India e-Arrival Card Official Site: Is It Free? (2026)
The e-Arrival Card is free for foreign travellers. Submit it within 72 hours before arrival.
Verified
Run by Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs. Last verified July 14, 2026.
· Archived snapshot
Quick answer
The India e-Arrival Card is free. Foreign nationals, including OCI cardholders, submit it within the 72 hours before arrival.
It is an arrival record, not permission to travel. A visa holder still needs the visa. An OCI cardholder still travels on OCI status. An Indian passport holder does not file the foreign-national arrival card.
What the e-Arrival Card records
The form collects identity, passport, travel purpose, arrival, recent travel, India address, contact, emergency-contact, and declaration information. Use the passport you will present at Indian immigration.
The official service does not charge a filing fee. A site charging £15 or $59.99 is selling assistance with a government card that costs nothing.
The 72-hour submission window
Submit during the 72 hours immediately before reaching India. For example, if the flight lands at 18:00 on July 20, the filing window starts at 18:00 on July 17.
Use the local arrival date shown by the airline, not the date the journey begins. Save the digital confirmation or reference after submission.
e-Visa is a separate paid procedure
An e-Visa answers whether India permits you to make the trip. The e-Arrival Card records the arrival. Many travellers need both, while an OCI cardholder normally uses OCI status plus the free arrival card.
Verified
Run by Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs. Last verified July 14, 2026.
· Archived snapshot
Official tourist e-Visa fees vary by nationality and validity. Examples verified in the July 9, 2026 official table include:
- 30 days: USD $10 from April to June or $25 from July to March for Australia, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
- 1 year: commonly USD $40. Japan is listed at $25.
- 5 years: commonly USD $200. The United States is $160, the United Kingdom is $484, and Japan is $25.
- Bank charge: add 3% to the government fee.
Some nationalities are listed at USD $0. Always use the price shown for your nationality and selected validity on the official site at payment time.
e-Visa entry ports are restricted
An e-Visa is valid for first entry only through the ports on the current official list. At verification, the list contained 33 named airports and 19 named seaports. Departure may be through any authorized Immigration Check Post.
Check the live port list before booking. A valid e-Visa does not make an unlisted first-entry port eligible.
Check every character in the domain
The official visa system is indianvisaonline.gov.in. Read the ending from right to left: it must end in .gov.in. A domain containing words such as india, visa, government, online, or arrival is not official unless that exact suffix is present.
For example, earrivalcardindia.com and indiaearrivalcardgo.com look relevant but do not end in .gov.in. On July 14, 2026, they advertised £15 and $59.99 services for the free card.
Commercial e-Visa packages can also cost much more. One documented site advertised $99 for 30 days, $149 for 1 year, and $399 for 5 years. Those were bundled totals, not the standard government price table.
Before you paste anything into the official site
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Use the local date you reach India. The official form displays DD/MM/YYYY; this local checker uses YYYY-MM-DD. Submit within the 72 hours before arrival.
Enter the country or region code and a number where Indian immigration can reach you.
Select every country the official form asks you to report for the previous 6 days. Use its No Country Visited option when that is true.
Confirm only after checking that the information is true and accurate. The official warning says false information may lead to denial of entry or legal consequences.
Select the district that contains the India address. It is not always the same text as the city name.
Use an inbox you control and can open while travelling. Check the domain before submitting.
If provided, use a different reachable contact and include the country or region code.
Enter the flight that lands in India, not a booking reference. Government mission guidance lists flight details among the information travellers should have ready.
Copy the full Latin-script name from the passport used to enter India. Do not shorten middle names.
Enter the full address of the first hotel, host, or residence in India, not only a city name.
Select the nationality or region of the passport you will present at Indian immigration.
Copy the passport number from the photo page. The official form publishes no universal length limit, so this checker uses a broad alphanumeric range.
Choose the option that matches this trip, such as tourism, business, medical, conference, study, employment, official travel, or other.
Select the state or union territory for the India address. Confirm it with the hotel or host if unsure.
Use the travel permission that applies to you: the visa or e-Visa reference for a visa holder, or the OCI number for an OCI cardholder. This card does not replace that permission.
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✓ Rules last verified 2026-07-14.
✓ Rules last verified 2026-07-14.
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