Government of India allows entry to India via water and air. Cruise Ship passengers can travel to India. We cover all details here in this complete guide for INDIAN VISA FOR CRUISE SHIP VISITORS. Everything you want to know if coming to India by Cruise Ship is covered here.
Coming to India By Cruise Ship
Traveling by cruise ship has got a charm to it that nothing else could possibly replace. An ocean or sea voyage truly encapsulates the idea of the journey being more important than the destination. Cruise ships offer you the chance to relax while traveling, enjoy the ship’s amenities, and also have a novel adventure visiting different ports along the way. Seeing India from a cruise ship would offer the traveler a wholly unique experience and the India that you would get to witness would probably be very different from the one you’d get to witness on land.
You can easily travel to India on a cruise ship by applying for a Visa to India for Cruise Ship Passengers. Indian Tourist e-Visa (eVisa India Online) allows you to enter India. There are three type of Indian Tourist Visa (e-Visa India Online):
- 30 Days Indian e-Visa for Tourists, which allows entry twice for Cruise Ship passengers
- 1 Year Indian e-Visa for Tourists, Cruise Ship travellers can enter multiple times. If you are planning to enter India for 3 or more times, then you should apply for this Indian Tourist Visa
- 5 Year Indian e-Visa for Tourists, which allows entry twice for Cruise Ship passengers
There are just a few India Visa Requirements including Indian Visa Photo Requirements for Cruise Ship Passengers that you need to be aware of and you’ll find them all below. Once you know all these requirements you can easily apply for the Indian e-Visa for Cruise Ship online without having to visit the local Indian Embassy in your country in order to procure the Indian e-Visa.
When can you apply for the Visa to India for Cruise Ship Passengers?
You can apply for the Visa to TOURIST VISA FOR INDIA if you meet the eligibility conditions the Government of India has mandated for it. Firstly, you need to meet the eligibility conditions of the Indian Visa in general and be a citizen of the countries eligible for the Indian Visa. Then you also need to meet the eligibility condition specific to the Indian e-Visa for Cruise Ship Passengers, which is mainly just that the cruise ship you will be traveling on can only leave from and make stops at certain authorized seaports. These are:
- Mumbai
- Chennai
- Cochin
- Mormugao (aka Gao)
- New Mangalore (aka Mangalore)
As long as you know the itinerary of your cruise tour and the ship would stop at and leave from only the authorized airports then you can apply for the Indian e-Visa. Otherwise you may have to apply for the traditional or paper Indian Visa, for which you would have to submit documents by mail and have an interview before the Visa is given, that can be a time consuming process.
Which e-Visa to apply for when applying for the Visa to India for Cruise Ship Passengers?
You need to apply for the Tourist e-Visa for India which is meant for travelers who are visiting India for the purposes of sightseeing and recreation.
If the cruise that you are traveling on makes only one stop or two stops in India then you should apply for the 30 Day Tourist e-Visa, which allows the visitor to stay in the country for 30 days from the date of entry into the country and is a Double Entry Visa, which means that you can enter the country twice within the period of the Visa’s validity. You should know that there is a Date of Expiry mentioned on the 30 Day Tourist e-Visa but this is the date before which you must enter the country, not the one before which you must exit the country. The date of exit will only be determined by the date of your entry into the country and will be 30 days after the said date.
If, on the other hand, the cruise that you are traveling on is going to make more than two stops in India then you should apply for the 1 Year Tourist e-Visa, which is valid for 365 days from the date of issue of the e-Visa. And unlike the 30 Day Tourist Visa the 1 Year Tourist Visa’s validity is determined by the date of its issue, not the date of the visitor’s entry into the country, so it will be valid for a year after the date of its issue. Moreover, the 1 Year Tourist Visa is a Multiple Entry Visa, which means that you can enter the country only multiple times within the period of the Visa’s validity.
India Visa Requirements for Cruise Ship Passengers
If you are going to be traveling to India on a cruise ship and want to apply for the Indian Visa for the same then you need to meet certain India Visa Requirements for Cruise Ship Passengers by submitting certain documents and sharing some information. Following are the documents and information you will have to share:
- An electronic or scanned copy of the first (biographical) page of the visitor’s passport, which must be the standard Passport, and which must remain valid for at least 6 months from the date of entry into India, otherwise you would need to renew your passport.
- A copy of the visitor’s recent passport-style colour photo (only of the face, and it can be taken with a phone), a working email address, and a debit card or a credit card for the payment of the application fees.
- A return or onward ticket out of the country, and details about the trip within and from India.
Before 2020 cruise ship passengers, like all other travelers to India, were required to share their biometric data with India upon entering India. But since the process took too long for cruise ship passengers and was not the most efficient it has been stopped for the meanwhile till a more efficient method is thought of and is no longer one of the India Visa Requirements for Cruise Ship Passengers.
Note that even Indian Business Visa holders and Indian Medical Visa holders can come to Indian by Cruise ship, although it is not a common scenario.
