Fijian passport holders can apply for the Indian eVisa entirely online — no appointment at the High Commission in Suva, 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 Fijian citizens
A large share of Fiji's population is of Indian descent, from the girmitiya indentured migration of 1879 to 1916. If you or a parent were born in India or ever held an Indian passport, read the ancestry section below. Many Indo-Fijians who travel to India regularly are better served by an OCI card than by repeat eVisas.
Overview
Fiji's connection to India is among the deepest of any country outside South Asia. Between 1879 and 1916, more than sixty thousand indentured labourers — the girmitiya — arrived from Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and, in smaller numbers, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Their descendants make up a very substantial share of the population, Fiji Hindi is widely spoken, and Diwali is a national holiday.
That history drives a specific kind of travel: ancestral visits to the districts girmitiya ancestors left, pilgrimage, and family connections. It also means nationality and OCI questions arise far more often than for most countries.
Every Fijian 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 Fijian passport holders receive up to 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa. There is no nonstop service, so travellers connect through Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney or Auckland.
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. Fijian citizens must hold an approved visa before boarding, and because every routing involves at least one connection, the check can happen at Nadi or at a hub.
Choose the category by purpose. Tourism, sightseeing, pilgrimage, ancestral travel and visiting relatives all fall under the tourist eVisa. Business meetings, trade fairs and supplier visits require the business eVisa. Treatment at an Indian hospital requires the medical eVisa. Employment, journalism, academic research and long-term study — including the university degrees many Fijians pursue in India — are outside the eVisa scheme and need a regular visa from the High Commission in Suva.
On ancestry: girmitiya descent creates no complication in itself. What matters is whether you or a parent were born in India or held an Indian passport. If so, you must declare it and will generally need renunciation documentation, since India does not permit dual citizenship. For most Indo-Fijian families whose ancestors arrived before 1916, none of this applies.
Stay & validity
Fijian 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 anyone of Indian origin travelling to India regularly, an OCI card deserves serious consideration instead. OCI is not a visa but a lifelong multiple-entry status available to people of Indian origin and their spouses, with no 90-day cap and no application needed before each trip. Given the depth of the Indo-Fijian connection, many Fijians qualify. It is issued by the High Commission rather than through the eVisa system and takes considerably longer to obtain.
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.
The eVisa is bound to a single passport number, so a passport renewal during a multi-year visa's term invalidates it.
Pricing
Live government fees and service charges for Fijian passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Fiji
Requirements
Everything Fijian 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. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the destinations for ancestral travel, have their own regional holidays.
Apply at least two weeks before departure. Fijian routings involve at least one long connection and often two, frequently across separate tickets. If your case involves renunciation documentation, start far earlier — a Surrender Certificate comes from an Indian mission and takes much longer than a visa. An OCI application is a months-long process.
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 Fiji and India. Every routing involves at least one connection, usually through Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney or Auckland, with total travel times of 20 to 28 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 travel generally. For ancestral travel to Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, November to February is the right window — cool, dry and practical for the road journeys that district-level visits involve.
Diwali in October or November is a national holiday in Fiji as well as India, which makes it a natural and popular time to travel — expect higher fares and book well ahead. Holi in March is similarly significant in Indo-Fijian communities.
Avoid Bihar and the northern plains in May and June, when temperatures regularly exceed 45°C — a substantial adjustment from Fiji's tropical maritime climate. The monsoon from June to September floods rural Bihar and makes district travel impractical. India is 6.5 hours behind Fijian time, and with 20-plus hours in transit you will arrive substantially displaced.
Avoid these
Refusals are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on applications from Fiji — we check for every one of them before submitting.
The most common missed opportunity for Indo-Fijian travellers. If you are of Indian origin and visit India regularly — for family, pilgrimage or ancestral travel — an OCI card gives lifelong multiple-entry rights with no 90-day cap and removes the need to apply before each trip. Given how large a share of Fiji's population is of Indian descent, many people qualify. It takes months and goes through the High Commission in Suva, so decide ahead of time.
Girmitiya descent creates no complication at all. But if you or a parent were born in India or held an Indian passport, that must be declared, and renunciation documentation is generally required — India does not recognise dual citizenship. Applicants sometimes assume the question cannot apply because the family connection is historical.
Routings via Sydney or Auckland are common from Nadi, and both countries have their own transit requirements depending on nationality and whether you clear immigration. Your India eVisa says nothing about them. The Singapore and Hong Kong routings usually avoid the question and offer the widest onward choice.
May and June in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh exceed 45°C, and monsoon flooding from June to September makes rural district travel impractical. Ancestral travel involves road journeys to villages and record offices — November to February is the only genuinely comfortable window.
Study at an Indian university requires a student visa arranged through the High Commission in Suva before travel, and an eVisa cannot be converted into one once you are in India. Given how many Fijians study in India, this is worth planning properly.
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 Suva is not involved in eVisa applications, which are handled entirely online — but for Fijians it is unusually relevant. It is the route for OCI cards, which many Indo-Fijians should be considering instead of repeat eVisas, and for Surrender Certificates where renunciation documentation is required. It also handles student, employment, journalism and research visas.
FAQs
The questions Fijian passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
If you are of Indian origin and travel to India regularly, very probably yes. An OCI card is a lifelong multiple-entry status for people of Indian origin and their spouses, with no 90-day cap and no need to apply before each trip. Given how large a share of Fiji's population is of Indian descent, many people qualify. It takes months to obtain and goes through the High Commission in Suva, so start it well ahead of any specific trip.
No. Girmitiya descent creates no complication — a standard eVisa is what you need. The question only arises if you or a parent were born in India or held an Indian passport, in which case you must declare it and will generally need renunciation documentation, since India does not permit dual citizenship. For most Indo-Fijian families that does not apply.
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.
Fly via Singapore or Hong Kong to Delhi or Kolkata, then continue to Patna, Varanasi or Gaya — all designated eVisa airports — and travel by road from there. November to February is the right season: cool, dry and practical for the road journeys and record-office visits that ancestral travel involves.
No. Every routing involves at least one connection, usually through Singapore — which offers the widest onward choice — or Hong Kong, Sydney or Auckland. Total travel time is 20 to 28 hours. If you route via Australia or New Zealand, check their transit requirements separately, as your India eVisa does not cover them.
Fees are set by nationality and duration, so the pricing panel on this page loads live figures for Fijian 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. Study at an Indian university requires a student visa arranged through the High Commission in Suva before you travel, and an eVisa cannot be converted into one once you are in India. Given how many Fijians study in India, plan this properly rather than assuming it can be resolved on arrival.
Diwali in October or November is a natural choice, being a national holiday in Fiji as well as India, and it falls at the start of India's dry season. Expect higher fares and book well ahead. Holi in March is similarly significant. Avoid May and June, when Bihar and the northern plains exceed 45°C, and the June to September monsoon, which floods rural districts.
Your nationality is already set to Fiji. 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.
