· Medtu Care Team
From Nigeria to India for Treatment: Costs, Visa, Trusted Process (2026)
A practical 2026 guide for Nigerian patients planning treatment in India: the sticker-visa route, flight options, budgeting, and a patient-paid process.
Every month, Nigerian families organise treatment journeys to India for heart conditions, cancer, kidney disease, orthopedic surgery and neurological care. The medicine is rarely the hard part. The hard parts are the visa dossier, the money transfer, and knowing whether the quote in front of you is honest.
This guide walks through all three, as they stand in mid-2026.
If you would rather talk it through, message us on WhatsApp or use our contact page. We respond within four business hours.
Why Nigerian patients choose India
Nigerian patients travel most often for cardiology, oncology, kidney care and dialysis-escape, orthopedics, and neurology. Indian hospitals have deep, high-volume programs in those areas, at a fraction of the cost of Europe or North America. Nigerian media and analysts estimate the country’s total outbound medical spending at US$1–2 billion per year, and India receives a large share of it.
Medtu Care coordinates care in these specialties across hospitals in India. See our specialties overview and our Nigeria corridor page for corridor-specific details.
What the journey actually costs: five budget lines
We do not publish treatment prices, because honest treatment prices depend on your diagnosis, the hospital, and the city. We can show you the structure of the budget, so nothing surprises you later.
| Budget line | What to know (as of mid-2026) |
|---|---|
| Hospital treatment | Quoted per case, in writing, itemized on hospital letterhead. This is the number to scrutinise. See the process section below. |
| Indian visa | US$252 sticker-visa fee for Nigerian applicants, paid at application. Confirm the current fee with the High Commission. |
| Flights | No direct flights; connections via Addis Ababa, Doha, Dubai or Nairobi. Reported round-trip economy fares roughly US$600–1,400 per person. |
| Accommodation and local costs | Guest houses and hotels near major hospitals span a wide range; an attendant’s food and transport add a modest daily amount. |
| Facilitation | Our published fees, below, paid by you and never hidden in the hospital bill. |
Our fees, published
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| Remote consultation (teleconsult) | $50 (₹4,300) |
| Written independent second opinion | $150 (₹12,900) |
| Full journey coordination | $1,000 (₹86,000) |
INR equivalents are approximate, at about ₹86 per US dollar. The USD figure is the fee.
Every fee credits in full to the next step: the $50 consultation comes off the $150 second opinion, and the $150 second opinion comes off the $1,000 full journey fee. Full crediting, milestone and refund rules are on our fees page.
The visa: Nigeria is a sticker-visa corridor
This is the single most important planning fact for Nigerian patients, and the one most often misstated online.
As of mid-2026, the High Commission of India in Abuja states that there is no e-visa facility for Nigerian nationals. Medical visas are issued as sticker visas through an in-person application at Abuja or Lagos. The dossier typically includes a referral letter from a Nigerian hospital or doctor, an invitation letter from the Indian hospital sent directly to the mission, a three-month certified bank statement, and a yellow-fever vaccination certificate.
Some third-party visa websites claim Nigerians can apply for India’s e-medical visa online. These claims conflict with the High Commission’s own published guidance. Treat the embassy and its official channels as authoritative, and re-verify the requirements when you apply. We do this for every case we coordinate.
We have written a separate step-by-step guide to the full dossier: India Medical Visa from Nigeria: The Sticker-Visa Dossier, Step by Step.
One practical consequence: because the visa takes real preparation, most families start with a remote consultation or written second opinion first. It costs $50–150, requires no visa, and tells you whether the journey is medically worthwhile before you spend anything on travel.
Money: plan in dollars, and start the bank conversation early
Three things every Nigerian family should know about paying for treatment in India, as of mid-2026:
- The official route is CBN Form A, a personal foreign-exchange application through your bank for invisibles including medical bills. It requires the hospital’s invoice and supporting documentation, and processing takes time, so start early and ask your bank exactly what they need.
