OCI vs Indian Tourist Visa: Which Is Actually Cheaper for Visiting India from the UK? (2026)

Every December, the same quiet panic ripples through Indian-origin households across the UK: the flights are booked, the suitcases are half-packed with Marks & Spencer biscuits for the relatives, and someone suddenly asks, "Wait — did we sort the visa?" And every year, a fresh round of the same argument breaks out at the kitchen table. Should we just get an OCI and be done with it? Or keep paying for the e-visa each time?

It sounds like a simple money question. It isn't. The honest answer depends on how often you fly, how far ahead you plan, and how much you value never having to think about this again. So let's do what almost nobody does properly: run the real 2026 numbers, find the exact point where one option overtakes the other, and be honest about the catches on both sides.

The two options, in plain English#

If you hold a British passport and want to visit India, you broadly have two routes.

The Indian e-Tourist Visa (e-visa) is the modern, online-only travel authorisation. You apply through the Indian government portal, upload a photo and passport scan, pay, and — if all goes well — receive an electronic visa by email. It comes in three flavours: a 30-day double-entry version, a 1-year multiple-entry version, and a 5-year multiple-entry version. It is purely for visiting. When it expires, you apply again.

The Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card is a different animal entirely. It is not a visa you renew per trip — it is a lifelong, multiple-entry travel and residency-style document for people of Indian origin and their spouses. With OCI you can enter India as often as you like, stay as long as you like, and skip the foreigner registration hoops. It is closer to a permanent status than a holiday permit.

So already we're comparing apples with a much larger, longer-lasting orange. But since both get you through immigration at Delhi, Mumbai or Kochi, the comparison is fair — and the cost question is real.

The real 2026 fees#

Here is where people trip up: they quote the wrong fee, or a third-party "service" total dressed up as the government charge. According to the Indian government's e-visa portal and the High Commission of India in London, the government e-tourist visa fees for UK citizens in 2026 are approximately:

• 30-day e-tourist visa: about US$25 (double entry)
• 1-year e-tourist visa: about US$40 (multiple entry)
• 5-year e-tourist visa: about US$80 (multiple entry)

On top of every one of those, a 2.5% bank charge is added. The fee is set on a reciprocal, country-by-country basis, which is exactly why British travellers sometimes see numbers that don't match what a friend from another country paid.

A fresh OCI application submitted through VFS Global in the UK costs roughly £200–£220 in official fees — the consular fee plus the small VFS service charge (around £7.44 per application). That single payment buys a document valid, in practical terms, for life.

Let's lay it side by side.

Feature	Indian e-Tourist Visa	OCI Card
Who it's for	Any British traveller	People of Indian origin & spouses
Validity	30 days, 1 year or 5 years	Effectively lifetime
Official cost (2026)	~US$25 / US$40 / US$80 + 2.5%	~£200–£220 one-off
Entries	Double (30-day) or multiple	Unlimited, multiple
Max stay	180 days per visit (1/5-yr)	No limit
Renewal	Re-apply every time it expires	Re-issue only at ~20 & ~50
Processing	Often a few working days	Typically 4–8 weeks
Convertible/extendable	No	N/A — it's permanent

Running the break-even maths#

Now the part everyone actually came for. Let's convert to pounds for a like-for-like comparison, using a rough US$1 ≈ £0.79 and including the 2.5% bank charge. That puts the 5-year e-visa at roughly £65 all-in, and a fresh OCI at roughly £210 all-in. (Exchange rates move, so treat these as illustrative, not gospel.)

Here's the key insight: the 5-year e-visa is the workhorse for frequent travellers, so the real contest is 5-year e-visas versus one OCI.

• One 5-year e-visa: ~£65, covers you for 5 years.
• Two 5-year e-visas (10 years): ~£130.
• Three 5-year e-visas (15 years): ~£195.
• Four 5-year e-visas (20 years): ~£260.

Against a one-off OCI at ~£210, the crossover lands at roughly the fourth 5-year e-visa — somewhere around the 15-to-20-year mark. In pure fee terms, if your travelling life with India is going to span two decades or more, OCI edges ahead. If you only foresee a handful of trips over the next few years, the e-visa is comfortably cheaper.

