Indian e-Visa form step by step: fill it right the first time (also for children with a German passport)

Many families here have the same situation. Mum and dad have an Indian passport. The child was born in Germany and has a German passport. Then something happens at home, a wedding or a death in the family, and the child suddenly needs an Indian visa. Fast.

The e-Visa form is not hard. But it has a few traps, and one wrong click can cost you the fee or a rejection. We filled this form for a small child in October 2026. This guide follows the real screens, in the same order you will see them.

Before you start: the form only takes 30 to 45 minutes. Use a laptop, not a phone. Uploading files from a phone often goes wrong.

Who needs this, and who does not

• Indian passport: you need no visa at all. Just fly.
• German or other foreign passport, with Indian parents: you need an e-Visa or an OCI card.
• OCI card holder: no visa needed. Carry the OCI card and the passport it is linked to.

For a child of Indian parents, the OCI card is often the better long-term choice. It is valid for life and saves you this form every time. But it takes weeks. For a quick trip, the e-Visa is the fast way.

Only use the official website

The only real address is indianvisaonline.gov.in.

Many other websites look official and charge two or three times more. They often show up first on Google as an ad. Check the address bar before you type anything. There is no "express" or "emergency" fee on the official site.

Get these things ready first

• The passport of the traveller (it must be valid for at least 6 months)
• A photo: JPEG file, 10 KB to 1 MB, at least 350 x 350 pixels, square, light background, face straight to the camera. Do not cut the photo out of the passport.
• The passport photo page as a PDF: maximum 300 KB. Only the page with the photo and personal data.
• The parents' passports, for names and places of birth
• If the child visited India before: the old visa in the passport (visa number, place and date of issue)
• An address and phone number in India, and one in Germany
• A credit or debit card for the fee

Tip: if your PDF is too big, scan only the one page, not the whole passport. A clear phone scan with CamScanner or the Google Drive scanner is usually 150 to 250 KB.

Screen 1: the start page

Click "Apply here for e-Visa". Fill in nationality, passport type, port of arrival, date of birth, email and expected date of arrival.

• Port of arrival: choose the airport you will really land at. Amritsar, Delhi and others are on the list. You can only enter through the airport you pick here.
• Expected date of arrival: give at least 4 to 5 days from today. Payment must be done at least 4 days before the journey.
• Visiting India for: for family, choose e-Tourist Visa and then "Meeting friends/relatives".

Trap number 1: there are three tourist visas: 30 days, 1 year and 5 years. Look very carefully which one is selected before you click Continue. You cannot change it later. If the wrong one is saved, the only fix is to start a new application. The old one simply expires if you do not pay.

After this page you get a Temporary Application ID. Take a screenshot of it right away. It is valid for 7 days. With it you can come back via "Complete Partially Filled Form".

Screen 2: applicant and passport details

• Write the names exactly as in the passport, in capital letters.
• Town of birth: check the spelling twice. "PINNRBERG" instead of "PINNEBERG" is the kind of mistake that happens fast.
• National ID number: write NA if there is none.
• Visible marks: NONE.
• Education for a small child: "Below Matriculation".
• Nationality by birth or naturalization: for a child born in Germany, "By Birth".
• Lived two years in the country where you apply? Answer honestly. A baby under two answers No.
• Passport number: type it from the passport letter by letter. Zero and the letter O look the same. So do one and the letter I.

Screen 3: address and family

Trap number 2: the address fields do not accept commas, dots, dashes or underscores. If you use them, the page shows "Invalid characters" and can empty the whole form. So write "SCHLESWIG HOLSTEIN", not "Schleswig-Holstein", and "NANGAL LUBANA KAPURTHALA PUNJAB" without commas.

• Phone numbers: country code without the plus and without the first zero. A German mobile 0157 1234567 becomes 491571234567.
• Tick "same address" if the permanent address is the same.
• Father and mother: name, nationality and place of birth, as in their passports. For Indian parents, nationality is India.
• Marital status of a child: Single.

Trap number 3: "Were your parents or grandparents Pakistan nationals?" Read it and give the true answer. Do not click past it. A wrong Yes here causes long delays.

Screen 4: visa details

• Places to be visited: the village or town and the district. No commas.
• Hotel booked through a tour operator: No, if you stay with family.
• Friend or relative in India: a real person you will stay with, who can be reached by phone. Their address, state, district and mobile number.
• Port of exit: where you will fly out from. If you do not know yet, choose the same airport.
• Visited India before? If yes, you need the old visa number, the type, the place and date of issue. You will find all of it on the visa sticker in the old passport. For a German passport, the old sticker often says "X" (entry visa).
• Refused a visa or extension before? Answer honestly. This is often set to Yes by default. Check it.
• SAARC countries in the last 3 years: for most families, No.
• Reference in India and in Germany: a name, address and phone in each country.

