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How To Apply For India Visa (Philippine Passport)

Friday, September 27, 2019


To me, India has one of the easiest visas that I acquired, but also one of the most expensive. You basically just have to fill up a form online (no need to go to agencies or embassies), pay via credit card or Paypal, and then wait for an email with your visa in around 4 days. Sobrang bilis lang! I decided to still write this blog post if ever you want to know what to expect before applying.



WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO PREPARE PRIOR APPLICATION

1) A photo of your passport's bio page (make sure to include the full page of your bio, and not just the page with your photo and details) - PDF file.

2) A 2x2 digital copy of your recent photo - JPEG file.

3) Your visa application fee of USD 82.81, via credit card or PayPal.

India is more than the Taj Mahal! Planning a trip here is worth it.


THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE APPLYING FOR INDIA VISA

1) They say that 4 days prior travel date is enough lee-way to apply for India Visa, but bilang praning, I will recommend at least a week or 2 in advance.

The earliest you can apply when you know your travel date already is around 120 days prior your arrival date.

2) Like in any international travels, make sure that your passport has at least 6 months validity, and 2 blank pages.

3) The online form will require you to input your port of entry. Here are the only airports they will accept:

Ahmedabad
Amritsar
Bagdogra
Bengaluru
Calicut
Chennai
Chandigarh
Cochin
Coimbatore
Delhi
Gaya
Goa
Guwahati
Hyderabad
Jaipur
Kolkata
Lucknow
Mangalore
Mumbai
Nagpur
Pune
Tiruchirapalli
Trivandrum
Varanasi

In my case, I entered India via Delhi.

Some favorite pictures from my favorite city in India, Jaisalmer:


4. Aside from airport of entry, you will also input your travel dates, hotel address (I placed our very first hotel since we will be transferring to different cities), contact number and references in India (I placed the contact information of our tour agency). Make sure you have all these details with you before opening the online form.

Hotel de Luna feels! This hotel has a cafe / resto so you can dine and take pictures even if you're not a guest.

WHERE TO APPLY FOR INDIA VISA

Two weeks before our trip, my sister insisted that we apply for our India Visa already. Her friend sent her the website link for India Visa application: http://indianvisaonline.gov.in.

Here's how the home page looks like. Click the middle box "For eVisa by Bureau of Immigration, Apply here".


Click "Apply here for e-visa"

Indian visa's online application form only requires your basic information, like your full name, Passport Type (most of us have Ordinary Passport), nationality, email, purpose of visa (eTourist Visa-Recreation/Sight-Seeing), etc. Again, nothing complicated! You can go through the sample India e-Visa Application form HERE.

As mentioned earlier, you will need your recent 2x2 digital photo (JPEG format) and a photo / scan of your passport's bio page (PDF). You will upload these by almost the end of the application form. If the photos won't upload, check the sizes. They also indicated minimum and maximum pixels for these so countercheck if you got them correctly.



There will be a verification page before payment. Again, triple check your details and make sure everything's good to go before you click "continue"!


And of course the last page, settle your payment! I sent mine through PayPal, but they also accept Visa and Mastercard.

FINALLY, YOUR INDIA VISA!

Getting an email with your visa will take around 4 days, but I think Cea and I only waited for 2 days to receive ours. I got a multiple entry visa, yey! Unlike most visas that I have na naka stick na siya sa passport mo, India Visas are only sent via email.

Here's how the e-visa email looks like:


Make sure to print this email, and keep it for inspections in both Philippine and India immigrations. You can also print and check the status of your visa on their website

Our last stop, the blue city of Jodhpur:

I am still amazed by the beauty of India:

Anyone planning an India trip? Read my blog post here:

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