· Medtu Care Team · Updated
India's e-Medical Visa: Who Qualifies, How Fast, What It Costs
How India's e-Medical visa works for patients from Kenya, Tanzania and other eligible countries, who still needs a sticker visa, and how to apply: portal terms checked July 2026.
If you are coming to India for surgery or specialist treatment, the visa is usually the first piece of paperwork that feels stressful. For most patients from Kenya, Tanzania and the many other e-visa-eligible countries, the process is online, document-light and predictable, if you know what the hospital must provide and when to apply.
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One rule before anything else: visa terms change. Everything below is stated as of late July 2026, and the only authoritative source is the Government of India’s official portal, indianvisaonline.gov.in. Where this article and the portal disagree, the portal is right.
What the e-Medical visa is
The e-Medical visa (often written e-MED) is an electronic visa for people travelling to India specifically for medical treatment. You apply online, upload documents, pay the fee, and receive an electronic travel authorisation by email, with no embassy queue for eligible nationalities.
The headline terms, as of late July 2026:
| Feature | e-Medical visa (portal terms, late July 2026) |
|---|---|
| Validity | One year (365 days) from first arrival, per the portal’s current fee table. Older 60-day terms still appear on some portal pages, so confirm at application |
| Entries | Multiple |
| Application window | Apply online 4 to 120 days before travel |
| Attendants | Up to 2 attendants per patient on the e-Medical Attendant visa (60-day validity from arrival) |
| Key document | Invitation/provisional letter from a recognised Indian hospital |
The multiple entries matter more than they sound: many treatment plans involve an initial consultation trip, then the main admission, and sometimes a follow-up. The e-Medical visa is built for exactly that pattern.
Who qualifies
Two things must both be true:
- Your nationality is on the e-visa eligibility list. As of late July 2026, the e-visa scheme covers a large majority of nationalities (publicly available lists put it at over 160 countries), including Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda, note, is not on the official list as of late July 2026: Ugandan nationals currently apply through the regular (sticker) visa channel instead. The Indian government maintains that list and does change it, so confirm your own passport’s eligibility on the official portal before you plan anything around it.
- Your purpose is medical treatment at a recognised hospital, and you can show it. That is what the invitation letter does.
The hospital invitation letter
The most important document in the application is the letter from the Indian hospital. As of late July 2026, the expectation is that it comes from a recognised hospital, on hospital letterhead, signed by the treating doctor, describing the patient and the planned treatment.
Two practical consequences:
- The hospital must have accepted your case first. A hospital cannot produce the letter before it has reviewed your reports and agreed to treat you. A remote consultation or written opinion therefore usually comes before any visa work, because the clinical decision drives the paperwork.
- No agent can issue this letter. Any facilitator who offers to “arrange” an invitation letter without a hospital having accepted your case is proposing something that can void your visa and worse. Medtu Care’s role is limited to liaising with the hospital’s international desk so the letter is issued correctly and promptly. The letter itself always comes from the hospital.
How fast: the honest answer
The official application window is 4 to 120 days before travel. In plain terms: the system expects you to apply at least four days before you fly, and allows you to apply up to four months ahead.
We deliberately do not quote a “typical approval time”, because processing speed varies by nationality, season and case, and no applicant is promised an approval. The decision always rests with Indian immigration authorities. The planning rule is simpler:
- Apply as soon as your hospital letter is issued, rather than waiting until flights are booked.
- Leave buffer. If your admission date is fixed, aim to submit the visa application at least two weeks before departure so a request for clarification does not derail your treatment date.
What it costs
E-visa fees are set per nationality and shown on the official portal at the point of application. They differ from country to country, and they change. Rather than reprint numbers that may be stale by the time you read this, check the fee for your passport on indianvisaonline.gov.in, where it is displayed before you pay.
Budget separately for the pieces around the visa: passport photos and document scans, a yellow fever vaccination certificate where required (travellers from many African countries need one, so check India’s current health requirements for your country), and attendant visa fees if family members travel with you.
Who still needs a sticker visa
Not every nationality can use the e-visa route. Check yours before you book anything.
Nigeria is the significant example in our corridors. As of late July 2026, the High Commission of India in Abuja’s guidance describes an in-person sticker (regular) medical visa process for Nigerian nationals: application through the mission in Abuja or Lagos, a fee published by the mission (US$252 at the time of writing), a referral letter from a Nigerian hospital, the Indian hospital’s invitation sent directly to the mission, recent bank statements and a yellow fever certificate. Some third-party websites claim e-visa availability for Nigerians; because the official mission guidance says otherwise, we treat Nigeria as a sticker-visa corridor and verify the current position for every individual case. If you are applying from Nigeria, our Nigeria corridor guide covers the dossier in detail.
Uganda is currently outside the e-visa scheme too. As of late July 2026 Uganda does not appear on the official e-visa eligibility list, so Ugandan nationals apply for the regular (sticker) medical visa through the Indian mission. The official portal’s list is authoritative, so re-check it before you plan.
Other nationalities are also outside the e-visa scheme. The clean way to check is always the same: enter your nationality on the official portal. If e-Medical does not appear as an option for your passport, your route is the regular medical visa through the Indian embassy or high commission in your country.
Extensions, FRRO and longer treatment
Some treatment plans run long: staged surgeries, transplant workups, a full chemotherapy course. As of late July 2026:
- The portal’s current fee table lists the e-Medical visa with one-year validity from first arrival, which covers most treatment plans outright.
- For stays that run long, or where terms need extending, the route is the FRRO (Foreigners Regional Registration Office), supported by the treating hospital’s documentation of ongoing treatment. Your hospital’s international desk deals with this routinely and will guide the paperwork.
If your treatment plan already looks unusually long, tell the hospital before the invitation letter is drafted so the documentation reflects the real plan from the start.
If you hold an OCI card
Overseas Citizen of India cardholders do not need a medical visa at all. OCI status carries lifelong visa-free entry, with no invitation letter required. For the East African diaspora communities in Nairobi, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, this removes the visa step entirely, so you start directly with the clinical question.
Where Medtu Care fits
We are a medical travel facilitator, not a visa agency, and the boundaries matter:
- We do: help you compile the document set, liaise with the hospital’s international desk so the invitation letter is issued properly, guide you through the portal application, and help with FRRO formalities once you are in India.
- We never: draft or arrange invitation letters ourselves, promise visa outcomes, or work around the official process in any way.
Visa guidance is part of our full journey coordination service, and general questions cost nothing to ask. We take no commissions from hospitals. Our fees are paid by you, published upfront, and itemized separately from your hospital bill. The full schedule is on our fees page.
Ready to start, or just checking whether your case is feasible? Message us on WhatsApp or send us your details. We respond within four business hours.
Sources
- Indian e-Visa portal — eligibility, instructions and FAQ. 4–120-day application window; maximum two e-Medical Attendant visas per patient; e-visa eligibility list including Kenya and Tanzania, with Uganda not listed. Accessed 28 July 2026.
- High Commission of India, Abuja — Medical Visa requirements. Regular (sticker) medical visa process for Nigerian nationals, with a US$252 fee, a referral letter from a Nigerian hospital, the Indian hospital invitation letter, a bank statement and a yellow fever vaccination requirement. Accessed 28 July 2026.