Timorese 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 East Timor citizens
East Timor has limited international air service — most routings go via Bali or Singapore — and there may be no resident Indian mission. Both matter for planning. Neither affects the eVisa itself, which is entirely online, and that is precisely why it is the practical route for Timorese travellers.
Overview
East Timor is one of the smallest and most recently independent nationalities covered here, and its practical situation is defined by connectivity: Dili has limited international service, with Bali and Singapore the main gateways. Every trip to India therefore involves at least two flights.
Travel to India is a mix of medical treatment, education and business — India has provided training and technical cooperation to Timor-Leste since independence, and a number of Timorese students study at Indian universities.
Every East Timor 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 — a genuine advantage where consular access is limited. Timorese 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. East Timor citizens must hold an approved visa before boarding, and because every routing involves connections, the check often happens at Dili.
Choose the category by purpose. Tourism, sightseeing and visiting friends fall under the tourist eVisa. Treatment at an Indian hospital requires the medical eVisa, which allows accompanying family to travel as medical attendants. Meetings, trade fairs and supplier visits require the business eVisa. Employment, journalism, academic research and long-term study — including the degrees a number of Timorese students take in India — are outside the eVisa scheme and need a regular visa from an Indian mission.
The student point is worth stating plainly: an eVisa cannot be used for study and cannot be converted into a student visa once you are in India. Arrange it through an Indian mission before travel, allowing extra time given the consular access position.
Stay & validity
East Timor 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.
Given the journey involved, a 90-day allowance is generous, and the multi-year multiple-entry versions suit anyone travelling for staged medical treatment or recurring training.
The business eVisa allows up to 180 days per visit within a one-year multiple-entry window. The eVisa cannot be extended or converted from inside India.
Pricing
Live government fees and service charges for Timorese passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as East Timor
Requirements
Everything Timorese 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. Timorese itineraries involve at least two flights, frequently on separate tickets, and consular access is limited — so a problem found late is considerably harder to resolve than for most travellers. 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
Dili has limited international service. Bali and Singapore are the main gateways, and every routing to India involves at least two flights. Total journey times run 14 to 22 hours.
Best time to go
October to March is India's dry season and the most comfortable window for both leisure travel and medical treatment. Recovery in extreme heat is genuinely harder, so if treatment dates are flexible the cooler months are worth choosing.
For South India — Chennai and Bengaluru, both major medical destinations and the most convenient arrival points from Singapore — the pattern differs from the north: the north-east monsoon brings rain from October to December, so January to March is driest there.
Avoid the northern plains in May and June, when temperatures exceed 45°C. India is 2.5 hours behind Timorese time, so there is effectively no jet lag despite the long journey.
Avoid these
Refusals are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on applications from East Timor — we check for every one of them before submitting.
Every Dili–India routing involves at least two flights and frequently separate tickets, with total journey times of 14 to 22 hours. A missed connection cascades badly, and there is little redundancy on the Dili routes. Build in real margin, particularly if you are travelling for a fixed hospital appointment.
Timorese names often follow the Portuguese pattern with two or more surnames. All of them belong on the application, in the printed order, exactly as the passport shows. Using the shortened form you use day to day creates a mismatch that Indian immigration will pick up.
Your India eVisa governs entry to India only. Routings via Indonesia, Singapore or Australia each have their own transit rules depending on whether you clear immigration or change terminals. On a two- or three-connection journey this needs checking leg by leg.
Study at an Indian university requires a student visa arranged through an Indian mission before travel, and an eVisa cannot be converted into one once you are in India. Given limited consular access, start this well ahead.
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.
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
East Timor may be served under concurrent accreditation by an Indian mission in a neighbouring country rather than by a resident embassy. That has no bearing on your eVisa, which is entirely online — and it is precisely why the eVisa is the practical route. But if you need a student, employment or research visa, or an OCI card, confirm which mission covers you and allow considerably more time than usual.
FAQs
The questions Timorese passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
Every routing involves at least two flights. Singapore is the most reliable gateway and has the widest onward Indian network, reaching Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai. Bali is the other main option, connecting onward through Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or a Gulf hub. Total journey time is 14 to 22 hours, so build in real margin.
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.
All of them, exactly as printed on your passport and in the printed order. Timorese names often follow the Portuguese pattern with two or more surnames, and Indian immigration compares the eVisa against the passport character by character. Do not shorten, merge or reorder them.
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. Request it as soon as your appointment is confirmed.
East Timor may be served under concurrent accreditation by an Indian mission in a neighbouring country rather than by a resident embassy. That has no bearing on your eVisa, which is entirely online — and it is exactly why the eVisa is the practical route. But if you need a student, employment or research visa, confirm coverage and allow considerably more time.
No. Study at an Indian university requires a student visa arranged through an Indian mission before you travel, and an eVisa cannot be converted into one once you are in India. Given the limited consular access from East Timor, start this well ahead of your intended departure.
Fees are set by nationality and duration, so the pricing panel on this page loads live figures for Timorese 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. East Timor citizens need an approved visa before boarding, and because every routing involves connections, your airline may check it at Dili.
Your nationality is already set to East Timor. 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.
