of trips.
You need the regular tourist visa from an Indian mission or VFS centre if any one of the following applies:
- You're entering India at a port that isn't on the e-Visa designated list (see below).
- You intend to visit a Protected, Restricted or Cantonment Area.
- You may need to extend your stay or convert your visa to another category once in India.
- Your nationality isn't on the e-Visa eligible list.
- Your purpose isn't covered by one of the e-Visa sub-categories.
1. The e-Visa only works at designated entry points
This is the restriction that causes the most expensive mistakes, and it's the one most travelers have never heard of. An e-Visa holder may enter India only through a designated immigration checkpost. Officially that's 34 international airports, 38 seaports (provided for cruise tourists), and just four landports: Raxaul, Rupaidiha, Darranga and Jogbani.
The airport list covers everywhere you'd realistically fly — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Goa (both Dabolim and Mopa), Kochi, Jaipur, Varanasi, Amritsar and more. So if you're flying into a major city, you're fine.
Where it bites is overland entry. If you're crossing from Nepal, Bhutan or Bangladesh at any land border other than those four, your e-Visa is not valid for that crossing — you need a regular visa. Travelers piecing together a Nepal-to-India overland trip are the classic case.
One quirk worth knowing: exit rules are more generous than entry rules. You can depart from any authorized Immigration Check Post, and the official exit list is considerably longer than the entry list — 36 airports plus a long list of land ICPs including Attari Road, Dawki, Moreh and Sonouli. So an overland exit to Nepal or Bangladesh is generally fine on an e-Visa even where the same crossing wouldn't have worked on the way in. Always confirm your specific crossing on the official portal before you commit.
2. The e-Visa cannot be extended or converted
The portal states it plainly: the e-Visa is non-extendable and non-convertible. You cannot stretch it if you decide to stay longer, and you cannot switch it to a different visa category from inside India — you'd have to leave and apply afresh.
A regular visa gives you more room to manoeuvre through the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO). If there's a realistic chance your plans change — an open-ended trip, a possible work opportunity, family circumstances — that flexibility is the argument for going the consulate route.
3. Protected and Restricted Areas are off-limits on an e-Visa
The e-Visa is not valid for visiting Protected, Restricted or Cantonment Areas. Visiting those requires prior permission from the Civil Authority — a separate permit, on top of a visa the e-Visa can't be.
These areas include parts of the northeastern states, sections of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and border regions in Ladakh, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan. Exact boundaries shift, so if your itinerary includes anything near a sensitive border or a remote island, check current requirements before you assume an e-Visa is enough.
4. Timing rules are stricter than people expect
For the e-Tourist and e-Business visas you must apply at least 4 days before your date of arrival. There's a second, easily-missed deadline: the fee must be paid at least 4 days before your expected travel date, or the application will not be processed at all. Paying late is functionally the same as not applying.
The government explicitly warns that it makes no provision for emergency or express fees — nobody can legitimately sell you a rushed government approval. Any service claiming otherwise is misrepresenting how the portal works.
And the fee is non-refundable whether your visa is granted or rejected, because you're paying for processing, not for an outcome.
5. Practical differences on the day of travel
- Biometrics: On an e-Visa, your biometric details are captured mandatorily at immigration on arrival — build in extra time at the airport.
- Carry your ETA: Bring a printed copy of the Electronic Travel Authorization, and confirm the status shows GRANTED on the portal before you fly. "Applied" is not "approved."
- Passport matching: You must travel on the passport you applied with. If you renewed in the meantime, entry can still be allowed on the new passport — but you must carry the old passport on which the ETA was issued. Don't surrender or discard it.
- Yellow fever: Travelers arriving from yellow-fever-affected countries must carry a valid vaccination card, or risk a six-day quarantine on arrival.
- English documents: All supporting documents — invitation letters, business cards — must be in English, or the application is liable for rejection.
Which e-Visa category?
"e-Visa" isn't one thing. There are nine sub-categories: e-Tourist (available as 30-day, 1-year and 5-year variants), e-Business, e-Medical, e-Medical Attendant, e-Student, e-Transit, e-Film, e-Miscellaneous, e-Entry, and e-Production Investment. Picking the category that matches your actual purpose matters — a mismatch is a common cause of manual review or rejection. Note that only two e-Medical Attendant visas can be granted against a single e-Medical visa.
So, which one do you need?
For a standard holiday — flying into a major airport, a couple of weeks of sightseeing, home again — the e-Visa is the right tool and the regular visa is unnecessary friction. Reach for the consulate visa when your trip has an edge case: an overland border crossing, a restricted region, an open-ended stay, or a purpose the e-Visa categories don't cover.
For nationality-specific fees, validity and document requirements, see our guides for American, British and Canadian citizens. If the e-Visa is the right fit, you can check your eligibility and start your application in a few minutes — we review your documents against the official specifications before filing, which is where most avoidable rejections get caught.
Requirements change. Always confirm current rules on the official portal at indianvisaonline.gov.in before booking travel. Facts in this article were verified against the official portal on July 20, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is the India e-Visa the same as a tourist visa? No. The e-Visa is an electronic travel authorization applied for online, valid only at designated entry points, and it cannot be extended or converted. The regular tourist visa is issued by an Indian mission or VFS centre and carries fewer entry and extension restrictions.
Can I enter India by land on an e-Visa? Only at four designated landports: Raxaul, Rupaidiha, Darranga and Jogbani. Any other land crossing requires a regular visa. Exit by land is permitted from a much wider list of Immigration Check Posts.
Can I extend an India e-Visa? No. The official portal states the e-Visa is non-extendable and non-convertible. If you may need to extend or change category, apply for a regular visa instead.
How far in advance must I apply for an India e-Visa? At least 4 days before your date of arrival for e-Tourist and e-Business visas, and the fee must also be paid at least 4 days before your expected travel date or the application will not be processed.