India e-Visa vs Visa on Arrival vs Sticker Visa: What UK Travellers Actually Get in 2026

You have probably heard a friend say it at a dinner party: "Oh, don't worry about a visa for India — you just sort it out when you land." It is one of the most persistent travel myths in Britain, and in 2026 it is also one of the most expensive to believe. Turn up at Delhi or Mumbai immigration on the strength of that advice and you will not be waved through to a desk marked Visa on Arrival. You will be put on the next flight home.

Let us clear the confusion once and for all. India does not offer a general visa on arrival to British travellers. It never has. What you actually get is the e-Visa — and getting that one detail wrong is the difference between a holiday and a very long, very public day in an airport terminal.

The myth, dismantled: who really gets visa on arrival in India#

India does operate a Visa on Arrival scheme. The catch is who it is for. As of 2026, the facility is restricted to nationals of Japan, South Korea, and certain UAE passport holders (and the UAE route only applies to those who have previously held an Indian e-Visa or paper visa). That is the entire list.

British citizens are not on it. Neither are Americans, Canadians, Australians, or the citizens of the roughly 170 other countries who instead use the electronic system. So when someone tells you India has "visa on arrival," they are technically correct — but unless you carry a Japanese, South Korean or qualifying Emirati passport, it has absolutely nothing to do with you.

So what do UK travellers actually get? The e-Visa#

For the overwhelming majority of British visitors — tourists, people visiting family, short business trips, medical travel — the route is the e-Visa (Electronic Travel Authorisation). You apply online before you fly, your authorisation is linked electronically to your passport, and you present it at a designated e-Visa immigration counter on arrival.

It is the closest thing to "sorting it on arrival" that exists, but the crucial work happens before you leave the UK, not after you land. The e-Visa system covers nine sub-categories, but three matter to most readers:

• e-Tourist Visa — for holidays, sightseeing, visiting friends and relatives.
• e-Business Visa — for meetings, trade, recruitment and commercial work (not employment).
• e-Medical Visa — for treatment at recognised Indian hospitals, with an attendant variant for family.

The e-Tourist Visa itself comes in three flavours, and choosing the wrong one is one of the most common — and most annoying — mistakes British travellers make.

Feature	30-day e-Tourist	1-year e-Tourist	5-year e-Tourist
Validity	From first arrival	365 days from grant	5 years from grant
Entries	Double entry	Multiple	Multiple
Max stay per visit	Within 30-day window	Up to 180 days/year	Up to 180 days/year
Typical fee (UK nationals)	$10 Apr–Jun / $25 Jul–Mar	$25	$40
Extendable in India?	No	No	No

A few things in that table catch people out. The 30-day tourist visa is priced seasonally: roughly $10 during April to June and $25 for the rest of the year — a quirk of Indian government pricing that genuinely changes which option is cheaper depending on when you travel. On top of every e-Visa fee there is a 3% bank transaction charge, and the fee is non-refundable the moment you submit, even if your application is later rejected for a typo.

When the e-Visa is not enough: the sticker (regular) visa#

This is where many people come unstuck. The e-Visa is brilliant for short, simple trips — and useless for anything longer or more complicated. If your plans involve employment in India, long-term study, journalism, research, a posting longer than 180 days, or entry through a port not on the e-Visa list, you need a traditional sticker visa (also called a regular or paper visa) physically affixed inside your passport.

The sticker route is an entirely different animal. It is processed through VFS Global, the outsourced partner that handles Indian visa applications across the UK, and ultimately approved under the authority of the High Commission of India. It means submitting your physical passport, attending in person for biometrics or document submission, and waiting — sometimes weeks — while it is adjudicated. Supporting documents are heavier: employment contracts, sponsor letters, financial proof, and category-specific paperwork that varies by visa type and is unforgiving of inconsistency.

The e-Visa and the sticker visa are not interchangeable, and you cannot start on one and switch to the other once you have arrived. Choosing wrongly at the outset can cost you the entire fee, the processing time, and in the worst case your trip.

The 2026 curveball: the mandatory e-Arrival Card#

Here is the change that is catching out even experienced India travellers this year. From 1 April 2026, India made the e-Arrival Card mandatory for all foreign nationals — and OCI cardholders too. The old paper disembarkation slip you used to scribble on the plane is gone.

