India Visa for Australian Citizens

Yes, all Australian passport holders need a visa to enter India. There is no visa-free arrangement between Australia and India. However, Australian citizens are fully eligible for India's eVisa programme, meaning you can apply entirely online without visiting the Indian Consulate General in Sydney, Melbourne, or Canberra. The eVisa is electronically linked to your passport. Print the approval email and present it at immigration on arrival. Important: if you hold dual Australian-Indian citizenship, you must enter India on your Indian passport. The eVisa is not available to Indian passport holders.

No. If you hold a valid Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, you do not need a visa to enter India. OCI cardholders have lifetime multiple-entry rights. Simply travel with your Australian passport and OCI card together. If your OCI card has expired or been lost, you'll need to renew it or apply for an eVisa using your Australian passport instead.

We offer three processing speeds: Express (48 hours), Priority (72 hours), and Standard (96 hours). All times are from receipt of a complete application. Processing time is based on when your complete application is received by our visa specialist team. Times may vary slightly depending on volume and weekend processing.

No. This trips up many Australians. Australian passport photos are 35mm × 45mm (rectangular), but India requires 51mm × 51mm (square, equivalent to 2×2 inches). If you submit an Australian passport photo without resizing, it will be rejected. Our system validates your photo dimensions automatically and flags any issues before we submit your application. We can handle photo resizing for you.

Refusal Protection is an optional paid add-on that refunds your service fee if your visa application is refused by the Indian government. This protects you against the rare event of an unexpected visa denial. The add-on costs a small percentage of your service fee and provides peace of mind if you're concerned about approval chances.

Nonstop flights take 12-14 hours depending on the route. Qantas flies Sydney to Bengaluru in about 12 hours (5x weekly). Air India flies Sydney to Delhi daily in about 13 hours. Melbourne to Delhi is approximately 13.5 hours (Qantas, seasonal Oct-Mar). The most popular connecting route is via Singapore, about 7 hours to Singapore plus 5 hours onward to most Indian cities. Emirates via Dubai and Qatar Airways via Doha are also popular from all Australian capital cities.

India Standard Time (IST) is UTC+5:30. During Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST, April-October), India is 4 hours 30 minutes behind. During Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT, October-April), India is 5 hours 30 minutes behind. If you apply at 9am AEST, it's 4:30am in India. For fastest processing, apply during Indian business hours, roughly 1:30pm-11pm AEST.

No. Medicare does not provide any coverage outside Australia (except limited reciprocal arrangements with select countries, India is not one of them). Travel insurance is absolutely essential for any trip to India. Ensure your policy covers medical evacuation, as medical facilities in regional India may require transfer to a major city. Check DFAT's Smartraveller.gov.au for the latest India travel advisory before departure.