Cypriot passport holders can apply for the Indian eVisa entirely online — no appointment at the High Commission in Nicosia, 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
Overview
Cyprus punches above its weight in the India relationship for two reasons. It is a significant shipping and ship-management centre, with deep crewing links to India, and it hosts a substantial Indian community working in hospitality, care and agriculture — which means the island's India-facing travel is a mix of business, family visits and leisure.
Every Cypriot 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: an electronic authorisation issued by the Government of India, linked to your passport number, with no stamp and no visit to a High Commission.
Cypriot passport holders receive up to 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa, and the five-year multiple-entry version is available. There is no nonstop service from Larnaca or Paphos, so every trip involves a connection — most conveniently through the Gulf, which is close and well served.
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. Cypriot citizens must hold an approved visa before boarding, and because every routing involves a connection, the check often happens at Larnaca.
Choose the category by purpose. Tourism, sightseeing, visiting friends and wellness travel fall under the tourist eVisa. Meetings, trade fairs, ship-management business and crewing discussions 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 High Commission in Nicosia.
Residents of Cyprus who are not Cypriot citizens — including the island's large Indian and other migrant workforce — apply on the nationality of their passport, with that country's fees, entitlements and stay limits. A Cypriot residence permit is not relevant to Indian visa eligibility.
Stay & validity
Cypriot 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.
The business eVisa allows up to 180 days per visit within a one-year multiple-entry window — double the tourist allowance, and the right instrument for ship-management and crewing work involving repeated visits to Mumbai, Chennai or Kochi.
The eVisa is bound to a single passport number, so a Cypriot passport renewal during a multi-year visa's term invalidates it, with no transfer process.
The eVisa cannot be extended or converted from inside India, and it is valid only at designated airports and authorised seaports. The medical eVisa gives 60 days from first entry with triple entry.
Pricing
Live government fees and service charges for Cypriot passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Cyprus
Requirements
Everything Cypriot 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 a week before departure, ideally ten days. Cypriot itineraries always involve a connection, so there is more that can go wrong late than for a nonstop traveller. For recurring business travel, a five-year multiple-entry business eVisa removes the pressure permanently.
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 Cyprus and India, but the island's proximity to the Gulf makes connections short and convenient. Total journey times run 9 to 14 hours — among the quickest in Europe. Your eVisa is checked at your Indian arrival airport rather than in transit.
Best time to go
October to March is India's dry season and the best window for the classic circuits. Cyprus's own mild winter means there is less of a weather push than from northern Europe, so Cypriot travel is spread more evenly through the year than the Nordic pattern.
The Cypriot August holiday falls in the monsoon — poor for Rajasthan, but good for Ladakh and Spiti, and the traditional Ayurveda season in Kerala. Orthodox Easter in April or May lands at the hot end of the Indian season: workable in the hills and the south, uncomfortable in the northern plains.
Avoid the northern plains in May and June, when temperatures exceed 45°C. For South India, note that Tamil Nadu and Kerala receive the north-east monsoon from October to December, so January to March is driest there. India is 2.5 to 3.5 hours ahead of Cypriot time depending on the season.
Avoid these
Refusals are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on applications from Cyprus — we check for every one of them before submitting.
The most common error on this route, given the size of the island's migrant workforce. Indian visa eligibility follows citizenship, not residence. If you hold an Indian, Sri Lankan, Nepali, Filipino or other passport, you apply as a national of that country, with that country's fees and entitlements. A Cypriot residence permit is not relevant to the application.
Names have multiple valid Latin transliterations — Christodoulou or Christodulu, Georgiou or Yeorgiou. Your passport uses one specific form and the eVisa must match it exactly, as must your airline ticket.
Many Greek-Cypriot surnames change with gender — Papadopoulos and Papadopoulou. Use exactly the form printed on your own passport, not a husband's or father's version.
Relevant given Cyprus's ship-management sector. Joining or leaving a ship in an Indian port involves seafarer documentation and possibly a different visa category. Confirm with your agent before booking — it cannot be fixed at the port.
Cypriot citizens receive 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa, not the 180 days granted to American, British, Canadian and Japanese nationals. The business eVisa does give 180 days per visit.
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 High Commission in Nicosia is not involved in eVisa applications, which are handled entirely online. It covers what the eVisa cannot: employment, journalism, research and long-term student visas, seafarer and crew matters, OCI cards, and the substantial consular workload of Cyprus's Indian community.
FAQs
The questions Cypriot passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
Apply as a citizen of the country that issued your passport. Your Cypriot residence permit has no bearing on Indian visa eligibility, fees or stay limits. This is the most common mistake on this route, given how many Indian, Sri Lankan, Nepali and Filipino nationals live and work on the island.
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.
Fees are set by nationality and duration, so the pricing panel on this page loads live figures for Cypriot 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, but the connections are short. Larnaca is close to the Gulf, so routings via Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi give total journey times of just 9 to 14 hours — among the quickest in Europe. Gulf connections are usually both the fastest and the best value, and they open up Kochi and Chennai directly.
Exactly the romanisation printed on your current passport, character for character. Greek-Cypriot names have several valid Latin forms, and many surnames are gendered — use your own printed form rather than a spouse's or parent's. Make sure your airline ticket matches too.
No. Signing on or off a vessel in India involves seafarer documentation and, depending on circumstances, a different visa category — it is not tourism or business visiting. Confirm the requirements with your shipping agent well before travel, because it cannot be resolved at the port.
No. Indian Visa on Arrival is limited to Japanese, South Korean and Emirati nationals. Cypriot citizens need an approved visa before boarding, and because every routing starts with a connection, your airline may check it at Larnaca.
No. The eVisa cannot be extended or converted from inside India. If you need longer than 90 days per visit, either split the trip across two entries on a multiple-entry visa — leaving India by air and returning — or apply for a regular visa through the High Commission in Nicosia before you travel.
Your nationality is already set to Cyprus. 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.
