India Medical Visa Rejection Reasons: Hospital Letter, Attendant and Upload Mistakes

Why are India medical visas rejected?

The e-Medical visa is for a patient travelling for treatment at an Indian hospital. The form, the hospital letter and the passport must agree. The usual causes of refusal are:

• A hospital letter that is missing, unsigned, not on letterhead, or vague about the treatment.
• Applying for an e-Tourist visa when the main reason for the trip is treatment.
• Attendants who apply separately with no clear link to the patient, or more than two attendants.
• A name, date of birth or passport number that differs between the form, the passport and the letter.
• A blurry passport scan, a non-compliant photo or a file in the wrong format or size.

What should the hospital letter say?

The letter must come from the Indian hospital, on its letterhead, and be uploaded as a PDF. Ask the hospital's international patient desk to include:

• The patient's full name exactly as printed in the passport, plus nationality and passport number.
• The tentative date of admission or first appointment.
• The department and a specific treatment purpose, such as "cardiac surgery evaluation" or "knee replacement", not just "medical treatment".
• The hospital's address and a contact name, phone number and email.

If attendants are coming, ask the hospital to name them in the letter too.

Tourist visa or medical visa: does the category matter?

Yes. If the main reason for your trip is treatment at an Indian hospital, apply for the e-Medical visa. Using an e-Tourist visa to save money or time creates a purpose mismatch, and an e-Visa cannot be converted or extended once you are in India. The e-Medical visa is valid for 60 days from arrival with triple entry, which allows for a follow-up visit. See our e-Medical visa guide for the full requirements.

Why was the medical attendant visa refused?

Up to 2 family members or carers can travel on the e-Medical Attendant visa, and each one is linked to the patient's e-Medical visa. Common reasons for refusal:

• A third attendant: only 2 attendant visas are granted against one patient. Anyone else needs a different visa that fits their own purpose.
• No patient link: each attendant files their own application, but the patient's name and details must match the patient's application and the hospital letter.
• Unclear relationship: state clearly whether the attendant is a spouse, parent, child, sibling or carer.
• Dates that don't fit: attendants should plan to arrive around the patient's admission date, not weeks apart.

More detail is in the e-Medical Attendant visa guide.

Can a small name difference cause a rejection?

It can. Enter the name exactly as it appears on the passport bio page, including middle names, and use the same spelling on the hospital letter. Don't use a nickname or a married name that isn't in the passport. Our guide on using your full legal name covers the tricky cases.

What file rules trip people up?

The passport must be valid for at least 6 months from arrival and have 2 blank pages. Our free visa photo tool crops and resizes the photo for you.

How much is the e-Medical visa for US, UK, Canadian and Australian passports?

A 3% bank charge is added to each fee. The fee follows the passport, not where you live. You can apply on the government portal and pay only this fee. Our all-inclusive price for an e-Medical or attendant visa is $397, which covers the government fee, the bank charge and our review of every document. To check another passport, use the India visa fee calculator.

When should a patient apply?

Apply at least 4 days before arrival. Most complete applications are decided within 24–72 hours, but that is not guaranteed, so leave more time if surgery is booked. Submit the patient's application first and the attendants' straight after, copying the patient's details exactly from the patient's form.

What should I do after a refusal?

• Accept that the fee is gone: government fees are not refunded after a rejection.
• Compare your form line by line with the passport and the hospital letter.
• Ask the hospital for a corrected or more detailed letter if it was vague.
• Re-scan the passport and retake the photo if either was unclear.
• Submit a new application only after fixing the cause. Sending the same file again usually gets the same result.

Our guide to reapplying after a rejection walks through each step.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Uploading a hospital email or appointment screenshot instead of a letter on letterhead.
• Filing attendants days after the patient, with different spellings of the patient's name.
• Photographing the passport at an angle instead of scanning it to PDF.
• Applying the day before the flight.

Next step

Get the hospital letter first, then prepare the passport PDF and photo for the patient and each attendant. You can apply yourself on the Government of India e-Visa portal, or start your medical visa application with us and we check the letter, the attendant links and every file before submission.