Gambian 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 Gambian citizens
India requires a valid yellow-fever vaccination certificate from travellers arriving from The Gambia. Without one you can be quarantined on arrival for up to six days, whatever visa you hold. The certificate is valid only from ten days after vaccination.
Overview
The Gambia is one of Africa's smallest countries, and its travel to India is dominated by two things: medical treatment at India's private hospitals, and education, with a steady flow of Gambian students taking degrees at Indian universities under scholarship and self-funded arrangements.
Banjul has limited long-haul service, so most travellers connect through Dakar, Casablanca, Istanbul or Addis Ababa. Total journey times run 15 to 22 hours.
Every Gambian 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. Gambian 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. Gambian citizens must hold an approved visa before boarding, and because every routing involves a connection, the check often happens at Banjul.
Choose the category by purpose. Treatment at an Indian hospital requires the medical eVisa, which allows accompanying family to travel as medical attendants. Business meetings, trade fairs and sourcing trips require the business eVisa. Tourism and visiting friends fall under the tourist eVisa. Employment, journalism, academic research and long-term study — including the university places many Gambian students take in India — are outside the eVisa scheme and need a regular visa from an Indian mission.
The student point is the one that most often causes trouble here: an eVisa cannot be used for study and cannot be converted into a student visa once you are in India. It must be arranged before travel, with your admission letter.
Stay & validity
Gambian 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.
Sixty days covers most treatment episodes, but complex care can run longer and the eVisa cannot be extended from inside India. Establish the expected duration with the hospital before choosing a visa.
The business eVisa allows up to 180 days per visit within a one-year multiple-entry window — double the tourist allowance.
Pricing
Live government fees and service charges for Gambian passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Gambia
Requirements
Everything Gambian 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. The yellow-fever certificate needs ten days to become valid, the hospital letter for medical travel takes longer than the visa, and Gambian routings involve at least one connection. Start the vaccination and any hospital documentation first.
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
Banjul has limited long-haul service. Most routings connect through Dakar, Casablanca, Istanbul or Addis Ababa, with total journey times of 15 to 22 hours. Dakar is close by road and has better onward options.
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 on a patient, 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, and regional festivals close offices in specific states. Confirm dates directly with the hospital's international patient office.
Avoid the northern plains in May and June, when temperatures exceed 45°C. India is 5.5 hours ahead of Gambian 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 Gambia — we check for every one of them before submitting.
The most consequential error on this route. India requires proof of yellow-fever vaccination from travellers arriving from The Gambia, and without it you can be quarantined on arrival for up to six days regardless of your visa. The certificate is only valid from ten days after vaccination, so it cannot be arranged at the airport.
A well-established route from The Gambia and a common error. An eVisa cannot be used for study and cannot be converted into a student visa once you are in India. A student visa must be arranged through an Indian mission before travel, with your admission letter.
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.
Practical rather than procedural. Banjul has limited long-haul service, and Dakar is close by road with considerably wider onward Indian connections and often better fares. On a 20-hour journey that can save a connection.
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 family member abroad can complete it. Resolve this before you begin.
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 Gambia may be served under concurrent accreditation by an Indian mission in a neighbouring West African country rather than by a resident post. That has no bearing on your eVisa, which is entirely online — but confirm coverage if you need a student visa, which is a major route from The Gambia, or an employment, research or regular medical visa.
FAQs
The questions Gambian passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
Yes. India requires proof of yellow-fever vaccination from travellers arriving from The Gambia, and without a valid certificate you can be quarantined on arrival for up to six days regardless of your visa. The certificate only becomes valid ten days after vaccination, so arrange it before anything else.
No. Study at an Indian university requires a student visa arranged through an Indian mission before you travel, with your admission letter, and an eVisa cannot be converted into one once you are in India. Given how many Gambian students take degrees in India, plan this properly rather than assuming it can be resolved on arrival.
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.
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.
Worth pricing both. Banjul has limited long-haul service, while Dakar is close by road and has considerably wider onward Indian connections, often at better fares and with one fewer connection. Your eVisa is checked at your Indian arrival airport, so the departure point makes no difference to the visa itself.
No. Every routing involves at least one connection — commonly Casablanca, Istanbul, or Addis Ababa with Ethiopian, which is often the best value. Gulf routings via Dubai and Doha open up Chennai and Kochi directly. Total journey time is 15 to 22 hours.
Yes. The government fee is charged in US dollars and needs a card able to process international transactions. The payment card does not have to belong to the traveller, so a family member or contact abroad can complete the payment on your behalf.
Fees are set by nationality and duration, so the pricing panel on this page loads live figures for Gambian 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.
Your nationality is already set to Gambia. 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.