Screen 5: the six security questions

Trap number 4, the biggest one: on this page, all six answers can already be set to Yes when the page opens. Arrested, deported, trafficking, terrorism, asylum. If you send it like this, the visa will be rejected.

Go through all six slowly. Click the answer that is true for each one. Then tick the declaration with the traveller's name and click Save and Continue.

Screen 6: upload the photo

Choose the JPEG file and click Upload Photo. A crop box appears. Keep the whole face in the box, from the top of the head to the chin, with a bit of shoulders. Click Crop and Save.

The photo may look strange in colour when you photograph the laptop screen with your phone. That is only the screen. The file itself is fine.

Screen 7: upload the passport PDF

Choose the PDF, click Upload Document. The status must change from "Not Uploaded" to Uploaded. Tick the box and click Confirm.

A common mistake: choosing the PDF on the photo page, or the photo on the PDF page. Look at the file name before you click Open.

Screen 8: check everything

You now see all your answers on one page. Read it to the end before you click "Verified and Continue". After payment nothing can be changed, and the fee is not refunded.

Check at least: name, date of birth, passport number, mother's and father's names, the visa type, and that the six security questions are all answered correctly.

Screen 9: payment

You now get the final Application ID, 12 characters. Screenshot it. You need it, together with the date of birth, for everything that comes next.

• Click "Generate Application Form" and save the PDF.
• Choose Yes on the undertaking and click Pay Now. Pay with a credit or debit card. Your bank may ask for an approval in its app.
• After 3 failed payment attempts the Application ID is blocked, and you must fill the whole form again. If a payment fails once, stop and check your card limit before you try again.
• You can also choose Pay Later and pay with the Application ID and date of birth. But pay at least 4 days before the journey.

When it worked, you see "Payment Success". Click "Generate Fee Receipt" and save it.

Which emails you will get, and which ones to ignore

You will get several emails from indianvisaonline.gov.in. This confuses many people.

• "Your partially filled data has been saved" with a temporary ID: only a draft. If you finished another application, ignore it and do not pay for it.
• "Your application has been partially submitted. It will be processed only after payment": sent before you paid. If you paid, ignore it. The email says so itself.
• "Your application has been successfully received": this is the right one. It is not the visa yet.
• Later comes the email with your ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation). That is the visa. Often it comes in 3 to 4 days, sometimes later. Check the spam folder too.

You can check the status at any time on the official site under "Visa Status" with the Application ID and date of birth.

What to carry at the airport

• The passport you used in the form
• A printout of the ETA
• For a child travelling with one parent only: a short consent letter from the other parent with a copy of their passport. It is not always asked for, but it saves trouble.

New and easy to forget: the e-Arrival card. Every foreign national must fill it online within 72 hours before landing in India, on indianvisaonline.gov.in/earrival or in the official app "Indian Visa Su-Swagatam". Do it the day before the flight and keep a screenshot. A child with a German passport needs one too.

At arrival in India, photo and fingerprints are taken. For small children this is quick.

Book the flight only after the e-Visa is granted. If the visa comes late, the airline will not let you board, and cheap tickets are rarely refunded.

In an emergency

If someone in the family has died and the status still says "under process", write to the e-Visa helpdesk in India, not to the consulate. The consulate in Hamburg says clearly on its website that it is not responsible for e-Visas.

• e-Visa helpdesk email: indian.evisa@gov.in
• Phone: 0091 11 24300666

Write the Application ID, the passport number and one or two lines about the emergency. Attach the death certificate or a letter from the Sarpanch or hospital if you have it.

If the e-Visa does not come in time, there is a second way: a regular paper visa at the Consulate General of India in Hamburg (Kohlhöfen 21, 20355 Hamburg, phone 040 338036). You book an appointment on cgihamburg.gov.in, apply online first, and bring the printed form with all documents. Children under 12 give no fingerprints there.

Short checklist

• Official website only: indianvisaonline.gov.in
• Visa type checked before Continue (30 days, 1 year or 5 years)
• Names and passport number letter by letter
• No commas, dots or dashes in address fields
• Phone numbers with country code, no plus, no first zero
• All six security questions checked, not left on Yes
• Photo JPEG up to 1 MB, passport PDF up to 300 KB
• Last page read to the end before you pay
• Application ID and fee receipt saved
• ETA printed, flight booked only after approval
• e-Arrival card filled within 72 hours before landing

More about which visa you need, OCI and fake websites: Indian visa from Germany.

All buttons in one place (apply, status, e-Arrival card, consulate appointment, tick-off checklist): Indian e-Visa help page

Checked on 28 October 2026 while filling the form for a child with a German passport. Screens and rules can change. If something looks different, the official website is always right.