Quick summary
Australian passport holders need an India e-Visa before flying: apply at least 4 calendar days before arrival, and by December 4 for a December 18 departure. Applications open 120 days ahead, so filing early is possible. The 30-day e-Tourist visa costs US$25 from July to March and US$10 from April to June, plus a 2.5% bank surcharge.
Only indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa issues the visa, and you need Granted status—not just submitted—before boarding. This guide covers fees, the 72-hour e-Arrival Card and realistic processing times.
In December 2025, the e-Tourist visa application window opened to travelers up to 120 days before travel. Australian passport holders no longer have to leave the visa until the weeks before departure.
The official minimum is much tighter. It sets a submission deadline, not a decision deadline. An application is not permission to board. The gap between filing and approval is the reason to leave a buffer.
The last document works differently. As of October 9, 2026, the e-Arrival Card has a fixed filing window: submit it a week out and it will not count.
The 4-day minimum for Australian e-Visas
Australia has no visa-on-arrival arrangement with India. Every visit needs a visa issued before departure; for tourists, that means the e-Tourist visa filed online.
The application must be submitted and paid at least four calendar days before arrival. That is a floor, not a plan.
The wider window changes the timetable. A traveler departing on December 18 could have filed in late August. The old assumption that applications open only a few weeks before departure no longer holds. There is room to separate the visa from the flight booking.
You can secure the visa before committing to tickets. For a trip spanning several cities, an open-jaw itinerary into Delhi and out of Mumbai is worth pricing once the visa is Granted.
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Use only the official .gov.in portal
One address issues the e-Visa: indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa. It ends in .gov.in. Any other site is a middleman at best.
The status you need is Granted.
Submitted or Pending is not a visa. Check-in staff will refuse boarding without Granted status in the immigration system.
The e-Visa family has nine sub-categories: e-Tourist, e-Business, e-Medical, e-Medical Attendant, e-Student, e-Transit, e-Conference, e-Film and e-Production Investment. Tourist travel uses the e-Tourist form, and the category you pick is the category you travel on.
The government’s 24×7 helpline is +91-11-24300666. It provides help if the portal stalls mid-application.
What the e-Tourist visa fees actually cost
The base fee depends on when you arrive, not where you are from. April to June is the cheapest window for a 30-day e-Tourist visa. The longer visas have separate rates. Every category carries a 2.5% bank surcharge.
| Visa type | Validity | Base fee (US$) | 2.5% surcharge | Total (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30-day (July–March) | 30 days from first arrival | 25 | 0.63 | 25.63 |
| 30-day (April–June) | 30 days from first arrival | 10 | 0.25 | 10.25 |
| 1-year | 1 year from grant | 40 | 1.00 | 41.00 |
| 5-year | 5 years from grant | 80 | 2.00 | 82.00 |
| Source: Government of India e-Visa fee schedule, indianvisaonline.gov.in | ||||
The consular e-Visa rules and fee structure confirm these tiers and the surcharge. The fee is non-refundable even if the application is refused; that includes the surcharge charged at payment.
After approval: e-Arrival Card and entry rules
The visa is not the last form. Foreign nationals must complete the e-Arrival Card within 72 hours before arrival, not earlier and not on landing. Filed online, it replaced the paper arrival card.
The e-Visa works only at designated entry points: international airports, seaports and a small number of land crossings. It will not work at an undesignated crossing. Ground transport is the next decision; at Delhi, the official prepaid taxi counters and app-based pickups are the documented options.
Australia’s Smartraveller advisory for India advises a high degree of caution overall. It also lists an online health self-declaration before arrival.
Processing time and realistic lead time
Most e-Tourist applications are decided in three to five business days, according to guidance published in July 2026. That is the normal case, not a guarantee.
A payment can fail, or a photo can be rejected. Either leaves less room between submission and departure.
A two-week buffer is not the same as the official minimum. It leaves time between the application deadline and the flight, rather than treating them as the same event.
An arrival more than 120 days away is still outside the application window. No agent can change that.
What the 120-day window means for bookings
With applications open four months ahead, the visa no longer has to sit in the same fortnight as your flights.
December departures. For a December 18 departure, file by December 4 and check the portal daily until the status reads Granted. Print the page the moment it changes. Less suited: travelers arriving between April and June, where the same lead time applies but the pressure is lower. In the week before flying, check the Smartraveller advisory.
Repeat visitors. The 1-year and 5-year visas remove the annual application entirely, and both can be filed 120 days out. Work out the per-year cost before choosing. Less suited: single-trip tourists who will not return within a year, for whom the 30-day visa is cheaper.
Families. Shifting the trip into the cheaper seasonal window lowers the visa bill for all four travelers. File all four applications in one sitting and keep the IDs together. Less suited: solo travelers, for whom the seasonal gap is only about US$15.
If the portal stalls, note your application ID before calling the helpline. If your status is still Pending five days out, call rather than filing a second application against the same passport. Carry printed copies of both the Granted ETA and the e-Arrival Card with your passport.
Applications for arrivals through early February 2027 are already open.
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Questions? Answers.
Are Australian citizens eligible for the India e-Tourist visa?
Yes. Australia appears on the eligibility list on the official portal, which is updated periodically, so confirm it there before each application. The e-Tourist visa comes in 30-day, 1-year and 5-year versions.
How soon can you apply for an Indian e-Visa?
Applications open 120 days before travel, a change that took effect in December 2025. The four-day minimum is the latest you can file, not the target. The arrival date you enter must fall inside the visa’s validity window, so check that before submitting.
How long does it take to get an India e-Visa from Australia?
Processing typically takes three to five business days. Approval arrives as an Electronic Travel Authorization by email, so print it and carry it—the Granted status is what airlines check before boarding.
How much does an India e-Visa cost for Australians?
The 30-day e-Tourist visa costs US$25 for July to March arrivals and US$10 for April to June, the 1-year visa is US$40 and the 5-year is US$80, each plus a 2.5% bank surcharge. The fee is not refunded if the application is refused.
