Philippine passport holders can apply for the Indian eVisa entirely online — no appointment at the Embassy of India in Manila, 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 Filipino citizens
Philippine passports carry a middle name field that most other countries' passports do not. Indian visa forms do not have an equivalent field, and how you handle it is the most common source of mismatch on Filipino applications. Read the naming section below before you apply — and make sure your airline booking matches whatever you enter.
Overview
Filipino travel to India divides into leisure, business and a growing religious dimension. The leisure side favours the Golden Triangle and Kerala; the business side runs through business process outsourcing, IT and pharmaceuticals, where the Philippines and India are both major players and often direct counterparts. There is also a distinctive Catholic pilgrimage strand — Goa's Basilica of Bom Jesus holds the relics of St Francis Xavier, who is deeply significant in Philippine Catholicism.
Every Filipino 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 consular appointment.
Philippine passport holders receive up to 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa, and the five-year multiple-entry version is available. The practical hurdle for Filipino applicants is almost always the name fields rather than eligibility.
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. Filipino citizens must hold an approved visa before boarding, and your carrier will verify it at the gate in Manila or Cebu.
Choose the category by purpose. Tourism, sightseeing, pilgrimage, visiting friends and wellness travel fall under the tourist eVisa — Catholic pilgrimage to Goa counts as tourism. Business meetings, trade fairs, supplier visits and technical 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 embassy in Manila.
An important point for Filipinos working abroad: eligibility follows citizenship, not residence. If you are an OFW based in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore or Hong Kong, you still apply as a Filipino citizen on your Philippine passport, with Philippine fees and entitlements — not those of your country of residence.
Stay & validity
Filipino 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 business travellers in the outsourcing and IT sectors — where trips to Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai are often frequent and short — the five-year multiple-entry business eVisa is comfortably better value than repeat applications, and it permits up to 180 days per visit against the tourist visa's 90.
The eVisa is bound to a single passport number, so a Philippine passport renewal during a multi-year visa's term invalidates it, with no transfer process.
The medical eVisa gives 60 days from first entry with triple entry.
Pricing
Live government fees and service charges for Philippine passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Philippines
Requirements
Everything Philippine 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. Because the name fields are the most likely thing to need attention on a Filipino application, that margin is genuinely useful — it is far better resolved before submission than after a refusal.
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
Direct service between Manila and India has operated and the network has grown, though it is periodically adjusted — verify current schedules when booking. Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Hong Kong are the reliable alternatives, all with short onward hops to a wide range of Indian cities.
Best time to go
October to March is India's dry season and the best window for the classic circuits. For Filipino travellers this aligns reasonably with the Christmas and New Year holidays, which are the strongest travel period of the year — and consequently the fare peak.
For the Goa pilgrimage, November to March is the season. Note that the exposition of St Francis Xavier's relics happens only rarely — roughly once a decade — so if that is your reason for travelling, confirm the dates well ahead. Outside those years the Basilica of Bom Jesus is open year-round.
Avoid the northern plains in May and June, when temperatures exceed 45°C — hotter and drier than anything in the Philippines. The Indian monsoon from June to September will feel familiar, but it does disrupt regional flights and trains on multi-city itineraries. India is 2.5 hours behind Philippine time, so jet lag is negligible.
Avoid these
Refusals are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on applications from Philippines — we check for every one of them before submitting.
The defining Filipino-specific problem. Philippine passports carry a middle name — traditionally the mother's maiden surname — in its own field, which Indian visa forms do not have. Most applicants should enter the given name followed by the middle name in the given-name field, and the surname in the surname field. The critical thing is consistency: whatever you enter must match your airline booking, because Indian immigration compares the visa against both.
Eligibility follows citizenship, not residence. A Filipino working in Dubai, Riyadh, Singapore or Hong Kong applies as a Filipino citizen on the Philippine passport, with Philippine fees and entitlements. Selecting the UAE or Saudi Arabia because you live there produces an application that does not match your travel document.
Philippine names frequently carry generational suffixes — Jr, Sr, III. If your passport shows one, it belongs on the application exactly as printed, and on your airline booking too. Dropping it is a common cause of mismatch.
It does not. Visiting the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa, or any other religious site, is tourism and a tourist eVisa covers it. No letter or endorsement is required.
Filipino 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, which is often the answer for extended project work.
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 Manila is not involved in eVisa applications, which are handled entirely online — relevant given that it is the only Indian mission in the Philippines. It covers what the eVisa cannot: employment, journalism, research and long-term student visas, OCI cards, and consular services for Indian nationals in the Philippines.
FAQs
The questions Philippine passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
Indian visa forms have no middle name field, so most applicants enter the given name followed by the middle name in the given-name field, with the surname in the surname field. The single most important thing is consistency — whatever you enter must match your airline booking, because Indian immigration compares your visa against both your passport and your ticket. We check this before submitting.
As a Filipino citizen, on your Philippine passport. Your UAE residence visa and Emirates ID have no bearing on Indian visa eligibility, fees or stay limits. This applies equally if you are based in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Singapore, Hong Kong or anywhere else — eligibility follows the passport, not the residence.
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.
No — pilgrimage is tourism under the eVisa scheme, and a tourist eVisa covers it with no letter or endorsement required. Note that the exposition of the relics happens only rarely, roughly once a decade, so if that specific event is your reason for travelling, confirm the dates well in advance. The Basilica of Bom Jesus itself is open year-round.
Fees are set by nationality and duration, so the pricing panel on this page loads live figures for Philippine 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.
Direct Manila–Delhi service has operated and the network has grown, but it is periodically adjusted, so verify current schedules when booking. Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Hong Kong are the reliable alternatives, all with short onward hops to a wide range of Indian cities. Total journey time is 8 to 14 hours.
The business eVisa, provided you are attending meetings, technical discussions, delivery reviews or trade events rather than taking up employment in India. You will need an invitation letter from the Indian entity on its letterhead. It permits up to 180 days per visit within a one-year multiple-entry window — twice the Filipino tourist allowance — and a five-year version suits frequent short trips.
No. Indian Visa on Arrival is limited to Japanese, South Korean and Emirati nationals. Filipino citizens need an approved visa before boarding, and your airline will verify it at the gate.
Your nationality is already set to Philippines. 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.
