Visa requirements for Indian passport holders

Visa-free, visa on arrival or free e-arrival (11)

E-visa, decided online in days (20)

Sticker visa with biometrics (19)

Embassy interview (2)

How to read the visa map for an Indian passport

The 52 destinations above are grouped by what an Indian passport holder has to do before boarding, because that is what decides the timeline and the cost. Visa-free and visa-on-arrival destinations need nothing filed in advance. E-visa destinations are decided online within days with no appointment and no passport handover. Sticker visas add biometrics at a visa application centre and hold the passport for the decision window. Embassy visas add an interview, and the date of that interview, not the paperwork, sets the earliest travel date.

Grouping changes with the passport, not the destination: a country that admits Indians on arrival may require an e-visa from a neighbouring nationality, and the stay granted at the border also differs. Every row links to the destination page, which carries the official fee, the published processing window, the funds figure for each visa category and the date the rule was last verified against the government source. Thailand and Malaysia run visa exemptions for Indian tourists, Sri Lanka issues a free ETA, Nepal and Bhutan are open by treaty, and the Maldives, Mauritius, Indonesia, Kenya, Qatar and Jordan grant visa-on-arrival or a free electronic authorisation.

Planning a trip on an Indian passport

For a short-notice holiday, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia (Bali), Sri Lanka, Qatar and Kenya and 5 more can be booked days ahead, since nothing is filed in advance. Australia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Vietnam and Türkiye and 15 others issue e-visas; Hong Kong decides fastest (same day once filed) and is also the cheapest at ₹20 all-in; allow one to two weeks between application and departure. United Kingdom, Canada, Schengen Area, Japan and South Korea need an appointment, so start six to ten weeks before travel; Ireland publishes the longest window at 4–9 weeks.

Whatever the format, Indians are assessed on the same evidence: a passport valid for six months beyond arrival with blank pages, bank statements for the last three to six months that match the trip, confirmed accommodation and onward travel, travel insurance where required and a reason to return home, usually employment, business ownership, study or family. Refusals for Indian passport holders cluster around funds that do not match the plan and gaps in travel history, both of which the free eligibility check scores before you pay a fee.

Questions, answered