Are you travelling to India soon for work? Then you will need a business visa, called e-Business visa for India. To apply for this visa, you have to fill in a digital application form and upload several documents. Read this article to find out which documents are needed and what they need to comply with.
Different types of Indian e-visa
India offers several types of e-visa to travellers who want to visit the country. These are electronic visa which can be applied for online, and each e-visa is suitable for a different travel purpose. For example, visitors travelling to India for tourism may apply for an e-Tourist visa. With an e-Tourist visa, you can go on holiday to India, or visit family or friends in the country, for instance. However, the tourist visa is not sufficient if you are going to India for business. In fact, in this case, you need to apply for a business visa: the e-Business visa for India.
Apply for the Indian e-Business visa
Validity and permitted business activities
The Indian e-Business visa is valid for 1 year, and it is a multiple-entry visa, which means it may be used for multiple trips to India during its validity period. Each stay in India may last up to 180 consecutive days. Holders of the e-Business visa may carry out several business activities in India. For example, you may visit companies to participate in negotiations, or attend meetings. You are also allowed to sell products and services and to recruit staff, as long as none of these activities is commissioned by an Indian organisation.
Which documents are needed?
On this website, you can easily apply for the e-business visa for India using an English-language application form. After filling in the application form and making the payment, you will have to submit a few documents to complete your application. The required documents are a clear passport photo, a scan or picture of your (valid) passport, your business card and a letter of invitation. Read on for further information on each of these documents.
Passport photo
The passport photo has to be sharp and in full colour. The subject’s face has to be fully in focus, they have to look straight into the camera, and glasses are not allowed. Furthermore, the photo has to show a serious expression and must be recent. Therefore, holiday photos in swimwear and pictures taken more than 6 months ago are not accepted. The passport photo’s background should be light and even. For example, a neat selfie in front of a white wall would be allowed.
Passport
Before your visa application can be processed, you also need to upload a sharp scan or photo of your passport’s information page. This scan has to be in full colour. Moreover, the information page, which includes the traveller’s name, nationality and date of birth, has to be fully visible. It is also important that all text is clearly readable. If the signature is on another page, then both pages should also be fully visible. If even one square millimetre of the passport is missing or covered, your application will be rejected.
If you submit your application via e-Visa.co.uk, both the application form and the submitted documents will be checked before being forwarded to the immigration department. If the visa experts find a mistake in your data or documents, they will contact you so it can be corrected in time.
Business card
For a few months, travellers applying for an e-Business visa have also had to upload a scan or photo of their business card. If you have no business card, you can make one on your computer or use a screenshot of your e-mail signature or a letterhead, as long as their layout resembles that of a business card. The business card has to include the following details:
- traveller’s name;
- name and address of the employer (in the home country);
- a telephone number or e-mail address of the traveller.
Invitation letter
Business travellers also have to submit a letter of invitation from the organisation they intend to visit in India during their stay. If you don’t have an invitation letter yet, ask the organisation to prepare one for you. The letter has to contain at least the following details:
- the full name of the traveller;
- name and address of the employer (in the home country);
- name and address of the organisation in India;
- the duration of the trip;
- the type of work that the traveller will perform in India.
Delivery time and cost of the Indian e-Business visa
Your application will be processed once you have submitted all the required documents. Once your application is approved, you will receive your Indian e-Business visa via e-mail. On average, it takes 7 days. to process visa applications. For urgent applications, the average delivery time is only 24 hours. However, to submit an urgent application, you have to pay a surcharge of £17.50 on top of the regular fee, which is £139.95 for a business visa. For a complete overview of the visa requirements, check out the page about the requirements of the Indian visa.