Indian Medical e-Visa UK 2026: Treatment, Attendants and the Hospital Letter
By Gagandeep SinghUpdated Editorial standards
There is a particular kind of stress that comes with booking a medical trip to India. The treatment itself — a cardiac procedure in Chennai, a transplant work-up in Delhi, an oncology second opinion in Mumbai — is daunting enough. On top of it sits the paperwork, often handled by a family member juggling time zones, a worried patient, and a hospital coordinator who keeps asking for "the visa letter." This guide is written for exactly that person: the one organising care for a parent, a spouse, or themselves, who needs the visa to be the one thing that does not go wrong.
The Indian Medical e-Visa is well designed for this. It is prioritised, it allows the patient to bring family, and it is built around the reality that treatment rarely fits a single clean visit. But it has one hard dependency — a letter from a recognised Indian hospital — and a few situations where it simply isn't the right tool. We'll walk through all of it: the 60-day triple-entry structure, the hospital requirement, the Medical Attendant Visa for up to two escorts, the documents, faster processing, when to switch to a paper visa, and the e-Arrival Card.
If the traveller is a British citizen and the trip is not medical, start with the e-Visa for British citizens guide. And whatever visa you hold, read the e-Arrival Card 2026 guide — it is now mandatory and entirely separate from your visa.
What the Medical e-Visa is — and what it isn't
The Medical e-Visa is granted to foreign nationals whose primary and sole purpose is medical treatment in India at a recognised/registered hospital or treatment centre. The structure is shaped around a course of treatment rather than a single appointment:
- Triple entry — you may enter India three times on the one visa.
- Valid for 60 days from the date of first arrival — covering the procedure plus follow-ups within that window.
- Linked attendants — up to two family members can travel on the connected Medical Attendant Visa.
It is not a general-purpose visa. You cannot use it for tourism, business, study, or to attend a wedding. The purpose stated on the application must be medical, and it must be backed by the hospital letter. If the patient also wants to sightsee, that is a different (tourist) visa for a different trip.
The 60-day clock starts at first arrival, not at the date your visa is granted. Plan entries deliberately: if your treatment plan involves an initial consult, the procedure, and a follow-up, sketch those against the 60-day window before you book flights. Triple entry exists precisely so you can fly home between stages — use it, but don't let the window expire mid-course.
The recognised-hospital letter — the document everything depends on
This is the heart of a Medical e-Visa. The application requires that you are being treated at a recognised hospital, and you must provide a letter from that Indian hospital. Without it, the application is incomplete and will not be approved.
The hospital letter should be on official letterhead and state, at minimum:
- The patient's full name (matching the passport exactly) and passport number
- Confirmation that the hospital will provide treatment, and the nature of the treatment
- The expected dates / duration of treatment
- The hospital's registration details and an authorised signatory's name, designation, and signature
- Where relevant, that the hospital is recognised/registered for treating foreign patients
Most large Indian hospitals with international patient departments — the well-known multi-speciality chains — produce these letters routinely and know the format. The friction usually comes from smaller centres, or from a letter that is too vague. Our standing advice: get the hospital's international patient coordinator to issue the letter, and make sure it names the treatment and the dates. A letter that simply says "the patient will be treated here" tends to draw manual review and delay — the last thing you want when a procedure is scheduled.
How a Medical e-Visa application works
- Secure the hospital letter first — ask the hospital's international patient office for a dated letter on letterhead naming the patient, the treatment, and the duration. Nothing else moves until this exists.
- Identify the attendants — decide which (up to two) family members will travel; each needs their own Medical Attendant application linked to the patient.
- Apply on the official portal — complete the Medical e-Visa for the patient at indianvisaonline.gov.in, upload the photo, passport scan, and hospital letter, and pay.
- File the attendant applications — each attendant applies for a Medical Attendant e-Visa, referencing the patient's visa/application.
- Track the prioritised review — medical applications are generally fast-tracked; watch for the grant email, usually within around 72 hours.
- Print every ETA and file e-Arrival Cards — print the Electronic Travel Authorisation for the patient and each attendant, and complete the free e-Arrival Card for everyone up to 72 hours before the flight.
The Medical Attendant Visa — bringing family
Treatment abroad is rarely a solo undertaking, and India's system accounts for that. Up to two family members or blood relatives can accompany the patient on the Medical Attendant e-Visa. Key points:
- It is issued alongside and linked to the patient's Medical e-Visa.
- Each attendant files a separate application that references the patient's medical visa.
- Like the patient's visa, it is triple-entry, 60 days from first arrival.
- It is strictly for accompanying and caring for the patient — not for the attendant's own business or tourism.
The most common slip is timing: the patient's Medical e-Visa should be granted (or at least submitted) so the attendant applications can reference it correctly. We sequence these together so an attendant's application is never orphaned from the patient's.