You now file the e-Arrival Card online within 72 hours before arrival, via the official portal or the Su-Swagatam app. A QR code is emailed back to you, which you show at the e-Arrival counter. It is genuinely faster — trials cut immigration processing to under three minutes — but it is one more digital hoop that did not exist a year ago.

The passport rules that quietly sink applications#

None of the above matters if your passport falls short. India requires:

• At least six months' validity from your date of arrival.
• At least two blank pages for stamps.
• For the e-Visa, you must apply a minimum of four days before travel, and you can apply up to 120 days in advance.
• e-Visa holders may only enter through 33 designated airports and 19 seaports (plus a handful of land borders). Fly into the wrong airport and your e-Visa is not valid there.

Each of those is a hard rule, not a guideline. A passport with five months and three weeks of validity, a photo that fails the strict specification, or a name that does not exactly match your passport machine-readable zone — any one of these can trigger a rejection. And because the fee is non-refundable, a rejected application means paying again and reapplying, often with departure looming.

Why "just doing it yourself" is rarely the bargain it looks like#

On paper, the e-Visa looks like a ten-minute online form. In practice, the Indian e-Visa portal is notoriously fussy: photo and passport-scan specifications that reject more uploads than they accept, reference questions about previous visas and visited countries, profession and address fields cross-checked against your documents, and a payment gateway that has been known to time out and take your money without issuing a visa.

Get a detail wrong and there is no friendly "edit" button — you start again, pay again, and pray the timing still works. For a once-a-year holiday that might be a tolerable risk. For a business trip with a fixed meeting date, a medical appointment in a specialist hospital, or a wedding you cannot miss, "I'll just redo it" is not a plan.

This is exactly where having someone who fills out these forms every single day earns its keep. The right visa category chosen first time, the photo and passport scan pre-checked against the specification, the application timed to your travel and the new e-Arrival Card handled — so the only thing you do at the airport is walk to the counter and smile.

If your trip is the kind that needs a sticker visa — work, long study, a posting beyond 180 days — the stakes and the paperwork climb again, and a misstep with VFS can cost weeks. For business travel specifically, the e-Business Visa has its own documentary expectations that trip up first-timers.

The bottom line for UK travellers#

There is no India visa on arrival for British passport holders in 2026, and there is no sign of one coming. For most trips, the e-Visa is your route — fast, online, but unforgiving of error. For work, long stays or unusual entry points, it is the sticker visa, with its heavier process through VFS and the High Commission. And whichever you hold, the mandatory e-Arrival Card now sits on top of it all.

The smart move is not to memorise every rule. It is to make sure the right people apply the right one, first time, so you can spend your energy on the trip rather than the terminal.

Frequently asked questions#

Can a UK citizen get a visa on arrival in India?#

No. India's Visa on Arrival is limited to nationals of Japan, South Korea and certain UAE passport holders. British travellers must obtain an e-Visa or a regular sticker visa before flying. There is no facility to pay for a visa at an Indian airport.

How much does an Indian e-Tourist Visa cost for UK travellers in 2026?#

Fees are country-specific and vary by type: the 30-day e-Tourist Visa is around $10 from April to June and $25 from July to March, the 1-year is about $25, and the 5-year about $40. A 3% bank transaction charge is added, and all fees are non-refundable.

What is the new e-Arrival Card and do I still need a visa?#

The e-Arrival Card became mandatory on 1 April 2026 and must be filed online within 72 hours before arrival. It replaces the old paper disembarkation form but is not a visa — you still need a valid e-Visa or sticker visa to enter India.

When do I need a sticker visa instead of an e-Visa?#

You need a regular sticker visa, processed via VFS Global, for employment, long-term study, journalism, research, stays beyond 180 days, or entry through a port not covered by the e-Visa. The e-Visa is non-extendable and non-convertible, so you cannot switch once in India.

How far in advance should I apply for an Indian e-Visa?#

Apply at least four days before your arrival date, and no more than 120 days in advance. Your passport must have at least six months' validity and two blank pages, and you must enter through one of the designated e-Visa airports or seaports.