Salvadoran 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 Salvadoran citizens
Most convenient routings from El Salvador to India connect through the United States, which requires a US visa even for a transit where you never leave the airport — and that takes far longer to obtain than the Indian eVisa. Resolve the routing first. Panama City plus Madrid avoids US transit entirely.
Overview
El Salvador's long-haul connectivity runs largely through the United States and Panama, and for travellers to India the routing question determines everything else. A US transit visa takes months; the Indian eVisa takes days. Establishing how you will actually fly is the first step.
Travel to India is predominantly leisure, with a smaller trade flow — El Salvador imports Indian textiles, pharmaceuticals and vehicles.
Every Salvadoran 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. Salvadoran 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. Salvadoran citizens must hold an approved visa before boarding, and because every routing involves at least two connections, the check can happen at San Salvador, at a hub, or both.
Choose the category by purpose. Tourism, sightseeing, visiting friends and wellness travel fall under the tourist eVisa. Business meetings, trade fairs and sourcing trips 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 governs entry to India and nothing else — it has no bearing on your right to transit the United States or Panama, and on this route those are the harder questions.
Stay & validity
Salvadoran 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.
Ninety days is ample for the kind of trip that justifies a 28-hour journey. The eVisa cannot be extended from inside India, so build the full plan before you submit.
Because transit arrangements can delay a departure on this route, consider a one-year multiple-entry visa rather than a 30-day one if your travel date is not firm.
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 Salvadoran passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as El Salvador
Requirements
Everything Salvadoran 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.
The Indian eVisa is unlikely to be your critical path. If your routing needs a US transit visa, that takes months and should be started first. Once the routing is settled, apply for the eVisa two to three weeks before departure.
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
El Salvador's long-haul options run largely through the United States and Panama. Panama City plus a European hub avoids US transit entirely. Total journey times run 28 to 34 hours.
Best time to go
October to March is India's dry season and the best window for the classic circuits, overlapping with the Salvadoran dry season and the December holiday period.
Semana Santa in March or April is a major travel period in El Salvador and falls at the warm end of India's season — workable in the south and the hills, already hot in Rajasthan.
Avoid the northern plains in May and June, when temperatures exceed 45°C. India is 11.5 hours ahead of Salvadoran time, and with 28-plus hours in transit you will arrive substantially displaced.
Avoid these
Refusals are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on applications from El Salvador — we check for every one of them before submitting.
The most consequential error on this route. Most convenient San Salvador long-haul itineraries connect through the United States, and a US connection requires a US visa even if you never leave the airport. Your India eVisa is irrelevant to it, and a US visa can take months. Resolve the routing before you buy tickets.
It is not. An Indian eVisa takes 24 to 72 hours; a US transit visa can take months. If your routing needs one, that is the critical path — start it first.
Salvadoran passports carry a paternal and a maternal surname, and both belong in the surname field, in the printed order, without merging or hyphenating. Using only the primer apellido creates a mismatch.
The Panama City routing avoids the US visa problem but introduces another: Panama is on India's yellow-fever list, and India applies the requirement on transit as well as origin. If you route that way, arrange the vaccination — it needs ten days to become valid.
Validity runs from the grant date, and transit arrangements on this route can delay a departure. A one-year multiple-entry visa gives real flexibility if your travel date is not firm.
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 El Salvador 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, and OCI matters. El Salvador may be served under concurrent accreditation from a neighbouring country, so confirm coverage first.
FAQs
The questions Salvadoran passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
Only if your routing connects through the United States — but most convenient San Salvador itineraries do. A US connection requires a US visa even if you never leave the airport, and your India eVisa has no bearing on it. The Panama City plus Madrid or Istanbul routing avoids the issue entirely.
The transit visa. An Indian eVisa takes 24 to 72 hours; a US visa can take months. If your routing requires one, that is the critical path. Sort the routing first, then apply for the Indian eVisa two to three weeks before departure.
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.
Both of them, exactly as printed on your passport's name line and in the printed order, in the surname field. If your passport shows HERNÁNDEZ CASTRO, that whole string is your surname as far as Indian immigration is concerned. Do not shorten it to the primer apellido, do not hyphenate, and do not swap the order.
Not from El Salvador itself — it is not on India's list. But India applies the requirement on transit as well as origin, and the Panama City routing that avoids the US visa problem passes through an affected country. If you route that way, arrange the vaccination; it only becomes valid ten days afterwards.
With a credit or debit card. El Salvador 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.
No. Every routing involves at least two connections, with total travel times of 28 to 34 hours. Panama City plus Madrid, Amsterdam or Istanbul avoids US transit. Mexico City is another option.
October to March for the classic circuits, overlapping with the Salvadoran dry season and December holidays. Semana Santa in March or April falls at the warm end of India's season — workable in the south and hills, already hot in Rajasthan. Avoid the northern plains in May and June.
Your nationality is already set to El Salvador. 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.
