Kiribati 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 Kiribati citizens
Kiribati has very limited air access — Tarawa connects to Nadi, Brisbane and Nauru on thin schedules, and a missed connection can cost days. There is no resident Indian mission. Build the whole itinerary around the available frequencies, and choose a visa duration with enough life to absorb a delay.
Overview
Kiribati is spread across an enormous stretch of the central Pacific and has some of the thinnest air access of any country in the world. Tarawa connects to Nadi, Brisbane and Nauru on limited schedules, and Fiji is the practical gateway onward to Asia and India.
Kiribati also supplies a significant number of merchant seafarers relative to its size, and many I-Kiribati work on internationally managed vessels — which brings the seafarer documentation question into play for anyone joining a ship in an Indian port.
Every Kiribati 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 — which is precisely what makes it practical from a country with no Indian mission. Kiribati 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. Commonwealth membership makes no difference — an approved Indian visa is required before boarding.
Choose the category by purpose. Tourism, sightseeing and visiting friends fall under the tourist eVisa. Business meetings and trade fairs require the business eVisa. Hospital treatment requires the medical eVisa. Employment, journalism, academic research and long-term study need a regular visa from an Indian mission.
One point specific to Kiribati's seafaring workforce: joining or leaving a vessel in an Indian port is not covered by a tourist or business eVisa. It involves seafarer documentation and possibly a different visa category — confirm with your agent or manning company before travelling, because it cannot be resolved at the port.
Stay & validity
Kiribati 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.
Given how thin the schedules are, a one-year multiple-entry visa is usually the better buy over a 30-day one. Validity runs from the grant date, and a delay of several days on a limited-frequency route takes a meaningful bite out of a short visa.
The eVisa is bound to a single passport number, so a passport renewal during a multi-year visa's term invalidates it.
The business eVisa allows up to 180 days per visit within a one-year multiple-entry window. The medical eVisa gives 60 days from first entry with triple entry.
Pricing
Live government fees and service charges for Kiribati passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Kiribati
Requirements
Everything Kiribati 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 three weeks before departure. The visa is quick; the journey is not. Build the itinerary first, confirm the connections, and choose a visa duration that can absorb a delay.
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
Tarawa connects to Nadi, Brisbane and Nauru on thin schedules. Fiji is the practical gateway, with Singapore or Hong Kong onward to India. Total journey times run 26 to 38 hours, considerably more if a connection is missed.
Best time to go
October to March is India's dry season and the best window for the classic circuits. Kiribati straddles the equator and is largely outside the main cyclone belt, though the southern islands are less protected.
For South India — reachable via Singapore — January to March is driest, since the north-east monsoon brings rain from October to December.
Avoid the northern plains in May and June, when temperatures exceed 45°C. Kiribati spans the date line and uses time zones up to UTC+14, so the calendar shift travelling to India is among the largest in the world — check the arrival date printed on your ticket.
Avoid these
Refusals are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on applications from Kiribati — we check for every one of them before submitting.
The defining practical constraint. Tarawa's connections to Nadi, Brisbane and Nauru run on limited frequencies, and a missed or cancelled flight can cost days rather than hours on a journey already running 26 to 38 hours. Build the whole itinerary around the available departures and allow an overnight at the first hub.
Given the schedules, a one-year multiple-entry visa is usually the better buy. Validity runs from the grant date, so a delay of several days takes a meaningful bite out of a 30-day visa's usable life.
Relevant given how many I-Kiribati work as merchant seafarers. Joining or leaving a ship in an Indian port involves seafarer documentation and possibly a different visa category — it is not tourism or business visiting. Confirm with your manning company before booking; it cannot be fixed at the port.
Both have their own transit requirements depending on nationality and whether you clear immigration, and your India eVisa says nothing about them. The Nadi routing is usually simpler than the Brisbane one.
Kiribati spans the international date line and uses time zones as far ahead as UTC+14 — among the earliest in the world. The calendar shift travelling to India is correspondingly large. Check the arrival date printed on your ticket rather than calculating it.
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
Kiribati is served under concurrent accreditation by an Indian mission in the region, most likely Suva, rather than by a resident post. That has no bearing on your eVisa, which is entirely online — and for a country this remote that is precisely why the eVisa is the only practical route. Confirm coverage if you need a student, employment or research visa, or seafarer documentation.
FAQs
The questions Kiribati passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
Tarawa connects to Nadi, Brisbane and Nauru on thin schedules, and Fiji is the practical gateway — from Nadi you connect through Singapore or Hong Kong to India. Total journey time is 26 to 38 hours, considerably more if a connection is missed. Build the whole itinerary around the available frequencies and allow an overnight at the first hub.
A one-year multiple-entry visa rather than the 30-day option. Kiribati's schedules are thin, validity runs from the grant date, and a delay of several days takes a meaningful bite out of a short visa's usable life. The extra cost buys real resilience here.
No. Signing on or off a vessel in India involves seafarer documentation and, depending on circumstances, a different visa category — it is not tourism or business visiting. Given how many I-Kiribati work as merchant seafarers this comes up regularly. Confirm the requirements with your manning company or agent well before travel.
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.
Substantially. Kiribati spans the international date line and uses time zones as far ahead as UTC+14, among the earliest in the world, so the calendar shift travelling to India is one of the largest possible. Check the arrival date printed on your ticket rather than calculating it.
Possibly, depending on your nationality and whether you clear immigration. Both have their own transit requirements and your India eVisa says nothing about them. The Nadi routing is usually simpler than the Brisbane one.
Kiribati is served under concurrent accreditation by an Indian mission in the region, most likely Suva, rather than by a resident post. That has no bearing on your eVisa, which is entirely online — and for a country this remote that is exactly why the eVisa is the only practical route.
Fees are set by nationality and duration, so the pricing panel on this page loads live figures for Kiribati 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 Kiribati. 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.
