Cuban passport holders can apply for the Indian eVisa entirely online — no consular appointment, 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 Cuban citizens
The Indian visa itself is straightforward for Cuban citizens. Two other things are not, and both need solving first: the government fee is charged in US dollars and Cuban-issued cards cannot process international transactions — though the payment card does not have to belong to the traveller — and your routing cannot practically go through the United States. Madrid, Panama City and Mexico City are the workable options.
Overview
Cuba and India have a long diplomatic relationship dating from the Non-Aligned Movement, and a real pharmaceutical and biotechnology connection — Indian generics are widely used in Cuba, and there is cooperation between the two countries' biotech sectors. Travel between them, though, runs into obstacles that have nothing to do with the visa.
The two that matter are payment and routing. The Indian government fee is denominated in US dollars, and Cuban-issued cards cannot process international transactions at all. And the US routings that serve most of the Caribbean are not practical from Havana, so the journey goes via Madrid, Panama City, Mexico City or Moscow.
Every Cuban citizen needs a visa granted before departure. There is no visa-free entry and no visa on arrival. The eVisa is an electronic authorisation issued by the Government of India, linked to your passport number, with no stamp and no appointment. Cuban 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. Cuban citizens must hold an approved visa before boarding, and it will be checked at Havana or at your hub.
Choose the category by purpose. Tourism, sightseeing and visiting relatives fall under the tourist eVisa. Business meetings, trade fairs, pharmaceutical and biotechnology work require the business eVisa. Hospital treatment requires the medical eVisa. Employment, journalism, academic research and long-term study — including the medical and technical courses Cubans take in India under bilateral arrangements — are outside the eVisa scheme and need a regular visa from an Indian mission.
Your India eVisa governs entry to India only. It says nothing about Cuban exit formalities or your right to transit Spain, Panama or Mexico, and on this route those need checking separately and early.
Stay & validity
Cuban 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.
Because transit and payment arrangements can delay a departure unpredictably on this route, consider a one-year multiple-entry visa rather than a 30-day one if your travel date is not firm — validity runs from the grant date, and a short visa can expire before you fly.
The eVisa is bound to a single passport number, so a passport renewal during a multi-year visa's term invalidates it, with no transfer process.
The business eVisa allows up to 180 days per visit within a one-year multiple-entry window — double the tourist allowance. The medical eVisa gives 60 days from first entry with triple entry.
Pricing
Live government fees and service charges for Cuban passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Cuba
Requirements
Everything Cuban 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.
The Indian eVisa is very unlikely to be your critical path. Arranging a workable payment and a transit-compliant routing both take longer and are less predictable. Sort those first and treat the eVisa as the quick final step — and do not buy non-refundable tickets until they are settled.
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
The US routings that serve most of the Caribbean are not practical from Havana. Madrid, Panama City, Mexico City and Moscow are the workable hubs. Total journey times run 24 to 32 hours.
Best time to go
October to March is India's dry season and the best window for the classic circuits. It also avoids the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs June to November and can disrupt Cuban departures.
For pharmaceutical and biotech business, note that Diwali closes much of Indian industry for several days across many states, and the run-up is the busiest period of the year.
Avoid the northern plains in May and June, when temperatures exceed 45°C. India is 10.5 hours ahead of Cuban time, and with 24-plus hours in transit you will arrive substantially displaced. 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 Cuba — we check for every one of them before submitting.
The single most common stall on this route. The government fee is charged in US dollars, and Cuban-issued cards cannot process international transactions. The important thing to know is that the payment card does not have to belong to the traveller — a family member, colleague or contact abroad can complete it on your behalf. Arrange that before you begin the application rather than discovering the problem at the payment step.
The US connections that serve most of the Caribbean are not practical from Havana. Build the itinerary around Madrid, Panama City, Mexico City or Moscow from the outset rather than pricing US options and then having to start again.
It is not. An Indian eVisa takes 24 to 72 hours. Arranging a workable payment method and a transit-compliant routing both take longer and are less predictable — and Cuban exit formalities are separate again. Sequence those first.
Cuban passports carry a paternal and a maternal surname, and both belong in the surname field, in the printed order, without merging or hyphenating. Using only the primer apellido creates a mismatch that Indian immigration will pick up.
Validity runs from the grant date, and payment or transit delays can push a departure back. A one-year multiple-entry visa costs more but gives real flexibility if your travel date is not firm.
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 Havana is not involved in eVisa applications, which are handled entirely online — a genuine advantage on this route. It covers what the eVisa cannot: student visas including the medical and technical courses Cubans take in India under bilateral arrangements, plus employment, journalism and research visas, and regular medical visas for extended treatment.
FAQs
The questions Cuban passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
This is the most common obstacle on this route, and it has a straightforward answer: the payment card does not have to belong to the traveller. A family member, colleague or contact abroad can complete the payment on your behalf. The government fee is charged in US dollars and Cuban-issued cards cannot process international transactions, so arrange this before you begin the application rather than discovering it at the payment step.
Not practically. The US connections that serve most of the Caribbean are not a workable option from Havana. Build your itinerary around Madrid — usually the most convenient and best-connected — or Panama City, Mexico City or Moscow. Total journey time is 24 to 32 hours either way.
Up to 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa. The 30-day version allows 30 days with double entry. The business eVisa permits up to 180 days per visit within a one-year multiple-entry window, and the medical eVisa 60 days from first entry with triple entry.
Consider a one-year multiple-entry visa rather than the 30-day option. Validity runs from the grant date, and payment or transit arrangements on this route can delay a departure — a short visa can expire before you fly. The extra flexibility is usually worth it here.
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 PÉREZ GONZÁLEZ, 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.
No. Study at an Indian institution requires a regular student visa arranged through the embassy in Havana before you travel, and an eVisa cannot be converted into one once you are in India. This applies to the medical and technical courses Cubans take in India under bilateral arrangements.
No. The eVisa authorises entry to India and nothing else. Cuban exit requirements and your right to transit Spain, Panama or Mexico are governed entirely separately, and on this route they need checking early — they are more often the constraint than the Indian visa.
Fees are set by nationality and duration, so the pricing panel on this page loads live figures for Cuban 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.
Your nationality is already set to Cuba. 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.
