Seychellois passport holders can apply for the Indian eVisa entirely online — no appointment at the High Commission in Victoria, 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
Seychelles has one of the closest relationships with India of any African state — India has been a long-standing security, medical and development partner, and there is a well-established Indian-origin community in Victoria. Air Seychelles has operated direct service to Mumbai, which makes India unusually accessible for a small island nation.
Travel to India is a mix of medical treatment, education, trade and family visits. Seychelles is not on India's yellow-fever list, so the certificate requirement that dominates most African routes does not normally apply — though transit through an affected country can trigger it.
Every Seychellois 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. Seychellois 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. Seychellois citizens must hold an approved visa before boarding, and your carrier will verify it at the gate.
Choose the category by purpose. Treatment at an Indian hospital requires the medical eVisa, which allows accompanying family to travel as medical attendants. Business meetings, trade fairs and supplier visits require the business eVisa. Tourism, visiting relatives and heritage travel fall under the tourist eVisa. Employment, journalism, academic research and long-term study — including the university places a number of Seychellois students take in India, often under Indian government scholarships — are outside the eVisa scheme and need a regular visa from the High Commission.
The student point is worth stating: an eVisa cannot be used for study and cannot be converted into a student visa once you are in India, even where an Indian scholarship has been awarded. It must be arranged in advance.
Stay & validity
Seychellois 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 medical travel the medical eVisa is the better instrument: 60 days from first entry with triple entry, structured around treatment plus follow-up consultations, with medical attendant visas available for accompanying family.
Given how frequently Seychellois travellers use India for medical care and education, the multi-year multiple-entry versions are often better value than repeat single applications.
The business eVisa allows up to 180 days per visit within a one-year multiple-entry window. The eVisa cannot be extended or converted from inside India.
Pricing
Live government fees and service charges for Seychellois passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Seychelles
Requirements
Everything Seychellois 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. For medical travel, request the hospital letter as soon as your appointment is confirmed — it usually takes longer than the visa. If you are travelling to study, the student visa takes considerably longer and must be started well ahead of term.
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
Air Seychelles has operated direct service from Mahé to Mumbai, which is unusual for a small island nation and makes India considerably more accessible — verify current schedules when booking. Gulf connections cover everything else.
Best time to go
October to March is India's dry season and the most comfortable window for both leisure travel and medical treatment. Recovery in extreme heat is genuinely harder on a patient, so if treatment dates are flexible the cooler months are worth choosing.
For medical travel the Indian hospital calendar matters as much as the weather. Diwali and Holi affect staffing and elective scheduling at private hospitals. Confirm dates directly with the hospital's international patient office.
Avoid the northern plains in May and June, when temperatures exceed 45°C — a substantial adjustment from the Seychelles' equable island climate. Mumbai's monsoon from June to September brings very heavy rain. India is 1.5 hours ahead of Seychelles time, so there is no jet lag.
Avoid these
Refusals are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on applications from Seychelles — we check for every one of them before submitting.
A well-established route from Seychelles, often under Indian government scholarships — and a common error. An eVisa cannot be used for study and cannot be converted into a student visa once you are in India, even where a scholarship has been awarded. A student visa must be arranged through the High Commission before travel, with your admission letter.
The medical eVisa allows triple entry for follow-up consultations and lets accompanying family apply as medical attendants — structure a tourist eVisa does not provide. Indian hospitals increasingly ask which visa you hold.
Seychelles is not on India's yellow-fever list, so the certificate is not normally required. But a routing via Nairobi or Addis Ababa transits affected countries and can trigger it. A direct Mumbai flight or a Gulf routing avoids the question entirely.
India does not recognise dual citizenship. If you were born in India or ever held an Indian passport, you must declare it and will generally need a Surrender Certificate. If you travel regularly, an OCI card may be the better long-term answer.
Air Seychelles' Mumbai service has been adjusted over time. Verify current schedules when you book rather than assuming — it affects your arrival city and therefore which designated eVisa airport you clear immigration at.
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 High Commission in Victoria is not involved in eVisa applications, which are handled entirely online. It covers what the eVisa cannot: student visas including for Indian government scholarship places — a significant route from Seychelles — plus employment, journalism and research visas, regular medical visas, OCI cards and Surrender Certificates.
FAQs
The questions Seychellois passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
Air Seychelles has operated direct service from Mahé to Mumbai at around five hours, which is unusual for a small island nation and makes India considerably more accessible — but the route has been adjusted over time, so verify current schedules when booking. Gulf connections via Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi cover everything else and reach a wider set of Indian cities.
No. Study at an Indian university requires a student visa arranged through the High Commission before you travel, with your admission letter — and this applies even where an Indian government scholarship has been awarded. An eVisa cannot be used for study and cannot be converted into a student visa once you are in India.
Not normally — Seychelles is not on India's yellow-fever list. But India applies the requirement on transit as well as origin, so a routing via Nairobi or Addis Ababa can trigger it. A direct Mumbai flight or a Gulf routing avoids the question entirely.
Up to 90 days per visit on the tourist eVisa. The 30-day version allows 30 days with double entry. The medical eVisa gives 60 days from first entry with triple entry, and the business eVisa up to 180 days per visit within a one-year multiple-entry window.
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. Request it as soon as your appointment is confirmed.
It depends on the generation. If you were born in India or previously held an Indian passport, you must declare it and will generally need a Surrender Certificate, because India does not permit dual citizenship. If your family settled in Seychelles generations ago and you have never held Indian nationality, a standard eVisa is all you need.
Fees are set by nationality and duration, so the pricing panel on this page loads live figures for Seychellois 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. Indian Visa on Arrival is limited to Japanese, South Korean and Emirati nationals. Seychellois citizens need an approved visa before boarding, and your airline will verify it at the gate.
Your nationality is already set to Seychelles. 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.
