Business travel · Visas
The India business visa, explained
What the e-Business Visa costs, how long it takes, the documents you need and the official portal to use — a practical brief from a Delhi operator that receives business visitors every month.
Updated · Written by the Era Tours team, New Delhi · Always confirm current rules on the official portal
To attend meetings, negotiations, conferences or trade fairs in India — or to explore business opportunities — you need an Indian business visa, and for most nationalities the practical route is the online e-Business Visa: apply through the official government portal, pay a fee that for many passports is around US$80–100, and receive approval typically within about 72 hours. That is the short answer; below is the operator's detail — costs, documents, validity and the pitfalls we see visitors hit. For the general visa landscape (tourist e-Visas, nationality notes), see our full India visa guide.
What it costs
The e-Business Visa fee is set per nationality. For many Western passports it falls in the region of US$80–100, plus a small bank charge of a few percent; a handful of nationalities pay reduced or zero fees under bilateral arrangements. The only figure that matters is the one the official portal — indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa — shows for your passport at the time you apply, because fees are revised periodically. One warning from experience: use only the official portal. Look-alike third-party websites rank well in search and charge steep "service fees" for filling in the same form, sometimes badly. The genuine portal's domain is indianvisaonline.gov.in, and the fee it quotes is the whole fee.
The process, step by step
The application is entirely online. You complete the form (passport details, travel plans and the details of the Indian company or reference you are visiting), upload a passport-style photo and the photo page of your passport, attach the business documents asked for, and pay by card. Approval — the Electronic Travel Authorisation — usually arrives by email within about 72 hours; you print or carry it, and the visa is stamped on arrival at India's designated international airports. Applications open up to 120 days before travel, and we suggest applying one to two weeks ahead so a query or an unclear document scan never threatens the trip. Your passport should be valid for at least six months with two blank pages.
The documents
Beyond the passport and photo, the e-Business Visa asks for evidence of the business purpose — typically a business card or company letter, and in many cases an invitation letter from the Indian company stating who you are, why you are coming and for how long. If you are visiting your own subsidiary or a trade fair, paperwork from that entity or event serves the same role. Requirements differ slightly by nationality, so read the document checklist on the portal for your passport rather than a forum post. If you are our guest, we are happy to sanity-check your paperwork before you submit — it takes us minutes and has saved travellers re-application fees more than once.
Validity, entries and stays
The e-Business Visa is typically granted for one year from the date of issue, with multiple entries, subject to limits on how long each stay (and the year's total) can be — commonly up to 180 days depending on nationality and the terms granted. That makes it well suited to companies whose people visit India repeatedly: one application covers the year's trips. For postings and long-term assignments, an Employment Visa from an Indian embassy is the correct instrument — a different process entirely, arranged through your company's counsel.
Business or tourist — and mixing the two
The rule of thumb: the purpose of the trip decides the visa. Meetings, negotiations, conferences attended in a business capacity, trade fairs, recruiting, exploring opportunities — business visa. Pure sightseeing — tourist visa. Holding a business visa and adding leisure days around your meetings is normal and entirely fine; it is what most of our corporate visitors do, and we design those extensions — a Taj Mahal weekend, a few days in Rajasthan — around the meeting schedule. Our business travel to India guide covers the rest of the practicalities (etiquette, packing, hotels and transport), and for managed company travel see corporate travel management in India.
FAQ
India business visa — frequently asked questions
The India e-Business Visa fee varies by nationality — for many passports it is in the region of US$80–100, plus a small bank transaction charge, and a few nationalities pay reduced or no fees. The official portal, indianvisaonline.gov.in, shows the exact fee for your passport before you pay, and fees are revised from time to time — so always treat the portal’s figure at the time of application as the true cost. Beware third-party sites that add large service markups on top.
If you are travelling to attend meetings, negotiations, conferences in a business capacity, trade fairs, or to explore business opportunities, you need a business visa — a tourist visa does not cover those activities. If you are purely sightseeing, a tourist visa is correct. Travellers doing both should hold the e-Business Visa, which permits the business purpose; adding leisure days around business meetings is normal and unproblematic.
The e-Business Visa is usually processed within about 72 hours of a complete application, so the official advice is to apply at least four days before travel. In practice we recommend one to two weeks of buffer in case the application is queried or documents need re-uploading. Applications open up to 120 days before travel, so there is no reason to leave it late.
For the e-Business Visa you typically need a passport valid for at least six months with two blank pages, a recent passport-style photo, and a business card or a letter from your company — plus, in many cases, an invitation letter from the Indian company you are dealing with, stating the purpose of the visit. The online form also asks for details of the Indian reference. Requirements vary by nationality, so check the official portal’s document list for your passport.
The e-Business Visa is typically issued with one-year validity from the date of grant, with multiple entries permitted and limits on the length of each individual stay (commonly up to 180 days in total depending on nationality and the terms granted). Longer-validity business visas issued by embassies exist for some nationalities. The exact terms for your passport are stated on the official portal and on the visa itself.
No — for most nationalities there is no general business visa on arrival. The e-Business Visa must be applied for online in advance through the official portal, and you travel with the approved Electronic Travel Authorisation, which is stamped at immigration on arrival at designated airports. Apply before you fly; arriving without an approved visa means being turned around.
Coming to India on business?
Once the visa is in hand, we handle the rest — transport, hotels in the right district, meeting support and leisure extensions. Message our Delhi team and arrive prepared.