- The naira rate moves. A dollar-denominated hospital quote will cost more in naira next month than this month if the rate slips. Plan the budget in US dollars, keep a headroom buffer, and treat quote validity windows seriously.
- A relative abroad can often pay the hospital directly. On many Nigerian journeys, family in the UK, US or the Gulf pays part of the bill. A diaspora payer transferring directly to the hospital in USD sidesteps much of the local friction. Hospitals are used to this; ask for their international payment instructions in writing.
Because our own fees are published in USD and invoiced separately, a family committee in Lagos, London or Houston can see, verify and fund them.
Flights: plan the connection, not just the fare
With no non-stop service between Nigeria and India as of mid-2026, every journey is a connection, most commonly through Addis Ababa, Doha, Dubai or Nairobi, into Mumbai, Delhi or another Indian gateway. Three practical notes from cases we have coordinated:
- Choose the connection for the patient, not the price alone. A long layover that saves money can be a false economy for someone travelling unwell; some hubs handle wheelchair and medical-assistance requests more smoothly than others, and you should book assistance with the airline in advance rather than request it at the gate.
- Book after the visa, not before. Sticker-visa processing has its own calendar. Hold dates loosely until the passport is back in your hands.
- Budget for the attendant. Most patients travel with a family member, which doubles the airfare line, and the attendant needs their own visa and yellow-fever certificate.
If treatment continues in a city without a direct international connection, a domestic leg or ground transfer follows at the end; we build it into the plan and the budget upfront so the journey has no surprise segments.
A process you can verify at every step
Nigerian patients have been dealing with medical-travel agents for years, and families have learned to be careful. Industry reporting describes facilitator commissions of 7.5–30% from hospitals and quotes padded 25–35% at legacy brokers. That is why “free” help so often turns out to be expensive.
Our model is different, and the difference is checkable. We take no commissions from hospitals. Our fees are paid by you, published upfront, and itemized separately from your hospital bill.
The journey with us runs like this:
- Share your case. Diagnosis, current reports, what your doctors in Nigeria have advised. After we connect, we send a secure link for reports. Nothing sensitive goes through a website form.
- Teleconsult or written second opinion. A specialist relevant to your condition reviews your case remotely. You decide, from Lagos or Abuja, whether travelling makes sense.
- Itemized quotes, compared. If you proceed, you receive written, itemized hospital quotes for your case, from more than one hospital where that serves you. Because no hospital pays us, we have no reason to steer you anywhere.
- Full coordination. Visa invitation paperwork routed correctly to the mission, admission scheduling with real dates, airport pickup, accommodation through our travel arm Tripcuro, and follow-up after you fly home.
You can verify any quote we pass you directly with the hospital’s international billing desk. We encourage it. Our checklist for verifying any facilitator (including us) is here: How to Avoid Medical Travel Scams.
Where to start
Start with the step that costs the least and teaches you the most: a $50 remote consultation or a $150 written second opinion, done from Nigeria with the reports you already have. If the answer is “this treatment is available closer to home,” you will have saved a journey. If the answer is “India makes sense,” you begin the visa dossier with a clear plan and a hospital invitation on the way.
Message us on WhatsApp with your diagnosis and city, or reach us through the contact page. We respond within four business hours.
Sources
- Visa Instructions — High Commission of India, Abuja. “As on date there is no e-Visa facility for Nigerian Nationals who plan to visit India”, and all visa applications must be submitted in person at Abuja or Lagos with physical copies of the required documents. Accessed 28 July 2026.
- Medical Visa — High Commission of India, Abuja. The US$252 fee including surcharge; the referral letter from a Nigerian hospital; the Indian hospital’s invitation letter emailed directly to the mission; a certified three-month bank statement or bank guarantee; and compulsory yellow fever vaccination, with polio vaccination additionally required of residents of Nigeria. Accessed 28 July 2026.
- e-Visa eligibility and visa terms — Government of India. Nigeria does not appear on the official eVisa-eligible country list, which is consistent with the High Commission’s position that Nigerian applicants use the regular sticker-visa channel. Accessed 28 July 2026.