But — and this is the part the spreadsheet misses — fees are the smallest cost in this equation.

Why the headline maths is a trap#

If you only counted the government fees, you might conclude "e-visa wins, easily." That conclusion quietly ignores everything that makes the e-visa expensive in ways money doesn't capture.

Your time and risk, every single time. Each e-visa is a fresh application: a fresh photo that must meet exact pixel and background rules, a fresh passport scan, fresh travel details, and a fresh chance of rejection. The Indian e-visa portal is famously unforgiving about photo specifications and document quality, and a single rejected application can cost you the trip if you've left it late. OCI is one painful application — and then never again for decades.

The 180-day cap. The 1-year and 5-year e-visas limit each continuous stay to 180 days, and they are non-extendable and non-convertible. If a parent falls ill and you need to stay longer, or you decide to work remotely from Bengaluru for eight months, the e-visa simply won't stretch. OCI has no such ceiling.

Passport changes. Renew or replace your British passport mid-cycle and your e-visa is tied to the old document — another thing to manage. OCI also needs the passport linked, but far less frequently under the current relaxed rules.

So which should you choose?#

Strip away the noise and it comes down to a few honest questions.

The e-visa is the smart, cheaper choice if you visit India occasionally — a wedding here, a holiday there — your stays are well under six months, you don't (yet) qualify for OCI, or you simply want to travel within the next few weeks without committing to a multi-week processing window.

OCI is the smart choice if you're of Indian origin or married to an Indian citizen, you travel back regularly, you can imagine longer or open-ended stays, or you're simply tired of re-applying, re-paying and re-worrying every few years. The lifetime convenience — no expiry anxiety, no per-trip photo gamble, no 180-day handcuffs — is worth far more than the modest fee difference for most diaspora families.

There's also a middle path that plenty of UK families take: start with e-visas, switch to OCI when reality catches up. You begin with the cheap, fast option, and the day you realise you've booked your third trip in four years — or your child is starting to spend summers with grandparents — you make the one-time move to OCI.

The catch is that OCI applications are where the genuine difficulty lives. The eligibility documentation (proving Indian origin, marriage where relevant), the photo and signature specifications, the passport-linking rules, and the VFS submission are all fiddly, and a single inconsistency can send the whole thing back to the start of a 4-to-8-week queue. This is precisely the kind of paperwork that rewards getting it right the first time.

The bottom line#

For a one-off or occasional trip, the Indian e-tourist visa is cheaper, faster, and entirely sensible — get one, enjoy India, move on. For the family that keeps going back, OCI is the better long-term deal once you count the years and the hassle you're buying your way out of. The fee gap is small; the convenience gap is enormous.

Whichever side of the line you land on, the part that actually costs people money and missed flights isn't the decision — it's the application itself. That's the bit worth handing over.

Frequently asked questions#

Is OCI cheaper than an Indian tourist visa for UK travellers?#

It depends on frequency. A 5-year e-tourist visa costs roughly US$80 plus a 2.5% bank charge, while a fresh OCI runs around £200–£220 in official fees but lasts for life. For one trip every few years the e-visa is cheaper; for regular travel over a decade or more, OCI usually wins on lifetime cost and convenience.

How much does an Indian e-tourist visa cost for a British citizen in 2026?#

Government fees for UK citizens are approximately US$25 for the 30-day visa, US$40 for the 1-year visa and US$80 for the 5-year visa, with a 2.5% bank charge on top. Some providers add their own service fee, so check whether a quoted price is the government fee or a marked-up total.

How long does an OCI card last?#

An OCI card is effectively valid for life. Under current rules you only need to have it re-issued once after your 20th birthday and once after your 50th, when you get a new passport. There is no annual or per-trip renewal.

What are the catches with the Indian e-tourist visa?#

It is non-extendable and non-convertible, the 1- and 5-year versions cap each continuous stay at 180 days, and it carries none of the residency-style rights of OCI. You also re-apply and re-pay every time it expires, with a fresh rejection and photo-rejection risk each time.

Can I switch from using e-visas to an OCI card?#

Yes. Many UK-based travellers start with e-visas and move to OCI once they see how often they're visiting. If you hold a foreign passport and qualify by descent or marriage, you can apply for a fresh OCI at any time.