Colombian passport holders can apply for the Indian eVisa entirely online — no appointment at the Embassy of India in Bogotá, no courier, no passport handed over. Approval typically arrives by email in 24 to 72 hours.
90 days
Maximum stay per visit
24–72 hrs
Typical processing time
Up to 5 years
Longest validity offered
Not eligible
Visa on Arrival
100% online
No embassy visit
Important for Colombian citizens
India requires a valid yellow-fever vaccination certificate from travellers arriving from Colombia. Without one you can be quarantined on arrival for up to six days, whatever visa you hold. The certificate is only valid from ten days after vaccination, so it cannot be arranged at the airport and no visa substitutes for it.
Overview
Colombian travel to India has grown noticeably as long-haul travel has become more accessible, and it skews young and independent — extended backpacking itineraries, yoga and spiritual travel, and volunteering. Alongside it sits a real trade relationship: India is a significant buyer of Colombian coal and coffee, and Indian pharmaceutical and vehicle manufacturers are well established in Colombia.
There is no nonstop service, and total travel time runs 24 to 30 hours through Madrid, Istanbul or the Gulf. Because that is a serious commitment, Colombian trips tend to be long, which makes the 90-day allowance a real planning parameter rather than a formality.
Every Colombian citizen needs a visa granted before departure. There is no visa-free entry and no visa on arrival. For tourism, business and medical travel the eVisa handles it entirely online, and Colombian passport holders receive up to 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa.
At a glance
Eligibility
Yes. India extends visa-free entry only to Nepal and Bhutan, and Visa on Arrival only to Japanese, South Korean and Emirati nationals. Colombian citizens must hold an approved visa before boarding, and because every routing involves a connection, the check can happen at Bogotá, at a hub, or both.
Choose the category by purpose. Tourism, sightseeing, visiting friends, and yoga or meditation retreats fall under the tourist eVisa. Meetings, trade fairs, supplier visits and commodity negotiation require the business eVisa. Hospital treatment requires the medical eVisa. Employment, journalism, academic research and long-term study are outside the eVisa scheme and need a regular visa from the embassy in Bogotá.
One point worth flagging for the volunteering interest in this market: unpaid volunteering with an Indian NGO occupies uncertain ground. Short-term informal participation while travelling is generally treated as tourism, but a structured placement with a formal organisation may require a different visa category. If your trip is built around a placement rather than travel, check the position before applying.
Stay & validity
Colombian citizens are permitted up to 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa. The 30-day version allows double entry, with its 30 days counted from your arrival date. The one-year and five-year versions are multiple-entry, and their validity begins on the date the Indian government grants the application.
Ninety days is a genuine ceiling for the long backpacking itineraries common in this market. The eVisa cannot be extended or converted from inside India, so if your plan runs longer you need either two entries on a multiple-entry visa — leaving and returning by air — or a regular tourist visa from the embassy in Bogotá.
It is also worth knowing that the eVisa is valid only at designated airports and authorised seaports, which rules out an overland crossing from Nepal. That catches out extended South Asia itineraries regularly.
The business eVisa allows up to 180 days per visit within a one-year multiple-entry window. The medical eVisa gives 60 days from first entry with triple entry.
Pricing
Live government fees and service charges for Colombian passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Colombia
Requirements
Everything Colombian passport holders need before starting an application. The first five items apply to every applicant; the rest are specific to your nationality or visa type.
Passport bio-data page — a clear colour scan or photo showing your photograph, full name, date of birth, passport number and expiry date
Recent passport-style photograph — square format, plain white background, full face visible, no shadows and no headwear other than for religious reasons
A valid credit or debit card to pay the government fee and service charge
Your return or onward ticket details, or at minimum your intended departure date
The address where you will be staying for your first night in India
Simple process
Four steps, entirely online, with our team checking every field before anything reaches the Indian authorities.
Enter your passport details exactly as printed, choose your visa type and duration, and upload your photo and passport data page.
Our team checks your photo dimensions, passport scan clarity, name spelling and date formats before anything is submitted.
Your application goes to the Government of India on your behalf, and we keep you posted at every status change.
Print it or keep it on your phone, and we explain exactly how to present it at your port of entry in India.
Standard processing takes 48 to 72 hours and express handling 24 to 48 hours. Both are business-day estimates, and Indian public holidays — numerous and often state-specific — extend them.
Apply at least two weeks before departure. Colombian itineraries are long and multi-sector, often on separate tickets, so a visa problem discovered late is expensive to unwind. Two weeks gives comfortable room for a photo re-upload without paying twice for express handling.
Separate from your eVisa, every foreign national entering India must complete the digital e-Arrival Card before boarding. It replaces the old paper disembarkation form and is required on every single visit, whatever visa you hold.
Getting there
There is no nonstop service between Colombia and India. Every routing involves at least one connection and most involve two, with total travel times of 24 to 30 hours. Your eVisa is checked at your Indian arrival airport, not in transit.
Best time to go
October to March is India's dry season and the best window for the classic circuits. For Colombian travellers, the December–January holiday period and Semana Santa both fall inside or close to it, though Semana Santa in late March or April is already hot in Rajasthan.
The Colombian mid-year holiday in June and July coincides with the Indian monsoon and the tail of the pre-monsoon heat. That rules out Rajasthan and the Golden Triangle, but July and August are the best months for Ladakh and the Spiti Valley, and Kerala's monsoon is the traditional Ayurveda season.
