Namaste! It's 42 days before Christmas and I am excited to celebrate it with my family since I am not usually staying at our home (due to work).
Anyhow, let me share with you the process on how I apply my India - Tourist visa. I went to India (Hyderabad, Delhi and Agra) last month to visit my fiance and his family and of course, to visit Taj Mahal.
Philippines Passport Holders (Filipinos) are eligible for Electronic Tourist Visa (eTV). eTV is valid for entry through 16 designated airports of India:
Ahmedabad
Amritsar
Bengaluru
Chennai
Cochin
Delhi
Gaya
Goa
Hyderabad
Jaipur
Kolkata
Lucknow
Mumbai
Tiruchirapalli
Trivandrum
Varanasi
But you can take exit from any of the authorized Immigration Check Posts (ICPs) in India.
Other countries that can take advantage of eTV are: Albania, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Island, Chile, China, China- SAR Hongkong, China- SAR Macau, Colombia, Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote d'lvoire, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niue Island, Norway, Oman, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Island, Tuvalu, UAE, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA, Vanuatu, Vatican City-Holy See, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
ELIGIBILITY:
International Travelers whose sole objective of visiting India are recreation, sight seeing, a casual visit to meet friends or relatives, short duration medical treatment or casual business visit.
The passport should have at least six months validity from the date of arrival in India. The passport should have at least two blank pages for stamping by the Immigration Officer.
International Travelers should have a return ticket or onward journey ticket, with sufficient money to spend during his/her stay in India.
International Travelers having Pakistani Passport or Pakistani origin may please apply for a regular Visa at Indian Mission.
Not available to Diplomatic/Official Passport Holders.
Not available to individuals endorsed on Parent's/Spouse's Passport i.e., each individual should have a separate passport.
Not available to International Travel Document Holders.
DOCUMENTS REQUIRED:
1. First page scanned of your passport (to be uploaded).
Format: PDF
Size: Minimum 10 KB, Maximum 300 KB
2. Digital photograph to be uploaded along with the Visa application should meet the following requirements:
Format: JPEG
Size: Minimum 10 KB, Maximum 1 MB
The height and width of the Photo must be equal.
The photo should present Full face, front view, eyes open.
Center head within frame and present full head from top of hair to bottom of chin.
Background should be plain light colored or white background.
No shadows on the face or in the background.
Without borders.
INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO GET eTV:
1. Apply online at https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html. Click E-Tourist Visa Application and it will direct you to another page where you need to fill-out the application form.
After you click Continue button, there will be another application that you need to fill-out. It consists of your Personal Information, Passport Details, Application's Contact Details, Family Details, Details of Visa Sought, Previous Visit Details, Profession/Occupation Details, Address of Place of Stay/Hotel and Details of Two Reference.
For the Details of Two Reference, it is the details of your Hotel/Friend from India and details of your family from your country.
After that, you need to upload the documents required: scanned of your passport and the digital photo. It should be in the correct format, otherwise the application will not be processed.
2. Pay visa fee online. You can use a debit card or credit card to pay it. You should pay it at least 4 days before your arrival date, otherwise the application will not be processed. For Philippines Passport Holders, the tourist visa fee is US$48.
For the list of E-Tourist Visa fee for other countries, click this link: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/eTV_revised_fee_final.pdf.
3. Receive eTV (approved eTV) online. It will be sent to your email.
4. Print the eTV, plane ticket and hotel booking confirmation when you fly to India.
REMINDERS AND TIPS:
Applicants of the eligible countries may apply online minimum 4 days before of the arrival date with a window of 30 days. Example: If you are applying for eTV on December 01 then you can select the arrival date from December 05 to January 04.
For the scanned of your passport and digital photo, strictly follow the format. The application is liable to be rejected if the uploaded document and photograph are not clear / as per specification. In my experience, I went to Image (it is digital photo services located in malls) and told the photographer about the photo requirements/format.
For eTV fees, bank transaction will be charged you an additional of 2.5% on applicable eTV fees.
It is non-refundable once the eTV fee already submitted as the fee is for the processing of your application and is not dependent on either Grant or Rejection of VISA.
Don't forget to carry a copy of your eTV together of your plane ticket, hotel booking confirmation and your detailed itinerary.
Biometric details of the applicant will be mandatory captured at Immigration on arrival in India.
The validity of visa will be 30 days from the date of arrival in India.
e-Tourist Visa (eTV) is allowed for a maximum of two visits in a calendar year.
e-Tourist Visa (eTV) once issued on arrival is Only for single entry, non-extendable, non-convertible & not valid for visiting Protected/Restricted and Cantonment Areas.
You can track the status of your application online by clicking Visa Status then click the Advanced Search for e-Tourist Visa (eTV) only.
Please be careful while making payment of the eTV fee. If the number of unsuccessful attempts is more than three (03), then the application ID would be blocked and the applicant would be required to apply again by filling the application form again and regenerating a new application ID.
The Visa fee payment status update may take up to 2 hours due to technical reasons/network delays. Applicants are advised to wait for 2 hours before the payment of Visa fee again. In cases, where Visa fee has been deducted, but status is not updated, the applicants are advised to verify their payment status by clicking on Verify Payment/Pay Visa Fee then click the Verify Payment.
In my experience (since I am so like oh-my-gosh-am-I-doing-the-correct-steps..LOL), after I made a payment, I emailed their support center to verify my application. You can do that also if you are not kinda sure on what you are doing. *wink*
Before re-applying, you must wait for 4 hours for payment status updating, after final submission of your application form and payment of the fee. The payment status updating may take up to 4 hours.
For any assistance call 24 * 7 Visa support center at +91-11-24300666 or send email to indiatvoa@gov.in
This is what approved eTV looks like. I got my approved visa after the day I submitted my application. Yes, it is so fast and easy!
If you are a girl and travelling alone, be ready for Immigration's questions. I got a problem in Philippines Immigration. They are questioning why I am going to India alone, specially I am a girl (it's Immigration concern thing so don't worry..just tell them the truth). So, I told them that truth and they asked me a lot of followed questions. So, please bring all your possible documents that can prove your personal details. Like, Certificate of Employment, Bank Account, Credit Card/s, Company ID, Alumni ID/School ID (yes! They asked my Alumni ID also, gosh!!..I was in their office and filled out a form and an officer asked me a LOT of questions..you don't know how much I got stressed that time..LOL..it is so FIRST TIME) and other documents that you know it can be a proof.
Enjoy your stay in India! Will share my India trip in my next post.
Comments