The validity period of the Indian visa
You can chose between several visa types in the application form. If you are travelling to India as a tourist, you can either apply for a visa with a validity period of 30 days or for a visa with a validity period of 1 year (with a maximum permitted stay of 90 days). If you are travelling for business to India, you can apply for a business visa, valid for one year and with a maximum length of stay of 180 days. Both the business visa and the one-year tourist visa allow you to travel to India an unlimited number of times.
Validity period of the tourist visa
The validity period of the Indian tourist visa can be 30 days or one year. The validity period starts on the date of issue. If you submit an application for an e-visa with a 30-day validity period more than 21 days before arrival, it will not be processed until 21 days before the arrival date. This ensures the validity will not expire before you arrive. You may arrive in India at any moment within the 30-day validity period. Furthermore, each visa type comes with a different maximum lenght of stay which tends to differ from the validity period.
Tourists may stay in India for 30 or 90 days per trip
The 30-day tourist visa allows a maximum stay of 30 days, which start to count from the date of arrival. You must arrive in India within the 30 days following visa issue date. You are allowed to stay in the country for 30 days, regardless of how long your visa remains valid on your day or arrival.
If you have a one-year tourist visa, you are allowed to stay in the country for up to 90 days each time you enter India, including the day of arrival and the day of departure. Tourists may stay in India for a maximum of 180 days per calendar year. Tourism must be the travel purpose every time and both the day of arrival and the day of departure of each stay must fall within the validity period of one year starting from the visa issue date.
Business travellers may stay in India for a total of 180 days
Individuals travelling to India on an e-Business visa can stay for a maximum of 180 days per calendar year. This length of stay may be spread over several trips. Please note that the maximum stay in India is 180 days per calendar year. This means that it is not allowed to stay in India for 180 days twice in one calendar year on two different business visas.
If you still want to stay in India for more than 180 days per calendar year or per visa, you must register at the Foreigners Registration Office 14 days after the 180 have expired.
Apply using the details of your first trip
When you apply for your Indian visa, you will be asked about your date of arrival and departure, as well as about your accomodation in India. Travellers entering the country several times with the same visa should only fill in the details of their first trip. It is not necessary to provide the new travel itinerary nor change the accomodation details for subsequent trips within the validity period of the visa. However, 'tourism' should be the purpose of travel for each trip made with a tourist visa. If you travel on a business visa, both business and tourist trips are allowed.
Note: You can only use the India visa for the purpose of travel selected in the application form.
Validity may expire if the purpose of travel changes
If you hold a valid tourist visa for India, but want to travel with a different purpose than the one entered in the application form, you are required to submit a new application for your new purpose of travel.
What to do if you are combining business and tourism
You cannot carry out business activities with a tourist visa for India. However, you can travel to India with a business visa for both business and tourism. Travellers on business visas must be able to prove that there is a business interest in making the trip. The fact that tourism activities are undertaken at the same time is not a problem.
Passport validity requirements
Apart from the visa India validity period, travellers should also consider the validity period of the passport. The passport must be valid for at least six months on each arrival, and contain at least two blank pages on each arrival.
Please note that the India visa is valid only if you travel with a passport meeting the above requirements.
The visa validity may expire
Please note that you must meet all the visa requirements not only at moment you apply, but also during all trips to India. For instance, you cannot apply for an e-visa if you have a criminal record. Should a traveller acquire a criminal record after obtaining the visa, this will immediately terminate the visa validity.
