Djiboutian 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 Djiboutian citizens
Djibouti is not on India's yellow-fever list, so a certificate is not normally required — but India applies the requirement on transit as well as origin, and routings via Addis Ababa or Nairobi pass through affected countries. Check against your specific itinerary; a Gulf routing avoids the question.
Overview
Djibouti sits at one of the world's busiest shipping chokepoints, and its ports handle a significant share of the traffic between Asia and the Red Sea. Indian shipping, logistics and construction firms are active there, and the maritime relationship is the defining commercial link.
For Djiboutian travellers, journeys to India are predominantly medical, with a trade and logistics flow alongside. Djibouti is well placed for Gulf connections, which makes India more accessible than for most of the Horn of Africa.
Every Djiboutian 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. Djiboutian 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. Djiboutian citizens must hold an approved visa before boarding, and because every routing involves a connection, the check often happens at Djibouti.
Choose the category by purpose. Treatment at an Indian hospital requires the medical eVisa, which allows accompanying family to travel as medical attendants. Shipping, logistics and port business meetings require the business eVisa. Tourism and visiting relatives fall under the tourist eVisa. Employment, journalism, academic research and long-term study are outside the eVisa scheme and need a regular visa from an Indian mission.
A point relevant to the maritime sector: joining or leaving a vessel in an Indian port is not covered by a tourist or business eVisa. It involves seafarer documentation and, depending on circumstances, a different visa category — confirm with your agent before travelling, because it cannot be resolved at the port.
Stay & validity
Djiboutian 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.
For medical travel the medical eVisa is the better instrument: 60 days from first entry with triple entry, structured around treatment plus follow-up consultations, with medical attendant visas available for accompanying family.
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 extended port and logistics work.
The eVisa cannot be extended or converted from inside India, and it is valid only at designated airports and authorised seaports.
Pricing
Live government fees and service charges for Djiboutian passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Djibouti
Requirements
Everything Djiboutian 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 ten days before departure. If your routing transits Ethiopia or Kenya, the yellow-fever vaccination needs ten days to become valid, so establish that first — or choose a Gulf routing, which avoids it. For medical travel, request the hospital letter as soon as your appointment is confirmed.
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
Djibouti is well placed for Gulf connections, which makes India more accessible than for most of the Horn of Africa. Dubai and Doha are short hops with extensive onward Indian networks, and a Gulf routing avoids transiting a yellow-fever affected country.
Best time to go
October to March is India's dry season and the most comfortable window for both business and medical travel. Recovery in extreme heat is genuinely harder, so if treatment dates are flexible the cooler months are worth choosing.
For medical travel the Indian hospital calendar matters as much as the weather. Diwali and Holi affect staffing and elective scheduling at private hospitals. Confirm dates directly with the hospital.
Avoid the northern plains in May and June, when temperatures exceed 45°C — though coming from Djibouti's climate this is a smaller adjustment than for most travellers. India is 2.5 hours ahead of Djiboutian time.
Avoid these
Refusals are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on applications from Djibouti — we check for every one of them before submitting.
Djibouti is not itself on India's yellow-fever list, but routings via Addis Ababa or Nairobi transit affected countries, and India applies the requirement on transit as well as origin. Without a valid certificate you can be quarantined for up to six days. A Gulf routing via Dubai or Doha avoids the question entirely and is usually more convenient anyway.
Relevant given Djibouti's port sector. Joining or leaving a ship in an Indian port involves seafarer documentation and possibly a different visa category — it is not tourism or business visiting. Confirm with your agent before booking; it cannot be fixed at the port.
The medical eVisa allows triple entry for follow-up consultations and lets accompanying family apply as medical attendants — structure a tourist eVisa does not provide. Indian hospitals increasingly ask which visa you hold.
Port visits, logistics meetings and supplier audits are commercial activities requiring the business eVisa — which is also more generous at 180 days per visit against 90.
The government fee is charged in US dollars and needs a card enabled for international transactions. The card does not have to belong to the traveller, so a business contact abroad can complete it.
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
Djibouti may be served under concurrent accreditation by an Indian mission in a neighbouring country rather than by a resident post. That has no bearing on your eVisa, which is entirely online. Confirm coverage if you need a student, employment or research visa, seafarer documentation, or a regular medical visa.
FAQs
The questions Djiboutian passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
It depends on your routing. Djibouti is not on India's yellow-fever list, but India applies the requirement on transit as well as origin — so a routing via Addis Ababa or Nairobi, both affected countries, can trigger it. A Gulf routing via Dubai or Doha avoids the question entirely and is usually more convenient. Without a valid certificate you can be quarantined for up to six days.
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. Given Djibouti's port sector this comes up regularly. Confirm the requirements with your shipping agent well before travel, because it cannot be resolved at the port.
Up to 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa. The 30-day version allows 30 days with double entry. The medical eVisa gives 60 days from first entry with triple entry, and the business eVisa up to 180 days per visit within a one-year multiple-entry window.
Via Dubai or Doha. Both are short hops with extensive onward Indian networks reaching Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, and a Gulf routing avoids transiting a yellow-fever affected country. Total journey time is 9 to 15 hours, which is short by Horn of Africa standards.
The medical eVisa. It allows 60 days from first entry with triple entry — designed around treatment plus follow-up consultations — and accompanying family members can apply for medical attendant visas linked to your application. You will need a letter from the treating hospital, which must be on India's recognised list.
The business eVisa. Port visits, logistics meetings and supplier audits are commercial activities the tourist eVisa does not cover. You will need an invitation letter from the Indian company on its letterhead. It permits up to 180 days per visit within a one-year window — twice the tourist allowance.
Fees are set by nationality and duration, so the pricing panel on this page loads live figures for Djiboutian 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. Indian Visa on Arrival is limited to Japanese, South Korean and Emirati nationals. Djiboutian citizens need an approved visa before boarding, and because every routing involves a connection, your airline may check it at Djibouti.
Your nationality is already set to Djibouti. 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.
