Sierra Leonean 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 Sierra Leonean citizens
India requires a valid yellow-fever vaccination certificate from travellers arriving from Sierra Leone. Without one you can be quarantined on arrival for up to six days, whatever visa you hold. The certificate is valid only from ten days after vaccination, so arrange it before anything else.
Overview
Sierra Leone's most direct commercial link to India runs through diamonds. Surat cuts and polishes the overwhelming majority of the world's rough stones, and Sierra Leonean production feeds into that supply chain — which makes Mumbai and Surat familiar destinations for the country's traders.
Alongside that sits medical travel to India's private hospitals and an education route, with a number of Sierra Leoneans taking degrees at Indian universities.
Every Sierra Leonean 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. Sierra Leonean 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. Sierra Leonean citizens must hold an approved visa before boarding, and because every routing involves a connection, the check often happens at Freetown.
Choose the category by purpose. Diamond-trade business, supplier meetings and trade fairs require the business eVisa. Treatment at an Indian hospital requires the medical eVisa, which allows accompanying family to travel as medical attendants. Tourism and visiting friends fall under the tourist eVisa. Employment, journalism, academic research and long-term study are outside the eVisa scheme and need a regular visa from an Indian mission.
The diamond-trade point matters: visiting Surat or Mumbai to sell rough, inspect goods or meet buyers is commercial activity and needs the business eVisa, not a tourist one. The business eVisa is also more generous, at 180 days per visit against 90.
Stay & validity
Sierra Leonean 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 the diamond trade the business eVisa is the right instrument, allowing up to 180 days per visit within a one-year multiple-entry window. For traders making several trips a year, the five-year version removes the application from your calendar and costs far less than repeat applications.
For medical travel the medical eVisa gives 60 days from first entry with triple entry, structured around treatment plus follow-up consultations, with medical attendant visas available for accompanying family.
The eVisa cannot be extended or converted from inside India, and it is valid only at designated airports and authorised seaports.
Pricing
Live government fees and service charges for Sierra Leonean passport holders, shown all-in — nothing further is charged later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Sierra Leone
Requirements
Everything Sierra Leonean 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. Gujarat's regional holidays around Diwali close Surat's diamond trade for a stretch each year.
Apply at least two weeks before departure. The yellow-fever certificate needs ten days to become valid and is the real long lead item, so start that first. For medical travel, request the hospital letter as soon as your appointment is confirmed.
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 Sierra Leone and India. Every routing involves at least one connection, most commonly through Addis Ababa, Accra, Casablanca or a Gulf hub. Total journey times run 15 to 22 hours.
Best time to go
October to March is India's dry season and the most comfortable window for both business and medical travel.
For the diamond trade, the Indian calendar matters more than the weather. Diwali closes Surat and much of Gujarat's trade for several days, and the run-up is the busiest shipping period of the year — meetings scheduled into that window tend to be unproductive. Holi has a shorter but similar effect.
Avoid Gujarat in May and June, when Ahmedabad and the Saurashtra coast exceed 43°C. Mumbai's monsoon from June to September brings very heavy rain and can disrupt flights, which matters for fixed meetings. India is 5.5 hours ahead of Sierra Leonean 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 Sierra Leone — we check for every one of them before submitting.
The most consequential error on this route. India requires proof of yellow-fever vaccination from travellers arriving from Sierra Leone, and without it you can be quarantined on arrival for up to six days regardless of your visa. The certificate is only valid from ten days after vaccination, so it cannot be arranged at the airport.
Specific to this market and genuinely risky. Selling rough, inspecting goods, meeting buyers in Surat or Mumbai and attending trade events are all commercial activities requiring the business eVisa. Applicants sometimes use the tourist category because it needs no invitation letter — but the business eVisa is more generous anyway, at 180 days per visit against 90.
Diwali closes Surat and much of Gujarat's diamond trade for several days, and the run-up is the busiest shipping period of the year. Check the Indian regional calendar before booking rather than discovering the yards are shut.
The medical eVisa allows triple entry for follow-up consultations and lets accompanying family apply as medical attendants. Indian hospitals increasingly ask which visa you hold.
The government fee is charged in US dollars and needs a card enabled for international transactions. The card does not have to belong to the traveller, so a business contact abroad can complete it.
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
Sierra Leone may be served under concurrent accreditation by an Indian mission in a neighbouring West African country rather than by a resident post. That has no bearing on your eVisa, which is entirely online — but confirm coverage if you need a student, employment or research visa, or a regular medical visa for extended treatment.
FAQs
The questions Sierra Leonean passport holders ask most often about applying for an Indian eVisa.
Yes. India requires proof of yellow-fever vaccination from travellers arriving from Sierra Leone, and without a valid certificate you can be quarantined on arrival for up to six days regardless of your visa. The certificate only becomes valid ten days after vaccination, so arrange it before anything else — it is the requirement most likely to disrupt your trip.
The business eVisa. Selling rough, inspecting goods, meeting buyers and attending trade events are commercial activities the tourist eVisa does not cover. You will need an invitation letter from the Indian company on its letterhead. It also permits 180 days per visit against the tourist visa's 90, and a five-year multiple-entry version suits traders travelling several times a year.
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.
Around Diwali, when Surat and much of Gujarat's diamond trade closes for several days, and the run-up when everything is at its busiest and meetings tend to be unproductive. Holi has a shorter but similar effect. Also avoid May and June, when Gujarat exceeds 43°C.
No. Every routing involves at least one connection — commonly Addis Ababa with Ethiopian, often the best value, or Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi. Accra, Casablanca and Istanbul are further options. Total journey time is 15 to 22 hours.
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.
Fees are set by nationality and duration, so the pricing panel on this page loads live figures for Sierra Leonean 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. Sierra Leonean citizens need an approved visa before boarding, and because every routing starts with a connection, your airline may check it at Freetown.
Your nationality is already set to Sierra Leone. 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.
