Ghanaian passport holders can apply for the Indian eVisa entirely online — no appointment at the High Commission in Accra, 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 Ghanaian citizens
India requires a valid yellow-fever vaccination certificate from travellers arriving from Ghana. Without one you can be quarantined on arrival for up to six days, whatever visa you hold. The certificate is only valid from ten days after vaccination, so it cannot be arranged at the airport and no visa substitutes for it.
Overview
Ghana and India have a relationship that goes back to independence — Nkrumah and Nehru were close allies in the Non-Aligned Movement — and it has since become substantially commercial. Indian firms are among the larger investors in Ghana's manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and agro-processing sectors, and there is a long-established Indian business community in Accra and Tema.
Travel in the other direction is driven by three things: medical treatment at India's private hospitals, business and trade, and education. Large numbers of Ghanaian students take degrees at Indian universities, which is a route that requires careful attention because the eVisa cannot be used for it.
Every Ghanaian 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 Ghanaian 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. Ghanaian citizens must hold an approved visa before boarding, and your carrier will verify it at the gate in Accra.
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, supplier visits and machinery inspections require the business eVisa. Tourism, sightseeing and visiting friends fall under the tourist eVisa. Employment, journalism, academic research and long-term study — including the university degrees many Ghanaians pursue in India — are outside the eVisa scheme and need a regular visa from the High Commission in Accra.
The student point deserves emphasis. An eVisa cannot be used for study, and it cannot be converted into a student visa once you are in India. A student visa must be arranged through the High Commission in Accra before you travel, with your admission letter from the Indian institution.
Stay & validity
Ghanaian 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.
For trade and business travel — sourcing machinery, pharmaceuticals or textiles from India is a well-worn route from Ghana — the business eVisa allows up to 180 days per visit within a one-year multiple-entry window, double the tourist allowance. For buyers making several trips a year, the five-year multiple-entry version is much better value than repeat applications.
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 Ghanaian passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Ghana
Requirements
Everything Ghanaian 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. Ghanaian routings involve at least one connection, sometimes across separate tickets, so a visa problem found late is more awkward to fix. For medical travel, start earlier — the hospital letter is usually the bottleneck rather than the visa.
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 Ghana and India, so every routing involves at least one connection. Total journey times run 13 to 19 hours. Your eVisa is checked at your Indian arrival airport rather than in transit.
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 medical travel the Indian hospital calendar matters more than 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.
For trade and machinery sourcing, avoid the Diwali period, when Indian industry and trade close for several days across many states, and the run-up when everything is at its busiest. Avoid the northern plains in May and June, when temperatures exceed 45°C — considerably hotter and drier than anything in Ghana. India is 5.5 hours ahead of Ghanaian 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 Ghana — we check for every one of them before submitting.
The most consequential error on this route, given how many Ghanaians take degrees at Indian universities. 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 the High Commission in Accra before you travel, with your admission letter. Arriving on a tourist eVisa intending to sort it out locally does not work and can result in having to return home.
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, and a mismatch can complicate admission and insurance.
Sourcing machinery, inspecting goods, negotiating with suppliers and attending trade fairs are commercial activities requiring the business eVisa — which is also more generous at 180 days per visit against 90. For buyers making several trips a year, the five-year multiple-entry version is much better value.
Ghanaian names frequently carry several given names, and all of them belong on the application exactly as printed on the passport. Applicants who use the shortened form they use day to day create a mismatch that Indian immigration will pick up. Check the airline booking matches too.
The government fee is charged in US dollars and needs a card enabled for international transactions, which is not automatic on all Ghanaian cards. The payment card does not have to belong to the traveller, so a family member or business contact 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 High Commission in Accra is not involved in eVisa applications, which are handled entirely online — but it matters a great deal for Ghanaians. It is the only route to a student visa for study at an Indian university, which is a major stream from Ghana, and it handles employment, journalism and research visas plus regular medical visas for extended treatment.
FAQs
The questions Ghanaian passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
No, and this is the most important thing to get right. Study at an Indian university or college requires a student visa arranged through the High Commission in Accra before you travel, with your admission letter from the institution. An eVisa cannot be used for study and cannot be converted into a student visa once you are in India — arriving on a tourist eVisa intending to change it locally does not work and can mean having to return home.
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.
The business eVisa. Inspecting goods, negotiating with suppliers, attending trade fairs and machinery sourcing are all 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, and a five-year multiple-entry version suits buyers travelling several times a year.
Up to 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa. The 30-day version allows 30 days with double entry. The business eVisa permits up to 180 days per visit within a one-year multiple-entry window, and the medical eVisa 60 days from first entry with triple entry.
Fees are set by nationality and duration, so the pricing panel on this page loads live figures for Ghanaian 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. Every routing involves at least one connection — commonly Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi, or Addis Ababa with Ethiopian, which is often the best value. Nairobi and Istanbul are further options. Total journey time is 13 to 19 hours. Your eVisa is checked on arrival in India, not in transit.
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 business contact abroad can complete the payment on your behalf. Sort this out before you begin.
No. Indian Visa on Arrival is limited to Japanese, South Korean and Emirati nationals. Ghanaian citizens need an approved visa before boarding, and your airline will verify it at the gate in Accra.
Your nationality is already set to Ghana. 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.