Avoid the northern plains in May and June, when temperatures exceed 45°C. India is 10.5 hours ahead of Colombian time — close to the maximum displacement — and with 24-plus hours in transit you will arrive substantially out of sync. Plan a genuine rest day.
Avoid these
Refusals are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on applications from Colombia — we check for every one of them before submitting.
The defining Colombian-specific problem. Colombian passports carry a paternal and a maternal surname, and both belong in the surname field, in the printed order, without merging or hyphenating. Applicants who use only the primer apellido — as they would day to day — create a mismatch that Indian immigration will pick up.
A very practical trap. Many Bogotá long-haul itineraries connect through Miami, Atlanta or New York, and a US connection requires a US visa or ESTA even if you never leave the airport. Your India eVisa says nothing about it. If you do not hold a US visa, route via Madrid or Istanbul instead.
Both catch out extended South Asia itineraries. The eVisa caps you at 90 days per visit with no extension possible from inside India, and it is valid only at designated airports and authorised seaports — so no land crossing from Nepal. Plan the exits and re-entries by air, or apply for a regular visa for a longer continuous stay.
Common among long-trip travellers and a genuine risk at check-in. Airlines can refuse boarding where there is no evidence of onward travel within the visa's validity. Hold a refundable onward booking even if you intend to change it.
Short-term informal participation while travelling is generally treated as tourism, but a structured placement with a formal Indian organisation may need a different visa category. If the placement is the purpose of the trip rather than an incidental part of it, check before you apply.
Photo rejected on technical grounds
By far the most common cause of delay. The photograph must be square, on a plain white background, with your full face visible and no shadow behind your head. Cropped selfies and phone photos taken against a cream wall are routinely bounced back.
Passport scan unreadable
Glare across the machine-readable zone, a cut-off corner, or a scan where the passport number is blurred will stall the application. Photograph the page flat, in daylight, with no flash.
Applying too close to departure
The eVisa must be granted before you fly, and airlines check it at the gate. Applications submitted the night before a flight leave no room for a document re-upload.
Conditions
These conditions are set by the Government of India and do not vary by nationality. They are worth reading before you book, because two of them — the port-of-entry rule and the restricted-areas rule — catch out a lot of otherwise well-planned trips.
Validity is measured from your date of arrival in India, not from the date you apply. You also need at least two blank pages for immigration stamps.
The India eVisa is accepted at India's designated eVisa airports and authorised seaports. It cannot be used to cross a land border, so overland arrivals from Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh or Pakistan need a different visa.
Every person travelling needs their own eVisa and their own passport, including infants and children. Children cannot be added to a parent's application.
An eVisa does not grant access to Protected Areas, Restricted Areas or Cantonment Areas. Parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Sikkim, Ladakh, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep require a Protected Area Permit or Restricted Area Permit in addition to your visa.
You cannot extend an eVisa from inside India or convert it into another visa category. If your plans change, you must leave and apply again.
Diplomatic, official and service passports are not eligible for the eVisa route, and neither are international travel documents or refugee travel documents.
Consular services
The embassy in Bogotá is not involved in eVisa applications, which are handled entirely online — relevant given that it is the only Indian mission in Colombia. It covers what the eVisa cannot: employment, journalism, research and long-term student visas, regular tourist visas for stays beyond 90 days, and OCI matters.
FAQs
The questions Colombian passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
Up to 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa. The 30-day version allows 30 days with double entry; the one-year and five-year versions are multiple-entry with a 90-day cap per visit. The business eVisa permits up to 180 days per visit within a one-year window, and the medical eVisa 60 days from first entry with triple entry.
Yes — and this catches out a lot of Bogotá itineraries. A US connection requires a US visa or ESTA even if you never leave the airport, and your India eVisa has no bearing on it. If you do not hold a US visa, route via Madrid or Istanbul instead, which avoids the issue entirely.
Both of them, exactly as printed on your passport's name line and in the printed order, in the surname field. If your passport shows RAMÍREZ GÓMEZ, that whole string is your surname as far as Indian immigration is concerned. Do not shorten it to the primer apellido, do not hyphenate, and do not swap the order.
Not on a single eVisa entry — the cap is 90 days per visit with no extension possible from inside India. On a one-year or five-year multiple-entry eVisa you can leave India by air before day 90 and return on a fresh allowance. Alternatively, apply for a regular tourist visa at the embassy in Bogotá for a continuous longer stay. Note you cannot re-enter overland from Nepal on an eVisa.
Fees are set by nationality and duration, so the pricing panel on this page loads live figures for Colombian passport holders across all available options. You can compare 30-day, one-year and five-year prices side by side, and the amount shown is the full cost including our service fee.
No. Every routing involves at least one connection and most involve two, with total travel times of 24 to 30 hours. Madrid is frequently the most convenient single-connection option, with Istanbul and the Gulf hubs as alternatives. Avoid US connections unless you hold a US visa or ESTA.
Short-term informal participation while travelling is generally treated as tourism. But a structured placement with a formal organisation — particularly one that is the purpose of the trip rather than incidental to it — may require a different visa category. If your trip is built around a placement, check the position with the embassy in Bogotá before applying.
No. Indian Visa on Arrival is limited to Japanese, South Korean and Emirati nationals. Colombian citizens need an approved visa before boarding, and it will be checked before you are allowed to fly.
Your nationality is already set to Colombia. Complete the form in under ten minutes, and our team will check every detail before it reaches the Indian authorities.
Other nationalities
Stay limits, fees and requirements differ by passport. Here are the guides for other nationalities.
