Lesotho 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 Lesotho citizens
Lesotho is landlocked within South Africa and has no long-haul air service. Every journey to India begins with a transfer to Johannesburg, around an hour by air or five by road. Lesotho is not on India's yellow-fever list, and a Johannesburg-plus-Gulf routing avoids transiting an affected country — but check if you route via Nairobi or Addis Ababa.
Overview
Lesotho is entirely surrounded by South Africa and has no long-haul air service of its own, so every journey to India starts with a transfer to Johannesburg. That single fact shapes the logistics of any trip more than anything in the visa itself.
The commercial relationship runs through textiles — Lesotho's garment sector sources Indian fabric and machinery — and there is a growing medical travel stream to India's private hospitals.
Every Lesotho 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 — a genuine advantage where there is no resident Indian mission. Lesotho 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. Lesotho citizens must hold an approved visa before boarding, and it will be checked at Johannesburg or wherever you begin your long-haul leg.
Choose the category by purpose. Textiles and machinery sourcing, supplier visits and trade fairs require the business eVisa. Treatment at an Indian hospital requires the medical eVisa, which allows accompanying family to travel as medical attendants. Tourism and visiting friends fall under the tourist eVisa. Employment, journalism, academic research and long-term study are outside the eVisa scheme and need a regular visa from an Indian mission.
One practical note: your India eVisa says nothing about transiting South Africa. Since every routing goes through Johannesburg, check whether your journey requires a South African transit visa — that is more often the constraint than the Indian visa.
Stay & validity
Lesotho 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 textiles sourcing 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 version is much better value.
For medical travel the medical eVisa gives 60 days from first entry with triple entry, structured around treatment plus follow-up consultations, with medical attendant visas available for accompanying family.
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 Lesotho passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Lesotho
Requirements
Everything Lesotho 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 Indian eVisa is rarely the constraint here: the South African transit arrangement and the Johannesburg transfer take more planning, and for medical travel the hospital letter takes longer than the visa. Sequence those 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
Lesotho has no long-haul service. Every journey to India begins with a transfer to Johannesburg — around an hour by air from Maseru or five by road — and then a Gulf connection. Total journey times run 16 to 22 hours including the transfer.
Best time to go
October to March is India's dry season and the most comfortable window for both business and medical travel. Recovery in extreme heat is genuinely harder, so if treatment dates are flexible the cooler months are worth choosing.
For textiles sourcing, avoid the Diwali period, when Indian industry closes for several days across many states, and the run-up when everything is busiest.
Avoid the northern plains in May and June, when temperatures exceed 45°C — a very large adjustment from Lesotho's highland climate. India is 3.5 hours ahead of Lesotho 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 Lesotho — we check for every one of them before submitting.
The most consequential practical issue on this route. Lesotho is entirely surrounded by South Africa and every journey to India goes through Johannesburg — but your India eVisa says nothing about your right to transit South Africa. Check that separately and early; it is more often the constraint than the Indian visa.
Inspecting fabric, negotiating with suppliers, sourcing machinery and attending trade fairs are commercial activities requiring the business eVisa — which is also more generous at 180 days per visit against 90.
The Maseru-to-Johannesburg leg is around an hour by air or five by road, and it sits on top of a 16-to-22-hour journey. Build in real margin, particularly for a fixed hospital appointment or a road transfer that can be delayed at the border.
Lesotho is not on India's yellow-fever list, and a Johannesburg-plus-Gulf routing avoids affected countries entirely. But if you route via Nairobi or Addis Ababa, the certificate requirement can be triggered — check your specific itinerary.
The medical eVisa allows triple entry for follow-up consultations and lets accompanying family apply as medical attendants. Indian hospitals increasingly ask which visa you hold.
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
Lesotho is served under concurrent accreditation by an Indian mission in South Africa rather than by a resident post. That has no bearing on your eVisa, which is entirely online — and it is precisely why the eVisa is the practical route. Confirm coverage if you need a student, employment or research visa, or a regular medical visa.
FAQs
The questions Lesotho passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
Possibly, and it needs checking early. Lesotho is entirely surrounded by South Africa and every journey to India goes through Johannesburg — but your India eVisa says nothing about your right to transit South Africa. That is a separate question and is more often the constraint than the Indian visa itself.
Every journey begins with a transfer to Johannesburg — around an hour by air from Maseru or five by road — and then a Gulf connection to Mumbai, Delhi or Bengaluru. Total journey time is 16 to 22 hours including the transfer, so build in real margin, particularly if you take the road option where border delays are possible.
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.
Not normally — Lesotho is not on India's yellow-fever list, and a Johannesburg-plus-Gulf routing avoids affected countries entirely. But if you route via Nairobi or Addis Ababa, India applies the requirement on transit as well as origin and it can be triggered. Check your specific itinerary.
The business eVisa. Inspecting fabric, negotiating with suppliers, sourcing machinery and attending trade fairs are 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 — twice the tourist allowance.
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.
Lesotho is served under concurrent accreditation by an Indian mission in South Africa rather than by a resident post. That has no bearing on your eVisa, which is entirely online — and it is exactly why the eVisa is the practical route. Confirm coverage if you need a student, employment or research visa.
Fees are set by nationality and duration, so the pricing panel on this page loads live figures for Lesotho 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 Lesotho. 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.
