Visas and Permits

The following information is intended for people holding American passports. The requirements for citizens of other countries will probably be different.

Scroll down for Nepal information

Besides the Embassy of India in Washington D.C., there are 4 additional consulates that issue visas and permits. Each consulate has designated states for which it has jurisdiction, so you must be sure to use the correct office or your visa application will be delayed.

All of their web sites have visa application information and the ability to download the forms.

For residents of Washington D.C., DE, KY, MD, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV:

Embassy of India
2107 Massachusetts Ave.
Washington D.C. 20008
TEL: (202) 939-7000
www.indianembassy.org

For residents of HI, AK, WA, OR, NE, NV, UT, WY, CO, MT, ID, AZ, and NM:

Consulate General of India, San Francisco
540 Arguello Blvd.
San Francisco, CA 94118
TEL: (415) 668-0683
www.indianconsulate-sf.org

For residents of AL, AR, FL, GA, KS, LA, MS, OK, TX:

Consulate General of India, Houston
1990 Post Oak Blvd. Ste. 600
Houston, TX 77056
TEL: (713) 626-2148
www.cgihouston.org

For residents of CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, PR, RI, VT, VI:

Consulate General of India, New York
3 East 64th Street
New York, New York 10021
TEL: (212) 774-0600
www.Indiacgny.org

For residents of IL, IN, IA, MI, MN, MO, ND, SD, WI:

Consulate General of India, Chicago
455 North City Front Plaza Dr.
NBC Tower building, Ste 850
Chicago, IL 60611
TEL: (312) 595-0405
www.IndianConsulate.com

Currently, there are 4 options for tourist visas and a business visa:

Transit Visa - $30.00. Use this one if all you are doing is changing planes. You must
submit copies of your onward airline ticket.

Six month Multiple Entry - $60.00. This is what you need to request for one trip. The
multiple entry feature allows you to go into a neighboring country and return back to
India. You will need two passport size photos, either color or black and white.

One Year Multiple Entry - $85.00. Same as above, but valid for one year. However, you
Will need special permission to stay in the country longer than 6 months without exiting.
Two photos are required.

Ten Year Multiple Entry - A great buy for Indiaphiles! Same conditions as above, but
For 10 years. Two photos are required.

Business visas - good for one year with multiple entries and are $85.00. You must have a letter of sponsorship, on company letterhead, from the organization for which you are working which spells out your length of stay and the locations in which you will be doing business. Additional arrangements can be made for longer than one year. Check on their web site on the visa information page. Better yet, use a visa service to help you through the myriad of pitfalls.

Occasionally, most of the consulates hold "visa camps" in other major cities within their territories. They are usually held on a Saturday at a central location, and you will be able to drop off your passport in the morning and pick it up in the afternoon. There is usually and additional $10.00 fee for these, but that is still less than overnight mail. Most of their web sites have these listed, or give them a call.

Be sure that your passport is valid for 6 months after your trip is over, and make sure that it is signed before you send it in.

They will accept only money orders, bank drafts, and cashier's checks if you are dealing by mail. Cash is accepted if you are applying in person. No personal checks are accepted

Timing is important! The visa must be issued within 30 days of your arrival into India, so you cannot start too soon. In most cases, the Indian consulates will turn your application around in 2 days, so if you are using an overnight mail service, the whole process will take 4 days. All too frequently however, you will find that one or more of the rules has changed, and you will have to start over, so be sure to leave plenty of time. These snafus usually involve permit requirements. For instance, one day in 1999, with no prior notice and nothing about it in writing anywhere, Ladakh suddenly required a $30.00 permit. Travellers whose visa applications were being processed lost several days (and money) when additional funds had to be overnighted before their passports would be returned.

The other area of potential trip-ups is the method in which the consulate will overnight your passport back to you. Currently, the San Francisco Consulate wants an addition $14.00 included in your money order. They do not use FedEx, so don't send them your account number. All this changes on a whim and on a moment's notice, so check with their visa application page and if you are very pressed for time, try to call and ask.

