India Raises 5-Year e-Tourist Visa Fee to $200

India has raised the government fee for its five-year multiple-entry e-Tourist Visa to $200 for most nationalities, up from the previous $80. The increase directly affects remote workers, expats, and frequent visitors who lean on long-validity visitor permits for regular access to the country.

What changed

The headline change is a 150% jump on the standard five-year e-Tourist Visa, now $200 for most passport holders. Travelers from the United Kingdom, Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man pay a considerably higher $484 for the same five-year grant.

Shorter validity options are unaffected. The one-year e-Tourist Visa remains $40, and the 30-day e-Tourist Visa keeps its standard seasonal rates. All fees are paid online, are nonrefundable once submitted, and carry a 2.5% bank transaction surcharge on top of the listed price.

One practical detail worth noting: the official process has no expedited tier. Third-party portals advertising rush processing for a premium are unofficial, so anyone paying extra for speed is buying a middleman service, not a faster government track.

What it means for nomads

The five-year permit allows multiple entries but caps continuous physical presence at 180 days per calendar year. That makes it a tool for repeat visits rather than one long uninterrupted stay, so nomads planning extended time in India need to structure trips around that limit.

For standard passport holders who visit intermittently over three or four years, the $200 five-year visa can still beat the hassle of annual renewals. The convenience of a single application covering multiple trips may justify the higher upfront cost.

The math shifts sharply for UK-linked passport holders paying $484. As the source illustrates, a British traveler visiting India once a year for three years could instead buy three separate one-year visas at $40 each, spending $120 total and saving $364 versus the five-year grant. If your travel to India is occasional rather than constant, stacking cheaper short-term visas may be the smarter play.

The takeaway is straightforward: match the visa to your actual travel pattern. Estimate how many trips you'll realistically make over the next few years, factor in the 180-day annual limit and the 2.5% surcharge, and compare the five-year fee against repeated one-year applications before committing.

Remember that a tourist visa, however long its validity, is intended for tourism. Remote workers using it should confirm their planned activities align with tourist visa terms rather than assuming a long-stay permit authorizes local employment.

Originally reported by Stamped Nomad.