Indian e-Visa Passport Requirements

Anyone willing to visit India has to apply for an Indian Visa and thereby must possess a standard passport. When applying for Indian Visa online, among other requirements are those related to the passport, and here you will get all the relevant details regarding the matter.

When applying for an Indian visa online or e-Visa, there are certain eligibility conditions. Only upon passing these does your application get approved. Certain documents are a general requirement for all kinds of Visas, which are:

E-Tourist Visa for tourism purposes
E-Business Visa for business purposes
E-Medical Visa for medical and therapeutic purposes
E-Medical Attendant Visa to attend an e-Medical Visa holder

However, there are some special documents that one needs too, depending on the type of e-Visa they apply for. The e-Visa passport requirements fall in the general category.

So here are the details about the passport when one wants to apply for Indian Visa online.

What Are the Indian e-Visa Passport Requirements?

The Indian Visa passport requirements are the same no matter the kind of Visa you apply for. And this passport has to be a standard/ordinary passport, and other kinds such as Official, Diplomatic or Refugee passports are not accepted.

Now the main criteria are that the passport has to be valid for the next 6 months from the date the visitor enters India.

As per the India Visa passport validity set by the Government of India, unless you have a passport valid for the next 6 months from the day you enter India, you would have to apply for a new passport. Only then can you apply for an e-Visa.

Also, the passport should have two blank pages so that Immigration officers can stamp it during entry/exit in India.

What If You Have a Valid Visa But Not a Valid Passport?

As per the guidelines, if you have a valid e-Visa but your passport does not fulfil the conditions mentioned already, then you can apply for a new passport, and carry both it and the old one.

And you may also apply for a new e-Visa for India on your new passport, whichever is convenient.

What Details Should Be Present On Your Passport To Be Eligible As Per Indian e-Visa Passport Requirements?

Here is the list of things that must be present and visible on your passport when you apply for an e-Visa as per the Indian e-Visa passport requirements.

Given name
Middle name
Date of birth
Gender
Place of birth
Passport place of issue
Passport number
Passport issue date
Passport expiry date
MRZ (Two strips at the bottom of a passport known as Magnetic Readable Zone, are checked by passport readers, machines at the time of airport entry and exit. Everything above these two strips in the passport known as the Visual Inspection Zone or VIZ is checked by the Immigration Officers at the Government of India offices, Border Officers, Immigration Checkpoint officers.)

All these details on your passport have to exactly match the details you put in your Indian e-Visa application form. These have to be the same since Immigration Officers would be cross-checking the two.

Now the image on your passport and the application form may be different, as long as they fulfil the Indian e-Visa Photo requirements.

Note On The Place Of Birth On Passport For Indian Visa

The place of birth details on your passport has to be the same on the e-Visa application form, just like the other information. Do not mention any more or any less than what is mentioned in the passport.

For instance, if it’s only the name of the city where you were born, mention only that and nothing more (like lane or street).

And even if your place of birth is now under some other town, make sure your e-Visa application form still has whatever data is mentioned on the passport.

Note On Passport Place Of Issue For Indian Visa

If you’re confused about the place of issue details on your passport, you shouldn’t be. It refers to the location of the issuing authority.

For example, if you are a US citizen, then the issuing authority might be the United States Department of State, which you may mention as USDOS for want of space.

To avoid any problems, simply write whatever place of issue is on your passport, on your e-Visa application form too.

Scan Specifications As Per Indian Visa Passport Requirements

Your passport is a very integral part of your e-Visa application. Therefore, to avoid rejection or any inconvenience, you must know the Indian Visa passport requirements and follow the guidelines accordingly.

A scan or electronic copy of your Passport taken with a phone camera can be uploaded.
You do not have to scan or take a photograph of your Passport with a professional scanner or camera.
The photograph/scan of your passport has to be clear and of good quality and high resolution, and only then will it be accepted.
File formats such as PDF, PNG, and JPG are the ones that you should upload your passport copy in.
The scan/picture should be large and clear enough, and all the details on it must be legible. While it is not mandated by the Government of India, one should still keep the size of the image 600 pixels by 800 pixels when uploading it in electronic format.
As per the Indian Visa application, the size of the scanned copy of your Passport should be 1 Mb or 1 Megabyte. It shouldn’t be larger than this and the size of the photo can be checked simply by using a computer.
If you face difficulty uploading your Passport Photo attachment, you may send it to us on our email id that you’d find on our website.
The Passport scan should be clear and not blurred.
Passport scan needs are in their natural colour, not black and white or Mono.
The image should have an even contrast, neither too dark nor too light.
There shouldn’t be any smudges on the picture. Also, it should not be noisy or of low quality and has to be of the prescribed size.
It should be taken/uploaded in Landscape mode, not Portrait. The image should be straight, not skewed. Also, you have to see to it that there is no flash or reflection on the image.
The MRZ (the two magnetic strips at the bottom of the Passport) must be visible clearly.

Follow All The India Visa Passport Requirements, And You’re Good To Travel

The India e-Visa application is fairly simple, and with the assistance of a website like ours, you should face no difficulty at all. As long as you follow all the eligibility criteria as well as the India Visa passport requirements, you’d receive your e-Visa within 7 days at most.

However, make sure you fill up and submit your India e-Visa application form 4-7 days earlier than your flight date to avoid panic at the last minute.