Documents checklist
Beyond the all-important hospital letter, have these ready for the patient and each attendant:
- A passport with at least six months' validity from arrival and two blank pages
- A clear scan of the passport bio page
- A recent square, white-background digital photo to the e-Visa spec
- The hospital letter (for the patient's application)
- For attendants: documents establishing the relationship to the patient where requested
- A payment card for the fee
Cost and prioritised processing
Following the 23 December 2025 reciprocity-based fee revision for British citizens, the e-Medical visa fee is approximately US$129, plus a 3% bank transaction surcharge. Fees are charged in US dollars on the portal and converted by your card provider, so the sterling figure varies with the day's exchange rate.
The better news is speed. Medical applications are prioritised because of their urgent nature, and many are approved within around 72 hours — sometimes faster — when the hospital letter and documents are complete. That said, we never tell a family to cut it fine. Build in a few days' buffer, and if the timeline is genuinely tight, weigh the paper-visa route below, where a human at VFS can sometimes help with urgency in a way the e-Visa system cannot.
The single most damaging error on a medical application is a name mismatch between the passport, the hospital letter, and the application — common with anglicised spellings or where the hospital typed the name from a referral. An officer reviewing an urgent case will pause it, not wave it through. Check that all three documents spell the patient's name identically before you submit.
When you need a paper medical visa instead
The Medical e-Visa is excellent for most cases, but it is not unlimited. Switch to a paper medical visa (applied for through VFS) when any of these apply:
- The treatment exceeds the 60-day window or needs extension and local registration — long-course treatment, certain transplant cases, extended rehabilitation.
- The patient's nationality or passport type is not eligible for the e-Visa.
- The hospital or procedure specifically advises the regular medical visa route.
- More than two attendants are required, or attendants need a longer/different validity than the e-Visa allows.
The paper route is slower — think a couple of weeks rather than 72 hours — and is handled in person via VFS, but it carries longer validity and the flexibility some treatment plans need. We assess which route fits before a single form is filled, because choosing wrong here is expensive in time you may not have. For the mechanics of the sticker-visa route generally, our paper and conference visa guide is the companion read.
The separate e-Arrival Card — for the patient and every attendant
Do not let this be the thing that delays a tired patient at the immigration counter. India has phased in a mandatory online e-Arrival Card that every foreign national flying into India must complete, separately from the visa, up to 72 hours before arrival.
- It is free.
- Portal: indianvisaonline.gov.in/earrival, or the Su-Swagatam app.
- Phased in from 1 October 2025, fully mandatory from around April 2026.
- It applies to OCI holders too, and to each attendant — so file one for the patient and one for every family member travelling.
Our walkthrough of the arrival card lives in the e-Arrival Card 2026 guide; for a medical trip, complete every traveller's card the day before departure so nobody is standing in the slow queue.
Medical e-Visa at a glance
- Purpose: treatment at a recognised Indian hospital — nothing else.
- Structure: triple entry, 60 days from first arrival.
- Hospital letter: mandatory, on letterhead, naming patient, treatment, and dates.
- Attendants: up to two family members on linked Medical Attendant visas.
- Fee (2026): approx US$129 + 3% surcharge for British citizens.
- Speed: prioritised, often ~72 hours with clean documents.
- Paper route: for long treatment, ineligible passports, or hospital-advised cases.
- e-Arrival Card: mandatory and separate — file for every traveller.
When an agent earns the fee
For a straightforward case — a major hospital with a clean letter, a patient with a clear profile, and a comfortable timeline — the Medical e-Visa is DIY-able, and we'll say so honestly.
The agent route earns its fee when the situation is fragile, which medical trips often are: a hospital letter that needs tightening before it will pass review, two attendants to coordinate with the patient's application, a last-minute scheduling change that compresses the timeline, or uncertainty over e-Visa versus paper that you cannot afford to get wrong. In those moments, the value is not the form-filling — it is making sure the visa is never the reason a treatment date slips.
We prepare Indian Medical e-Visa and Medical Attendant applications end-to-end, including reviewing the hospital letter, sequencing the patient and attendant applications, advising on the paper-visa decision, and getting every traveller's e-Arrival Card filed before the flight.
service— This widget requires an {id="…"} attribute pointing at a service_widgets row.A medical trip to India carries enough weight already. The visa should be the calm, settled part of it — letter secured, attendants linked, arrival cards filed, everyone's name matching across every document. Get that right and the only thing left to focus on is the reason you're travelling.
For broader context on Indian visas for UK travellers, see the e-Visa for British citizens guide, and make sure every traveller completes the e-Arrival Card before departure.
This guide reflects the Indian Medical e-Visa and Medical Attendant Visa rules, fees, and processing norms observed by NriDirect in 2026, including the reciprocity-based fee revision for British citizens effective 23 December 2025. Recognised-hospital requirements, fees, and timelines change without notice — verify current details on the official Indian visa portal↗ and with your treating hospital before applying. NriDirect is an independent agent and is not affiliated with VFS Global or the Indian government.
Get this sorted properly — first time
A UK-based team who do this every day. Pick the option that fits your situation and we'll take it from here.
OCI lets patients and attendants travel to India visa-free.
Keep your passport valid before any medical trip to India.
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