India Visa for UAE Residents: Eligibility, Fees and How to Apply

It depends on your passport, not on your residence visa or Emirates ID. The Government of India sets eligibility and fees by nationality, so two neighbours in the same Dubai building can get completely different answers:

• Indian passport holders: no visa needed. You travel on your Indian passport.
• OCI cardholders: no visa needed. The OCI card works as a lifelong visa; travel with it and your current foreign passport.
• Former Indian citizens who now hold another passport and have no OCI card: you need a visa like any other foreign national.
• UAE nationals: you need a visa, and Emirati passports can use the e-Visa.
• Other expats: you need a visa, and whether you can use the e-Visa depends on the nationality in your passport.

Your UAE status does not change any of this. A golden visa or long-term residence permit gives you no different fee or visa type for India.

Most nationalities are eligible, including UAE, British, American, European, Filipino and Sri Lankan passports. Not every passport is: Pakistani passport holders, for example, cannot use the e-Visa and need a regular paper visa. Check your passport on the government portal's eligible-country list before you pay. For applicants in the UAE, regular visas are handled by the Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General of India, Dubai.

Not sure about your passport? Check the list of eligible countries, or read what to do if your country isn't eligible. If you hold two passports, apply on the one you will travel with, and show that same passport at check-in and at immigration in India.

These are the Government of India fees for an Emirati passport, in US dollars. A 3% bank charge is added to each:

• 30-day e-Tourist: $10 for arrivals April–June, $25 for arrivals July–March
• 1-year e-Tourist: $40
• 5-year e-Tourist: $200
• e-Business: $415
• e-Conference: $415
• e-Medical and e-Medical Attendant: $80 each

The e-Business and e-Conference fee is the one to watch. Most nationalities pay $120 for e-Business, but the government chart sets $415 for UAE passports, so budget for it before a work trip. The tourist and medical fees are the standard rates.

If you live in the UAE on another passport, you pay that passport's fee, exactly as you would at home. Some examples from the government chart:

• Most passports: $10 or $25 for 30 days (by arrival month), $40 for 1 year, $200 for 5 years, $120 for e-Business, $80 for e-Medical
• United Kingdom: $484 for the 5-year e-Tourist visa, $242 for e-Business, $129 for e-Medical
• United States: $160 for 5 years, $140 for e-Business, $100 for e-Medical
• Philippines: no government fee for the 30-day e-Tourist visa; $40 for 1 year, $200 for 5 years, $220 for e-Business
• Sri Lanka: $10 or $25 for 30 days, $25 for 1 year, $25 for 5 years, $80 for e-Business, $25 for e-Medical

The fee calculator shows the fee for any passport. You can always apply yourself on the Government of India e-Visa portal and pay only the government fee. With our service, the all-inclusive price (government fee, bank charge and our document review) starts at $97 for 30 days, $129 for 1 year and $279 for 5 years ($551 on a UK passport). e-Business is $497. The UAE e-Conference visa is $631 with us, because its government fee alone is $415.

• 30-day e-Tourist: one trip of up to a month. It allows two entries within 30 days of your first arrival.
• 1-year e-Tourist: multiple entries over 12 months, with up to 90 days per visit for most passports. If you travel to India for family events or holidays more than once a year, this is usually the better buy.
• 5-year e-Tourist: the same rules over 5 years.
• e-Business: meetings, trade fairs and sales visits. It is valid for 1 year with multiple entries and stays of up to 180 days. See the e-Business visa guide.
• e-Conference: a conference, seminar or workshop in India, with the organiser's invitation and the event's clearance. See the e-Conference visa guide.
• e-Medical: treatment at an Indian hospital, valid 60 days from arrival with three entries. Up to 2 family members can come on the e-Medical Attendant visa.

None of these can be extended or converted once you are in India, so pick the one that matches the whole trip.

Yes. The e-Visa is entirely online. You apply from the UAE without visiting an embassy, consulate or visa centre, and you never hand over your passport. Give your UAE address as your present address. Your Emirates ID and residence visa are not part of the application; it is based on your passport.

Apply at least 4 days before your flight. Most complete applications are decided within 24 to 72 hours, but that is not guaranteed, so leave more time in the busy October–March season and around holidays such as Eid and Diwali. The approval arrives by email. Print it or keep it on your phone, and show it with your passport when you land at an approved Indian airport or seaport. More detail: applying from outside your home country.

• Your passport, valid for at least 6 months from the day you arrive in India, with at least 2 blank pages
• A scan of the passport bio page: PDF, 10 KB–300 KB, with the two machine-readable lines at the bottom fully visible
• A recent photo: square JPEG, plain white background, 10 KB–1 MB, at least 350 × 350 px. Our free photo tool crops and resizes it.
• e-Business: a business card or the Indian company's invitation letter (PDF)
• e-Medical: a letter from the Indian hospital on its letterhead (PDF)

If the portal rejects a file, the document upload guide explains the usual fixes.

When we review applications from the UAE, these are the details we check first:

• Nationality: choosing the UAE because you live there, when it must be the nationality printed in your passport
• Dual nationals applying on one passport and flying on the other
• Emirati business travellers budgeting for the $120 e-Business fee most guides quote, instead of $415
• Former Indian citizens travelling on their new passport with neither a visa nor an OCI card
• A phone photo of the passport with glare, or with the machine-readable lines cropped off
• Applying a day or two before the flight

When your passport and photo are ready, start your application, or apply directly on the Government of India e-Visa portal.