Visa on arrival into India for passport holders of 43 countries

Earlier this year, the Government of India had announced their plans to introduce visa-on-arrival and electronic travel authorisation (ETA) for citizens (passport holders) of specific countries. Following from this announcement, the ETA facility has now been announced.

While it is called a visa-on-arrival facility, it isn't exactly that (at least not in the way it is in, say, Thailand, where you can get on to a plane, and actually obtain your visa on arrival). What India has introduced is more of an ETA facility, that's touted as a visa-on-arrival. 

How it works

Essentially, you need to an application and payment, and receives the ETA - all of this is done online and prior to arrival into India. You can then carry a copy (print out) of the ETA, and enter India by showing the ETA at the immigration counter. Keep the following in mind:

• Application for ETA should be made no sooner than 30 days and no later than 5 days before arrival into India. 
• ETA is valid for 30 days from issuance, and costs US$ 60 (non-refundable). 
• ETA-based entry into India can be done twice in a year. More entries will require a regular visa via the Indian embassy.
• The ETA is not extendible if your stay extends beyond its validity, and its purpose cannot be convered (eg, you've come on holiday but want to also do some business related stuff).
• Keep ready, a scanned copy of your passport (first page, not more than 300kb) and a JPEG copy of your photograph (max 1MB, white background, etc) - refer Documents Required section here.

Who does it work for

The new ETA facility can be used by holders of passports issued by the following countries / territories:

Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Djibouti, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Laos, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue Island, Norway, Oman, Palau, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Tonga, Tuvalu, UAE, Ukraine, USA, Vanuatu, Vietnam.

Also remember, that the ETA can be used only if your entry into India is at one of these airports: Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Trivandrum.

Eligibility conditions

The eligibility conditions for ETA are as follows:

1. International Travellers whose sole objective of visiting India is recreation, sight seeing , casual visit to meet friends or relatives, short duration medical treatment or casual business visit. 
2. Passport should have at least six months validity. 
3. International Travellers should have return ticket or onward journey ticket,with sufficient money to spend during his/her stay in India. 
4. International Travellers having Pakistani Passport or Pakistani origin may please apply for regular Visa at Indian Mission. 
5. Not available to Diplomatic/Official Passport Holders.

More info and links

You can get more information here. Also, here's the place where you apply online.