Amazing and mysterious, full of contrasts, huge and multifaceted India today, unfortunately, is not a visa-free country for Russians. To obtain permission to enter this country, you will need to submit the relevant documents to one of the Embassies of India in Russia.
How to get a visa to India
To obtain a visa, you will need to submit the relevant documents to the consular section of the Indian Embassy in Moscow or the Indian Consulates General in St. Petersburg or Vladivostok. The registration process will take three to four days, you can get a three-entry or multiple-entry visa at once, which is very convenient for fans of the homeland of Vedic culture.
The package required to obtain an Indian Visa consists of the following documents:
- a passport valid for at least six months from the date of application for a visa, which contains at least two blank pages;
- a copy of the first page of the passport;
- completed online and printed on two sheets of application form signed by the visa applicant;
- one color photograph 3, 5x4 cm;
- confirmation of hotel reservation or travel voucher;
- copy of air tickets to and from India;
- a copy of the first page and the page with the registration of the passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation.
If the parent is traveling alone with the child, the written consent of the other parent is required. The child will also need to present a copy of the birth certificate.
The consular fee for a visa to India is 1600 rubles. The same amount applies to visas for children. If you need an urgent visa, you can apply for it only with the involvement of a travel agency, and the amount, depending on the intermediary, will be from $ 120 for a two-day registration.
Visa-free regime for Russians when entering Goa
The state of Goa is very popular among tourists from Russia, and one of the reasons for this is the current visa exemption. It consists in the fact that Russians can enter the territory of the state by applying for a visa directly upon arrival at the local airport of Dabolim. Indian law provides for this possibility if tourists arrived in a group of at least 4 people and arranged a tour through a local operator. In this case, a complete list of the tourist group and the planned route of its movement around the country must be provided to the Immigration Service of India in advance.
Russians can freely move without a special permit almost throughout Indian territory, except for areas closed to foreigners in the states of Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim Arunachal Pradesh, as well as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
There are two drawbacks to this conditional visa-free regime. Firstly, you will have to leave your passport at the Immigration Service and it will be possible to return it only on departure from the country. Secondly, it is required to strictly adhere to the pre-compiled route of movement in India.
