India's e-Medical Visa: a step-by-step guide

The Indian e-Medical Visa is designed for exactly this purpose — travelling to India to receive treatment — and the process is largely online. It is not complicated, but it has a few requirements that are easy to get wrong, and visa rules change, so treat the steps below as an orientation rather than the final word. Confirm the current requirements on the official portal before you apply.

The e-Medical Visa is available to nationals of {{a large number of countries — roughly 167 — confirm against current official source: indianvisaonline.gov.in / MHA}}. Eligibility, the fee, and the entry rules all depend on your nationality and on the rules in force when you apply, which is why every figure below carries a marker to check.

Step 1 — Get your hospital invitation letter

This is the document people most often overlook, and without it the application stalls. The e-Medical Visa requires a letter of invitation from the treating hospital in India confirming your appointment date, the treatment planned, and the hospital's registration details. The hospital's international patient office issues it, usually once your treatment dates are confirmed. If we are arranging your treatment, we obtain this letter from the confirmed hospital as part of the booking; the point is simply that the visa cannot be completed until it exists.

Step 2 — Apply online at the official portal

Applications are made at indianvisaonline.gov.in — select the e-Medical Visa. Have the following ready before you start:

• A digital passport-size photograph meeting the portal's size and background rules
• A scanned copy of your passport biographical page
• The hospital invitation letter
• Proof of sufficient funds for the trip
• Your return or onward travel itinerary

There is an application fee, which {{varies by nationality, roughly US$25–US$80 — confirm against current official source: indianvisaonline.gov.in}}. Pay only through the official portal; the fee and payment methods are set there.

Step 3 — Receive the e-Visa by email

Approved visas arrive by email, {{typically within 2–4 business days — confirm against current official source: indianvisaonline.gov.in}}. Give yourself a comfortable margin before your appointment rather than relying on the fastest possible turnaround. The e-Medical Visa {{permits multiple entries — commonly cited as three entries over a 60-day period — confirm against current official source: indianvisaonline.gov.in / MHA}}, which for many patients covers pre-operative visits and the treatment stay. For longer courses of treatment, extensions may be possible; the rules for extension are handled through the Indian authorities.

What about a companion?

If a family member or carer is travelling with you, they apply for a Medical Attendant Visa. It is a separate application, tied to your medical visa and your treatment dates, and it can be lodged at the same time as yours. The number of attendants permitted and the exact conditions {{should be confirmed against the official portal, as the rules change — confirm against current official source: indianvisaonline.gov.in / MHA}}. Post-operative patients benefit from having a companion, so it is worth arranging this deliberately rather than as an afterthought.

The errors that cause most rejections

Most refusals we see are avoidable and administrative rather than substantive:

• A photograph that does not meet the size or background specification
• A name or passport number on the application that does not exactly match the passport
• A missing, expired, or mismatched hospital invitation letter
• Applying under the wrong visa category — a tourist visa is not a substitute for a medical visa
• A passport with insufficient remaining validity

We review each application against the current requirements before it is submitted, because a single mismatched field can trigger a rejection and a restart. We do not publish an approval-rate figure — such numbers are easy to assert and impossible for you to verify, so we would rather describe what we actually do: check every field, document, and photograph against the current rules before submission.

Before you apply

A medical visa is a logistics step, not the decision itself. Before you reach it, it is worth being confident the treatment is the right one — a written second opinion can confirm the plan — and worth reading what to prepare before flying for surgery and when travelling for treatment is not the right call. If you would like the invitation letter and visa handled as part of a treatment arrangement, we can quote for that.