Lao passport holders can apply for the Indian eVisa entirely online — no appointment at the Embassy of India in Vientiane, 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
Overview
Laos is a Theravada Buddhist country, and the Bihar pilgrimage circuit — Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar, Rajgir and Nalanda — is the dominant reason Lao travellers go to India. Groups often travel with monks from local temples, and the pattern is seasonal, concentrated in the cool winter months.
There is no nonstop service, so travellers connect through Bangkok, Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. Bangkok is the most useful hub, with direct seasonal service into Gaya and Varanasi that avoids a domestic Indian connection entirely.
Every Lao 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. Lao 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. Lao citizens must hold an approved visa before boarding, and your carrier will verify it at the gate.
Choose the category by purpose. Pilgrimage, tourism, sightseeing and visiting friends fall under the tourist eVisa — pilgrimage is tourism for these purposes, and no special endorsement is needed. 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 are outside the eVisa scheme and need a regular visa from an Indian mission.
Ordained monks apply through the same eVisa route as anyone else. But extended residence at an Indian monastery or formal religious study falls outside the tourist category and requires a student visa arranged in advance — a genuine consideration given how many Lao monks study in India.
Stay & validity
Lao 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 — sufficient for most pilgrimage groups.
The one-year and five-year versions are multiple-entry, with validity starting on the date the Indian government grants the application. For pilgrims who return regularly the multi-year visa is better value than repeat applications.
Lumbini, the Buddha's birthplace, is in Nepal rather than India, and the eVisa cannot be used for a land re-entry into India. A group crossing into Nepal must return by air or hold regular paper visas.
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 Lao passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Laos
Requirements
Everything Lao 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. For group pilgrimage travel, start two to three weeks ahead: every member needs an individual application, and in any large group at least one photograph or scan will need replacing.
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
Laos connects to India through Bangkok, Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. Bangkok is the most useful hub and has direct seasonal service into Gaya and Varanasi, which avoids a domestic Indian connection. Total journey times run 8 to 14 hours.
Best time to go
November to February is the Buddhist pilgrimage season and by far the best time for the Bihar circuit. The sites are cool and dry, and the long road transfers between Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Nalanda, Sarnath and Kushinagar are manageable.
Avoid Bihar in May and June, when temperatures regularly exceed 45°C — much hotter and drier than anything in Laos, and genuinely difficult for a group walking between outdoor sites.
The monsoon from June to September floods Bihar and disrupts road transfers. India is 1.5 hours behind Lao time, so there is effectively no jet lag.
Avoid these
Refusals are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on applications from Laos — we check for every one of them before submitting.
The most consequential error on the Buddhist circuit, because Lumbini is in Nepal. The eVisa is valid only at India's designated airports and authorised seaports, so a group crossing into Nepal cannot walk back across. Either return by air, or arrange regular paper visas for the whole group before the itinerary is fixed.
Lao uses its own script and names have several valid Latin transliterations. Your passport uses one specific form and the eVisa must match it exactly, as must your airline ticket. Using a spelling from an older document is a frequent cause of mismatch.
Every traveller needs an individual eVisa on their own passport, including monks, children and elderly pilgrims. A group of thirty means thirty separate applications, each with its own photograph and passport scan.
Short pilgrimage visits are tourism and the tourist eVisa covers them. Residence at an Indian monastery for a course of study requires a student visa arranged through an Indian mission before travel — relevant given how many Lao monks study in India — and the eVisa cannot be converted once you are in the country.
Bihar in May and June exceeds 45°C, and monsoon flooding from June to September disrupts road transfers between the pilgrimage sites. November to February is the only window that really works.
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 Vientiane is not involved in eVisa applications, which are handled entirely online. It covers what the eVisa cannot: student visas — including for Buddhist studies programmes in India, a well-established route from Laos — plus employment, journalism and research visas, and OCI matters.
FAQs
The questions Lao passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
No. Pilgrimage counts as tourism under the eVisa scheme, so a tourist eVisa covers Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar, Rajgir and Nalanda with no special endorsement. Gaya is a designated eVisa airport and the gateway to Bodh Gaya, reachable via Bangkok's seasonal pilgrimage services. For most groups the 30-day double-entry version is sufficient.
Not by land. The eVisa is accepted only at India's designated airports and authorised seaports, so you cannot cross back at a land border. Either fly back into India, or arrange regular paper visas through the embassy in Vientiane for everyone travelling. Resolve this before the itinerary is finalised.
Up to 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa. The 30-day version allows 30 days with double entry and suits most pilgrimage groups. 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. Attending teachings on a short pilgrimage visit is tourism and the tourist eVisa covers it. But residence at an Indian monastery for a course of study requires a student visa arranged through the embassy in Vientiane before you travel, and the eVisa cannot be converted once you are in India. Given how many Lao monks study in India, plan this properly.
No. Every traveller needs an individual eVisa on their own passport, including monks, children and elderly pilgrims, each with its own photograph and passport scan. Start two to three weeks ahead for a group booking.
Fees are set by nationality and duration, so the pricing panel on this page loads live figures for Lao 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.
Via Bangkok, which has direct seasonal service into Gaya during the pilgrimage season — that avoids a domestic Indian connection entirely. Otherwise fly to Delhi or Kolkata and connect to Gaya or Varanasi. Total journey time is 8 to 14 hours, and Gaya is a designated eVisa airport.
No. Indian Visa on Arrival is limited to Japanese, South Korean and Emirati nationals. Lao citizens need an approved visa before boarding, and your airline will verify it at the gate.
Your nationality is already set to Laos. 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.
