New Zealand passport holders can apply for the Indian eVisa entirely online — no appointment at the High Commission in Wellington or the consulate in Auckland. 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
New Zealand to India is one of the longer journeys anyone makes to the subcontinent — there is no nonstop service, and total travel time runs 17 to 22 hours through Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney or the Gulf. That length shapes the trip: New Zealanders tend to go for longer and less often, which makes getting the visa duration right more important than it is for short-haul travellers.
Every New Zealand 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 covers 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.
New Zealand passport holders receive up to 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa, and the five-year multiple-entry version is available. Note that New Zealand is not in India's extended-stay tier — the 180-day allowance applies to American, British, Canadian and Japanese nationals only.
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. New Zealand citizens must hold an approved visa before boarding. Because every routing involves a connection, the check often happens at Auckland or Christchurch before you have left New Zealand.
Choose the category by purpose. Holidays, sightseeing, visiting friends and relatives, and yoga or wellness retreats fall under the tourist eVisa. Business meetings, trade fairs 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 in New Zealand.
New Zealand residents who are not citizens apply on the nationality of their passport, with that country's fees, entitlements and stay limits.
Stay & validity
New Zealand 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 starts on the date the Indian government grants the application rather than the date you land.
Given the journey involved, most New Zealanders plan long trips, and 90 days per visit accommodates that comfortably — a month in Rajasthan, a month in Kerala and a Himalayan leg all fit. The eVisa cannot be extended from inside India, so if you genuinely need longer per visit, a regular visa is the route.
The grant-date rule is worth planning around. Applying in April for a November trip consumes seven months of a one-year eVisa before departure. Apply two to three weeks before you fly.
The business eVisa allows up to 180 days per visit within a one-year multiple-entry window — double the tourist allowance. The medical eVisa gives 60 days from first entry with triple entry.
Pricing
Live government fees and service charges for New Zealand passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as New Zealand
Requirements
Everything New Zealand 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. New Zealand itineraries are long, multi-sector and often ticketed across separate carriers, so a visa problem found late is considerably more expensive to unwind than for a nonstop traveller. Ten days gives comfortable room for a photo re-upload. Applications open 120 days ahead, but on one-year and five-year visas two to three weeks out is the right balance.
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 New Zealand and India, so every trip involves at least one connection and usually a long one. Total journey times run 17 to 22 hours. Your eVisa is checked at your Indian arrival airport rather than in transit, so the routing is a matter of price, timing and layover quality.
Best time to go
October to March is India's dry season, and for New Zealanders it coincides with the December–January summer break — the natural window for a trip long enough to justify the journey. That is also the fare peak, so book well ahead. February and March offer the same weather with better availability.
The New Zealand winter, June to August, falls in the Indian monsoon and the pre-monsoon heat. The northern plains exceed 45°C in May and June and should be avoided. But July and August are the best months of the year for Ladakh, the Spiti Valley and Sikkim, which sit in the monsoon's rain shadow — a genuinely good option for New Zealanders travelling in the school holidays.
One trekking-specific point: an eVisa does not grant access to Protected or Restricted Areas. Parts of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Nagaland and Mizoram require a separate permit arranged inside India, usually through a licensed operator, and that takes longer than the visa. India is 6.5 to 7.5 hours behind New Zealand depending on daylight saving.
Avoid these
Refusals are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on applications from New Zealand — we check for every one of them before submitting.
It does not. New Zealand citizens receive 90 days per visit; the extended 180-day stay applies to US, UK, Canadian and Japanese nationals only. Because New Zealanders plan long trips and read UK- and US-focused guidance, this is the most common planning error — and the eVisa cannot be extended from inside India.
A significant issue given how much New Zealand travel to India is trekking. Protected and Restricted Areas — parts of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Nagaland and Mizoram, plus the Andamans and Lakshadweep — need a separate permit in addition to your visa. Arrange it through your Indian operator well ahead of travel.
Your India eVisa governs entry to India and nothing else. Routings via Australia may require an Australian transit visa or ETA depending on your nationality and whether you clear immigration, and some Asian hubs have their own rules. Check each leg when booking, not at the airport.
India does not recognise dual citizenship. If you were born in India or previously held an Indian passport, you must declare it and will generally need a Surrender Certificate. New Zealanders of Indian origin who travel regularly are usually better served by an OCI card.
On one-year and five-year visas, validity runs from the grant date. New Zealanders book long-haul trips early, so applying at the same time as booking can consume half the visa before departure. Book flights early; apply for the visa two to three weeks out.
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
Neither mission is involved in an eVisa application, which is handled entirely online. They cover what the eVisa cannot: OCI cards, Surrender Certificates, employment and student visas, and consular services for Indian nationals in New Zealand.
FAQs
The questions New Zealand passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
Up to 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa. New Zealand is not in the extended-stay tier — the 180-day allowance applies only to US, UK, Canadian and Japanese nationals. The 30-day version allows 30 days with double entry. 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. Every routing requires at least one connection — most commonly Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, or Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi. Total journey time is 17 to 22 hours. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur give the widest choice of Indian arrival cities, including Kochi and Chennai. Your eVisa is checked in India, not in transit, but confirm the transit rules for each country you pass through.
Fees are set by nationality and duration, so the pricing panel on this page loads live figures for New Zealand 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.
Not on its own. The eVisa gets you into India, but Protected and Restricted Areas — including parts of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Nagaland and Mizoram — require a separate Protected Area Permit or Restricted Area Permit. These are arranged inside India, usually through a licensed trekking operator, and take longer than the visa itself. Start early.
October to March for the classic circuits, which conveniently overlaps with the New Zealand summer break. If you travel in the New Zealand winter, June to August, avoid the northern plains — but Ladakh, Spiti and Sikkim are at their absolute best in exactly those months, sitting in the monsoon's rain shadow.
No. Indian Visa on Arrival is limited to Japanese, South Korean and Emirati nationals. New Zealand citizens need an approved visa before boarding, and because every routing starts with a connection, your airline may check it at Auckland.
No. The eVisa is applied for and issued entirely online, your passport stays with you and there is no appointment to book — which matters given that Wellington and Auckland are the only Indian missions in New Zealand. They handle only what the eVisa cannot cover, such as employment, journalism, research, long-term study and OCI cards.
No. The eVisa cannot be extended or converted from inside India. For most New Zealand itineraries 90 days per visit is sufficient, but if you need longer, either split the trip across two entries on a multiple-entry visa or apply for a regular visa through an Indian mission in New Zealand before you travel.
Your nationality is already set to New Zealand. 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.