If all this worry and mailing sounds rather daunting to you, consider using a visa service. They charge a pretty hefty fee - usually about $40.00 - but will oversee the entire process, fend off any problems, and expedite matters if you are short of time. I cannot recommend one over another, but some well known ones are:

Travel Document Systems
925 Fifteenth St. N.W., Ste 300
Washington D.C. 20005
TEL: (800) 874-5100 or (202) 638-3800
e-mail: info@traveldocs.com
www.traveldocs.com

Peninsula Visa Service
300 Brokaw Rd.
Santa Clara CA 95052
TEL: (800) 665-8472 or (408) 727-7515
www.peninsulavisa.com

Zierer Visa Service
Locations in San Francisco, Washington D.C.,
New York, Miami, Houston, and London.
e-mail: info@zvs.com
www.zvs.com

Permits and Protected Areas

Protected areas that require a permit are listed in the consulate's visa information page. Be very careful to list all the cities which you will be visiting on your visa application form so that the consulate can alert you if a permit is required. In almost every case, if you are going into one of the areas which require that you be in a group, your tour operator in India will handle the permits for the group. Currently, to the best of my knowledge, the following areas require permits:

Sikkim - Individual tourists are allowed, with a permit, for 15 days into the "normal" tourist areas of Gangtok, Rumtek, Peamayangtse, Phodong, and Tashiding. This permit is a simple, free addendum stamped on to your visa, or it can be obtained in 2 days in Darjeeling. You must be a member of an organized group and have a permit to visit Zongri in West Sikkim, East Sikkim, Yumthang, and Lachung.
In Arunachal Pradesh - Itanagar, Ziro, Pasighat, Miao, Namdapha, Puki, and Bhalukpong.
In Himachal Pradesh - You must be in a group and have a permit to visit Tabo Gompa, Kaza, Morang, and Dabling.
In Jammu and Kashmir - Individual tourists with permits are allowed into the Nyoma Subdivision of Ladakh and the surrounding areas. You must be in a group and have a permit for the Nubra Valley and the Khaltse Subdivision.
In Mizoram - You must be in a group and have a permit to visit Vairangte, Thingdwal, and Aizawl.
In Uttar Pradesh - You must be a member of a group and have a permit to visit the Nanda Devi Sanctuary and the areas around the Milam Glacier.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands - Individual tourists with permits are allowed into Port Blair Municipal Area, Havelock Island, Long, Neil Island, Jolly Buoy, North and South Cinque, Red Srin, Mayabunder, Diglipur, Rangati, Mt. Harriet, and Madhuban.
In Manipur - You must have a permit to visit Loktak Lake, Imphal, Mourang INA Memorial, Keibul Deer Sanctuary, and Waithe Lake.

The Tourist Information office is in Los Angeles at:

3550 Wilshire Blvd.
Room 224
Los Angeles, CA 90010
TEL: (213) 477-3824
FAX: (213) 380-6111

Nepal tourist visas can be obtained either from the Nepalese Embassy in Washington D.C or upon arrival in the country. Either way, they are $30.00 for a 6 month visa, and one photo is required. If you are going trekking, additional permits will probably be required, and your trek organizer should take care of that.

The embassy has a web site, www.embassy.org/embassies/np.html, but at this time, there is no provision to download the visa forms. They can be ordered (enclose a stamped return envelope) from the embassy at:

Embassy of Nepal
2131 Leroy Place, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
(202) 667-4550
e-mail: nepali@erols.com

Or, use a visa service.

All of the border checkpoints from India, as well as Tribhuvan International Airport (Kathmandu) have provisions for issuing visas on the spot. Depending on how many people on your flight also need visas, this is normally a very easy and fast process. Just be sure that you have the correct change in U.S. Dollars and your photo.