Maltese passport holders can apply for the Indian eVisa entirely online — no High Commission 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
Overview
Malta is a small market with two distinct India connections. One is its maritime sector: the Malta ship registry is among the largest in the world, and the associated ship-management and crewing business has deep Indian links. The other is Malta's rapidly grown Indian workforce in hospitality, care, construction and gaming, which generates a steady flow of family and home travel — though most of that travel is on Indian passports rather than Maltese ones.
Every Maltese 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: an electronic authorisation issued by the Government of India, linked to your passport number, with no stamp and no visit to a High Commission.
Maltese passport holders receive up to 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa, and the five-year multiple-entry version is available. There is no nonstop service from Malta, so every trip connects — most efficiently through the Gulf or Istanbul.
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. Maltese citizens must hold an approved visa before boarding, and because every routing involves a connection, the check often happens at Malta International.
Choose the category by purpose. Tourism, sightseeing, visiting friends and wellness travel fall under the tourist eVisa. Meetings, trade fairs, ship-registry and crewing business and supplier visits require the business eVisa. Hospital treatment 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.
Residents of Malta who are not Maltese citizens — including the island's large and growing Indian workforce — apply on the nationality of their passport, with that country's fees, entitlements and stay limits. A Maltese residence permit or single work permit is not relevant to Indian visa eligibility.
Stay & validity
Maltese 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.
The business eVisa allows up to 180 days per visit within a one-year multiple-entry window — double the tourist allowance, and the right instrument for ship-management and crewing work involving repeated Indian visits.
The eVisa is bound to a single passport number, so a Maltese passport renewal during a multi-year visa's term invalidates it, with no transfer process.
The eVisa cannot be extended or converted from inside India, and it is valid only at designated airports and authorised seaports. The medical eVisa gives 60 days from first entry with triple entry.
Pricing
Live government fees and service charges for Maltese passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Malta
Requirements
Everything Maltese 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 a week before departure, ideally ten days. Maltese itineraries always involve a connection, sometimes on separate tickets, so a late visa problem is more awkward to fix than for a nonstop traveller.
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 Malta and India, so every routing involves at least one connection and often two. Total journey times run 11 to 17 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 best window for the classic circuits. Malta's own mild winter means there is less of a weather push than from northern Europe, so travel is spread through the year rather than concentrated in a winter-escape season.
The Maltese summer holidays fall in the monsoon — poor for Rajasthan and the Golden Triangle, but the best months for Ladakh and the Spiti Valley, and the traditional Ayurveda season in Kerala.
Avoid the northern plains in May and June, when temperatures exceed 45°C. For South India, Tamil Nadu and Kerala receive the north-east monsoon from October to December, so January to March is driest there. India is 3.5 to 4.5 hours ahead of Maltese time depending on the season.
Avoid these
Refusals are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on applications from Malta — we check for every one of them before submitting.
The most common error on this route by a wide margin, given how rapidly Malta's Indian and other migrant workforce has grown. Indian visa eligibility follows citizenship, not residence. If you hold an Indian, Nepali, Filipino, Pakistani or other passport, you apply as a national of that country, with that country's fees and entitlements. A Maltese residence permit or single work permit is not relevant.
Your passport's machine-readable zone renders ġ as G, ħ as H, ż as Z and ċ as C — so Żammit becomes ZAMMIT and Ħaġar becomes HAGAR. Match the printed name line on the data page and keep your airline booking consistent with it.
Relevant given the size of the Malta ship registry. 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 agent before booking; it cannot be fixed at the port.
Maltese citizens receive 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa, not the 180 days granted to American, British, Canadian and Japanese nationals. The business eVisa does give 180 days per visit.
Some Malta–India routings involve two connections and can run to 17 hours or more. That matters when planning your first night's accommodation and any onward domestic flight inside India — build in margin rather than booking a tight connection on arrival.
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 Indian mission serving Malta is not involved in eVisa applications, which are handled entirely online. It covers what the eVisa cannot: employment, journalism, research and long-term student visas, seafarer and crew matters, OCI cards, and the growing consular workload of Malta's Indian community.
FAQs
The questions Maltese passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
You would not use this page — Indian nationals do not need a visa to enter India. If you hold a passport from a third country, apply as a citizen of that country, not as Malta. Your Maltese residence permit or single work permit has no bearing on Indian visa eligibility, fees or stay limits. This is the most common confusion on this route.
Up to 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa. The 30-day version allows 30 days with double entry; the one-year and five-year versions are multiple-entry with a 90-day cap per visit. 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.
Fees are set by nationality and duration, so the pricing panel on this page loads live figures for Maltese 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 and some involve two, with total journey times of 11 to 17 hours. Gulf routings via Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi are usually the fastest and best value, and they open up Kochi and Chennai directly. Istanbul is another good option.
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 the size of the Malta ship registry this comes up often. Confirm the requirements with your shipping agent well before travel.
Match the printed name line on your passport data page. The machine-readable zone renders ġ as G, ħ as H, ż as Z and ċ as C — so Żammit appears as ZAMMIT there. Either form is generally accepted, but consistency across your visa, passport and airline ticket is what matters.
No. Indian Visa on Arrival is limited to Japanese, South Korean and Emirati nationals. Maltese citizens need an approved visa before boarding, and because every routing starts with a connection, your airline may check it at Malta International.
No. The eVisa cannot be extended or converted from inside India. If you need longer than 90 days per visit, either split the trip across two entries on a multiple-entry visa — leaving India by air and returning — or apply for a regular visa through an Indian mission before you travel.
Your nationality is already set to Malta. 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.
