Palau 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 Palau citizens
Palau's air links run to Manila, Taipei and Guam. Guam is United States territory, so routing that way involves US entry requirements even though Palau is in a Compact of Free Association with the United States — the Compact governs your rights in the US, not your onward journey. Manila and Taipei avoid the question entirely and connect better to India anyway.
Overview
Palau is in a Compact of Free Association with the United States, which gives Palauans particular rights to live and work in America. That Compact does not, however, simplify travel to India — and it can create a false sense that a Guam routing is straightforward when Guam is US territory with its own entry requirements.
In practice Manila and Taipei are the better hubs. Both connect Palau to Asia's Indian network without touching US territory, and both offer onward routings to a wide set of Indian cities.
Every Palau 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. Palau 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. The Compact of Free Association with the United States confers nothing in respect of India — 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 are outside the eVisa scheme and need a regular visa from an Indian mission.
Your India eVisa says nothing about transiting Guam, the Philippines or Taiwan. Guam is US territory with its own entry requirements; Manila and Taipei have their own transit rules. Check whichever your routing uses.
Stay & validity
Palau 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 Palau's limited frequencies, a one-year multiple-entry visa is worth considering over a 30-day one — validity runs from the grant date, and a disrupted departure on a thin schedule can consume a meaningful share 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 Palau passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Palau
Requirements
Everything Palau 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. Settle the routing first — the Guam option brings US entry requirements into play, and that takes far longer than the Indian eVisa. Manila and Taipei avoid it.
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
Palau connects to Manila, Taipei and Guam. Manila and Taipei are the better options for India — they avoid US territory and connect well to Asia's Indian network. Total journey times run 16 to 24 hours.
Best time to go
October to March is India's dry season and the best window for the classic circuits. Palau is outside the main South Pacific cyclone belt but sits in the western Pacific typhoon zone, which is most active from July to November.
For South India — reachable via Singapore or Kuala Lumpur — 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. India is 4.5 hours behind Palau 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 Palau — we check for every one of them before submitting.
The defining misconception here. Palau's Compact of Free Association gives Palauans particular rights to live and work in the United States — it says nothing about travel to India, and it does not make a Guam routing frictionless. Guam is US territory with its own entry requirements. Manila and Taipei avoid the question entirely and connect better to India anyway.
Guam is the familiar hub for Palauans but the wrong one for India. Manila and Taipei are faster, avoid US territory, and connect into Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Hong Kong, which between them reach a wide set of Indian cities.
Palau's frequencies are limited, and a disrupted departure can consume a meaningful share of a 30-day visa, since validity runs from the grant date. A one-year multiple-entry visa gives more resilience.
Manila and Taipei each have their own transit requirements depending on nationality and whether you clear immigration. Your India eVisa says nothing about them — check whichever you use.
There is not. Palau is served under concurrent accreditation from elsewhere in the region, so anything the eVisa cannot cover requires planning well ahead.
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
Palau is served under concurrent accreditation by an Indian mission in the region rather than by a resident post. That has no bearing on your eVisa, which is entirely online — and for a jurisdiction this remote that is precisely why the eVisa is the practical route. Confirm coverage if you need a student, employment or research visa.
FAQs
The questions Palau passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
No. The Compact of Free Association gives Palauans particular rights to live and work in the United States — it confers nothing in respect of India, and it does not make a Guam routing frictionless. Guam is US territory with its own entry requirements. An approved Indian visa is required before boarding regardless.
Manila or Taipei. Both avoid US territory entirely and connect well into Asia's Indian network — Manila via Singapore or Kuala Lumpur, Taipei directly to Delhi or onward via Hong Kong or Bangkok. Both are faster and simpler than routing via Guam. Total journey time is 16 to 24 hours.
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.
Consider a one-year multiple-entry visa over the 30-day option. Palau's frequencies are limited, and validity runs from the grant date — a disrupted departure on a thin schedule can consume a meaningful share of a short visa. The extra flexibility is usually worth it.
With a credit or debit card. Palau uses the US dollar, so the USD-denominated government fee is straightforward — no currency conversion issue. The pricing panel on this page shows the full amount including our service fee.
Possibly, depending on your nationality and whether you clear immigration. Both have their own transit requirements and your India eVisa says nothing about them. Check whichever routing you choose — but both are still simpler than the Guam option.
Palau is served under concurrent accreditation by an Indian mission in the region rather than by a resident post. That has no bearing on your eVisa, which is entirely online — and for a jurisdiction this remote that is exactly why the eVisa is the practical route. Confirm coverage if you need a student, employment or research visa.
October to March for India's dry season. Note that Palau sits in the western Pacific typhoon zone, most active from July to November, which is worth avoiding for departure reliability. For South India, January to March is driest.
Your nationality is already set to Palau. 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.
